Natural Heritage Fund (NHF)

Organisations must be a legal entity with a track record that satisfies Council.

Organisations able to apply include:

• charitable trusts
• iwi/hapu
• incorporated societies
• community trusts
• educational institutions
• limited liability companies

Read the complete eligibility checklist for the NHF.

• Central government departments and agencies and territorial authorities. (Applications from community groups with these agencies as partners or co-funders are encouraged. However, the lead must clearly be the community group).
• Crown Research Institutes.
• Groups that are better funded through other Waikato Regional Council programmes or central government programmes.
• Organisations that are based outside of New Zealand.

If you are already receiving funding for a project through the Environmental Initiatives Fund, or the Small Scale Community Initiatives Fund in the current financial year, then you will not be eligible to apply for NHF funding for the same project.

If you have received a grant through either of the three funds in the past, you must ensure that you have completed your final accountability report before applying to this NHF round.

• The NHF will generally contribute to materials, labour costs, contractor costs and costs associated with supporting volunteers.
• The NHF can support land purchase and other mechanisms to protect land, noting that during the 2024-2027 period land purchase is not a priority.

• Projects located outside the Waikato Regional Council administrative boundaries.
• Debt repayment, refinancing of existing loans, deposits, or underwriting projects.
• Projects receiving funding from other Council programmes (however; aspects of a project not covered under another programme may be eligible to apply for funding).
• Projects more appropriately funded through other Council programmes.
• Projects which the Council considers are core business of other agencies.
• Overseas travel or conference expenses, legal expenses, expenses incurred through participation in statutory processes.
• Landscaping, beautification, food gardening and wildlife pond projects that do not have appropriate environmental outcomes.
• Proposals designed to generate personal or commercial benefit, political or religious objectives, or for private pecuniary profit or gain.
• Projects which seek to redistribute, at their own discretion, funds to recipients.
• Consultants’ fees or salaries that are not directly linked to an activity or programme with proven benefit to the community and/or environment.
• Purchase of large capital items of equipment or infrastructure (e.g. vehicles, solar panels, buildings, building renovations, roads, and bridges).
• Any works/activities that are required as conditions of a resource consent or as mitigation as part of a resource consent.
• Projects that require resource consent but have not received one at the date of the close of the funding round.
• Retrospective funding for projects or items completed or acquired before the application closing date.
• Any project that would have significant adverse impacts on the environment, regardless of the positive impacts.

Only those applications that score highly against the following criteria and have good supporting justification will be recommended for funding:

1. Fit with Council’s regional outcomes, strategic priorities, and policies
2. Environmental enhancement - How the project will directly promote, enhance or protect the Waikato region’s environment, with a focus on improved ecological and biodiversity outcomes.
3. Community participation and awareness – How the project involves iwi Māori, the wider community and increases public awareness of environmental issues. What is the level of mana whenua and community support for the project.
4. Collaboration and partnership – Whether the applicants have explored and developed any opportunities for collaboration and partnership with others, including any co-funding and support from other parties.
5. Viability – The likelihood of the project’s success and the applicant’s capability to deliver the outcomes of the project.
6. Value to mana whenua – Relative to the scale of the project, how the project involves iwi Māori including their cultural values, interests and associations, the effect on Māori historic heritage or the relationship of Māori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral lands, water, sites, waahi tapu and other taonga including fauna and flora.

All eligible projects will be assessed against the assessment criteria by multiple assessors. Assessments will be moderated by a moderation panel and recommendations will be considered by the Integrated Catchment Management Committee.

Multi-year projects will be considered (to a maximum of four years).

Council decisions on NHPP grants are final and there is no process for unsuccessful applicants to appeal the decision. At times a funding decision to not approve an application may solely be based on the fund being oversubscribed.

Landscape scale can be defined in the following ways. your application must provide evidence of one or more of the following, as a guide. 

• Scale: initiatives that are larger than 400 hectares
• Ecological connectivity: through the development and enhancement of an ecological corridor or ecological stepping stones
• Defined/Defendable area: a naturally defined ecological region such as a catchment boundary
• Ecological variation: incorporating multiple ecosystems e.g. a dune, wetland and terrestrial forest
• Connecting community effort: incorporating multiple groups and/or landowners to achieve landscape scale biodiversity outcomes and a collective approach to delivering outcomes (e.g. a hub or collective)

Must be led by the community and must incorporate collaboration at multiple levels of your organisation. Community is defined as any stakeholders within the area where your work will be undertaken. You must be able to demonstrate all of the following: 

• Community are part of the governance and strategic planning
• Ongoing volunteer input
• Mana whenua led or ongoing cultural and mana whenua collaboration, support or leadership (see point 3 for more details) 
• Relationships with other relevant stakeholders. Examples may include local and central government, technical experts, funders, business, or school communities.

You must provide evidence of one or more of the following:

• Mana whenua led initiative, including incorporation of mātauranga Māori into planning and delivery
• Active mana whenua involvement in governance e.g. trustee/board members
• Mana whenua involvement in the delivery
• Letter of support from mana whenua confirming alignment with iwi aspirations
• Cultural framework, plan or guiding document developed and available

Your initiative must have long term intergenerational biodiversity benefits by demonstrating one or more of the following: 

• If you are an established organisation, you must be able to demonstrate a history of success with biodiversity outcomes, and a clear plan for the future which incorporates succession planning. 
• If you are a new organisation you must have a clear plan for the future which incorporates succession planning
• The initiative has a range of people involved from diverse backgrounds, cultures, age groups and with a range of expertise that will support ongoing, long-term success.

The initiative does not rely solely on funding from Waikato Regional Council and must provide evidence of one or more of the following:

• Confirmed funding from other entities
• Significant in-kind volunteer support
• Funding through a business model (e.g. tourism, providing services to others)

If applicable, you must be able to provide evidence of the following:

• Letter of support or permission from landowners (note complete signed landowner permission will be required before funding can be granted to groups/organisations)
• Not applicable (e.g. you are the sole landowner, or you are operating as a community hub)