Funding to create ‘greenspots’ in the Cobar area

The Western Local Land Services (Western LLs) team at Cobar will receive $198,885 to create and enhance ‘greenspots’ on six properties in the Cobar area.

The ‘greenspots’ help conserve threatened species which will ultimately have benefits for both the environment and grazing farming families.

The $4 million worth of funding through the NSW Government is aimed at empowering communities to protect and restore local environments.

NSW Department of Planning and Environment’s Contestable Grants Officer Sara Ormond said the 2022ration and Rehabilitation grants help local communities protect the animals and plants that make their regions special.

“Local communities know their local environments better than anyone and they have much to offer when it comes to caring for the ecosystems they love,

“These 23 grants support community groups, non-profit organisations, local councils and state government agencies across NSW to deliver on-the-ground projects to support threatened species recovery and address climate change impacts at a local level.

“The grants are wide-ranging and cover a huge variety of positive environmental actions, such as bush regeneration, erosion control and habitat creation, as well as educational activities including training volunteers and running community workshops.”

Matthew Burgess from Western LLS, said the ‘greenspots’ funding is for a three year project that is taking place around the Cobar area, working with six landholders.

“The main issue in the area is that erosion is draining ephemeral wetlands leaving these parts of the landscape depleted of moisture.

“These wetlands would generally have an abundance of trees and shrubs on their edges where small mammals, such as the dusky hopping mouse, would have survived in drier times,” Mr Burgess explained.

“Gullies are also a problem which have a similar effect in depleting the wider landscape of moisture.

“This project will help fix this issue by constructing earth banks to divert the water away from the gullies back to the land so it ca re-hydrate the landscape and improve the habitat for small mammals.

“Local Land Services will work with the landholders to assess and identify suitable areas and carry out these earthworks.”

The NSW Environmental Trust is an independent statutory body that supports environmental projects through grant funding.