wherethereswater

Where There's Water Community Environmental Grants provide funding to help the community understand, maintain, protect and improve their water environment. This includes streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, estuaries and beaches in urban and rural areas. Where There’s Water Community Environmental Grants were initiated by the staff of BOC in New Zealand and the fund was launched in June 2002. BOC provides all of the funding for the grants and the New Zealand Water
& Wastes Association (NZWWA) administers Where There’s Water on behalf of BOC.

Who is BOC?
For more than 85 years, BOC has played a vital role in the development of New Zealand. BOC
is the leading provider of gases and related products, services and technical solutions in the
region. In addition to a broad range of gases and related products, BOC has an extensive
portfolio of innovative technical services and solutions.

For more information about BOC, please visit the BOC website www.boc.co.nz.

About the Grants
Applications will be assessed on how effectively they meet the objectives of the Where
There’s Water Community Environmental Grants, which are as follows:

·	Improve education opportunities for children to learn about their water environment

·	Improve community awareness of the condition and importance of the water environment

·	Assist schools and the community to participate in real action to maintain, protect and improve their water environment.

Applications will be assessed in terms of the benefits that projects will contribute to the water environment, the extent to which projects will improve student/community understanding of the water environment, and confidence that the project will be successful and value for money.

Applications will be assessed by a panel, all decisions will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Please note: Funding decisions are strongly influenced by the degree of ‘hands on’ participation that the project offers to those involved, i.e. pupils and/or community members.

Who can Apply?
Grants are available to schools, community groups and other non-profit organisations, for environmental projects that have a water focus. These projects should have public benefit rather than private gain.

Project Examples

·	A primary school cleaning up a local stream requires $500 for rubbish bags and skips and $500 for trees to plant on the stream bank

·	An estuary care group restoring a wetland requires $2,000 for earthworks, fencing and pedestrian pathways, bringing together various community groups for implementing the restoration project.

·	Teachers wanting students in their school to participate in a water education programme require $1,000 to purchase testing kits, manuals and native plants

How Much Funding is Available?
Applications for funding of between $1,000 and $5,000 will be considered. Applications requesting more than $5,000 will also be accepted if an exceptional project showing high environmental value is presented.

We suggest that you also investigate the following sources of funding:

·	Sustainable Management Fund

·	Local and Regional Councils

·	Funding Information Service

How to Apply
Fill out the application form (click here to download) and send to:

Email: wtw@nzwwa.org.nz

Post: Grants Administrator
         Where There’s Water
         NZWWA
         PO Box 1316
         Wellington 6140

Please include any supporting documentation.

If your project is successful the information in your application will be used to create a Funding Agreement.

You will also be required to report on the project at least twice in the funding year, and updates will be requested in subsequent years if your project is ongoing.

BOC employees may be able to provide additional assistance to your project. Please contact your local Gas & Gear Manager to discuss opportunities for assistance. You can phone BOC Gas & Gear Centres on 0800 111 333.

We also request that you proactively acknowledge the financial contribution that BOC makes to your project.

2008 Recipients - Be inspired by the projects below!

Henley Trust 2003/Lakeview School, Masterton - Henley Trust 2003/ Lakeview School Tree Planting and Stream Restoration Project
This group has been awarded a grant to continue their work at the Henley Lake Complex of Masterton - a 45 hectare recreational area of tree planted parkland, a 14 hectare lake and two wetland areas. Funding will contribute towards planting the pond edge with nursery trees and the wetland edge with wetland plants. The students from Lakeview School continue to take on more responsibility for the Lake, with students regularly involved in picked up rubbish and taking part in the proposed plantings.

Green Island School, Dunedin - Project Sinclair Wetlands
Green Island School has been working hard to regenerate Wakaraupuku (Ram) Island to encourage wildlife back into the wetlands area. This year the school will be continuing their work during their school camp in September, with further planting and maintenance to their original plots. They will also continue to use their SHMAK resources, available through 2006 WTW funding, to monitor the water quality and demonstrate the benefits their hard work has enabled in improving the water environment.

River-Estuary Care: Waikouaiti-Karitane - Habitat Restoration
The overall activity of this project is focused on contributing to the restoration and maintenance of the Waikouaiti Catchment and Estuary. This project was been a previous recipient of the BOC Where There’s Water funding in 2003. This year funding will contribute towards the planting of native plants by various community groups, as a

part of restoring the original healthy environment of the catchment and estuary, thereby improving the water quality as a focus.

Witherlea Green Gang - Precious Water
The Witherlea Green Gang are an enthusiastic group of students from Witherlea School who have received funding to contribute towards the enhancement of Mackenzie Street Creek in Blenheim. The students have been involved in all aspects of the project including planning and implementation. The BOC Where There’s Water grant will provide funds for plantings and seating for the creek area.

Limehills School Kowhai Reach Committee - Kowhai Reach Circular Track
Limehills School has done some great work in carrying out plantings of the Kowhai Reach area along the meandering Winton Stream in Southland. With the support of the BOC Where There’s Water funding, the group now aims to increase the education value of the project by putting up information boards around the track recreational area, including a focus on the importance of the water environment. There will also be opportunity for the school to link with the EMAP project, to enable monitoring of the water quality of the stream which will increase the focus on the value of the water environment of the area.

RSNZ, Wellington - Environmental Monitoring & Action Project
The Royal Society of New Zealand (RSNZ) has again received a grant to support the EMAP project. This project continues to improve educational opportunities for children and their families, enabling them to take action to improve their freshwater environment. See the EMAP webpage http://www.emap.rsnz.org/. Receipt of the grant will enable RSNZ to work with more schools to deliver water monitoring activities and programs around the country, with the provision of SHMAK resources, large bug boxes and digital thermometers. There will also be great opportunity to link with some of the other BOC Where There’s Water grant recipients.

Papatoetoe High School & Neighbours, Auckland - Papatoetoe Stream Restoration

The Wai Papatoetoe project is a valuable project for students and the community. The project is being funded by the BOC Where There’s Water grants for the second time to contribute towards riparian planting. This will increase stream bank stability and enhance the visual appearance of the Papatoetoe stream waterway. Water monitoring will also take place throughout the project as another opportunity for education and awareness of the water environment. See the latest updates through the blog webpage: http://www.waipapatoetoestreamproject.blogspot.com/

Waihi District Walkways, Coromandel - Extension of Mill Stream Walkway Project

The Waihi District Walkways project has already made considerable progress in developing the Mill Stream Walkway. This year the BOC Where There’s Water funding will contribute towards a planting programme along the length of the stream bank and a wetland area which filters road runoff and acts as natural drainage before entering the Mill stream - to be carried out by various community groups, including a class from a local school.

Rudolf Steiner Wetland Care Group, Tauranga - Rudolf Steiner School Wetland Restoration Project

BOC Where There’s Water funding will contribute towards a great initiative of the Rudolf Steiner School – the purchase of a plant growing unit. This unit will be of educational benefit to the school where students will be responsible for growing trees for planting and contributing towards the restoration of a wetland site at Welcome Bay, Tauranga. Students will learn about plants from seed to tree, and involved in planting them in the wetlands to see the positive impacts of the plants in the water environment. The ongoing educational and practical benefits of this project will be great to see!