You are here

Bonus for Wheatbelt communities

 Nearly $100,000 will be spent over the next couple of weeks improving rivers, creeks, bush land, communities and schools in the WA Wheatbelt. The successful applicants of Wheatbelt NRM’s Community Small Grants scheme have been announced. Recipients included the Avonvale Primary School, Koorda Community Resource Centre and the Quairading LCDC. Also successful were the Toodyay Friends of the River, Beacon Progress Association and the Shire of York and Friends of Mt Brown group. Wheatbelt NRM’s Kerry Skinner said the program was designed to improve school and community participation of natural resource management. “This money will be spent on a broad range of projects from establishing bush tucker gardens to the purchase of tree planters,” Kerry Skinner said. “Two major projects focus on educating school children on growing native species and learning how to better manage our natural environment. “This is being undertaken by the Men of Trees and the Public Education Endowment Trust through its Treemendous Trees program. “We’ll also continue to work with the not-for-profit group Millennium Kids, an organisation set up by children who want more of a say in their environment.” The grants will also see students at Northam Senior High School extend their bush tucker garden to include bush medicine. Thanks to the Wheatbelt NRM program, farmers will also be able to receive training to learn more about integrating trees and tree crops into their farming systems. This will be done through a WA Wheatbelt Forest Growers coordinated Australia Master Tree Growers Program. Media contact: Kerry Skinner, Wheatbelt NRM, 9690 2254 or 0427 902 265.