To be considered in a funding round, an ECO Fund application will need to meet all general eligibility criteria. These are:

• Project must be located in Otago.
• Project cannot be funded for more than 3 years in duration.
• Project must align with the objectives of the relevant funding category (these can be found under the specific eligibility criteria).
• Management agreement(s) or relevant written permission(s) that allow the project to be completed on site must be in place before submitting your application.
• To qualify for the ECO Fund, 
  
  • one quote is required for expenses between $500 and $2,000 (excluding GST)
  • two quotes are required for expenses exceeding $2,000 (excluding GST).
• Wages are capped at:
  
  • $50,000 for the General and Scaling up for biodiversity funding categories 
  • $15,000 for all other funding categories
• Maintenance costs for projects previously funded by ECO Fund will only be funded up to two times.

Scaling up for biodiversity

• Project must align with the following objectives: 
  
  • To protect and enhance native biodiversity to grow in scale and impact.
  • To support community groups to obtain experience in delivery of biodiversity outcomes and to transition towards the LSE fund or other funding opportunities enabling long term success.
• Project must engage or involve the community.
• Wages are capped at $50,000.
• Project must have a clear biodiversity outcome.

General grants

• Project must align with the following objectives: 
  
  • To protect and enhance Otago’s environment. 
  • To enable community-led environmental activities. 
• Project must engage or involve the community.
• If the application is for an education project, there must be some engagement or target audience.

Sustained rabbit management grants

• Project must align with the following objectives: 
  
  • To manage rabbit populations in new or existing community programme areas. 
  • To enable landowners and community to work together to manage rabbit populations.
• Project must engage or involve the community.
• Wages are capped at $15,000.
• Rabbit control costs, including poisons (e.g. Pindone, Magtoxin), shooting or rabbit contractor costs, will not be funded. 

Biodiversity enhancement on protected private land grants

• Project must align with the following objectives: 
  
  • To enhance existing protected areas of biodiversity on private land. 
  • To enable private landholders to maintain existing biodiversity. 

Hill country erosion management

• Project must align with the following objectives: 
  
  • To reduce sediment and soil loss through erosion control measures in hill country.
  • To support stock exclusion fencing and/or tree planting for erosion control.

Weed removal and revegetation grants

• Project must align with the following objectives: 
  
  • To improve native vegetation through removal of weeds / pest plants and rehabilitation. 
  • To increase area of native terrestrial biodiversity.
• Project must engage or involve the community.

The following will not be funded:

• Activities required by legislation, regulation, consent conditions or compliance direction
  
  • Pest management costs to achieve compliance with the Otago Pest Management Plan 2019-29 (RPMP) are not eligible. This includes: 
    
    • Pest animal (including rabbit) control costs, poisons, shooting, and pest animal contractor costs 
    • Herbicides and spraying costs for pest plants 
      Note: community coordinated activities supporting the management of pest species defined in the RPMP, such as engaging a coordinator to seek wider neighbour involvement to managing a pest species, are eligible for funding.
• Resource consent or bylaw amendment application fees
• Projects for commercial or private gain
• Seed capital
• Non-native plants (unless assessed as appropriate for project outcomes and for improved environmental outcomes). Non-native plant species can be considered under the Hill Country Erosion Management funding category.
• Amenity purposes (e.g. cycleway, bridge, amenity planting)
• Retrospective costs for any projects 
• If an application receives a score of 0 for any criterion and the guidance note specifies that this renders the project ineligible, the application will not proceed to further assessment. 

If you don't meet ECO Fund eligibility, other funders other than ORC may support your project. We have more information on our Non-ORC funding page.