Kāpiti Coast District Council is supporting nine projects with grants to help landowners restore or take care of significant ecological sites in the district.

The council’s grants allocation committee has approved a total of just under $34,400 shared between nine local projects in the latest funding round. The grants were for between $2000 and $5000 each.

Committee chair Councillor Nigel Wilson said the projects ranged from weed and pest control as part of native forest and wetland restorations, building fences and a boardwalk, repairs to a historic church in Waikanae Beach, and monitoring for native lizards.

“We have some special and significant heritage sites on the Kāpiti Coast that we want to protect for future generations.

“Some of the sites contain a variety of regionally rare and threatened species, others are remnant forests which are a taonga for iwi and our residents.

“The fund is for actively encouraging and supporting landowners to manage, protect and preserve heritage features throughout district including ecological, geological, historical and cultural sites,” Mr Wilson said.

Heritage grants were available annually for preservation, riparian management, management of heritage features, and research projects including education campaigns or historic investigations into heritage features, he said.

“The next round opens in June 2025. We encourage anyone who has a project in mind to read the criteria and application guidelines and about previous recipients on our website. Then talk to our staff about your project.”

Read more and find out about the latest and previous recipients at www.kapiticoast.govt.nz/heritage-fund.

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