$3.54 million from the Ministry for Primary Industries' Earthquake Recovery Fund will support 8 community projects that help farmers and growers determine what to do with their land following the November 2016 earthquake.
The fund was set up to support the Hurunui, Kaikōura and Marlborough regions who face significant erosion and damaged land and needed support to investigate long-term land use options.
"We are pleased to award funding to 8 successful applicant groups, all of which were of a high calibre and will contribute significantly to the regions' recovery. The funded projects cover a variety of industries such as sheep and beef, dairy, viticulture, and seafood,” says MPI's Director-General Martyn Dunne.
"The funding will be provided over 3 years and the community groups will report back to us on their progress annually. All projects must share their findings and learnings with the community they are representing – this way everyone can benefit and make progress together as the region recovers."
The fund was split into 2 options. The first being the project funding for community groups, and the second being advisory services funding for landowners and land managers.
"Following an expressions of interest phase, we have now produced a list of preferred suppliers of advisory services. Land owners and land managers in the Hurunui, Kaikōura and Marlborough regions can use a supplier from the list to support them with long-term land use planning and technical advice."
"$1 million is allocated to providing professional advisory services. This will provide up to 200 land owners and land managers with up to $5,000 each," says Mr Dunne.
The remaining $460,000 of the $5 million Earthquake Recovery Fund will cover earthquake recovery related work that isn't covered by the 8 community projects such as precision agriculture and resilience planning.