$35,000 of Environmental Leaders Fund grants allocated
11 Dec 2024
 |
| Pouto School received $3000 ELF funding for its project Ngā Kaitiaki o Pouto: Wetland Guardians. They are pictured testing water quality. |
Media release | Twenty-three Northland schools and early childhood centres are to share in $35,000 of Northland Regional Council Environmental Leaders Funding for projects ranging from ecosourcing and propagating native plants to a solar panel project.
Council Chair Geoff Crawford says the Environmental Leaders Fund (ELF) aims to support schools and early childhood centres (ECC) with projects that increase their students' knowledge and passion for the environment.
"As we respond and adapt to a changing climate, these projects will help to build climate resilience in our schools and surrounding communities."
Chair Crawford says schools and ECC can apply for up to $3000 each in categories including exploring alternative energy and sustainable transport, improving biodiversity, supporting a circular economy and reducing waste, protecting and preserving water and growing kai.
In total schools had applied for $96,898 in ELF grants, almost three times the available funding.
Successful applicants, their project name and the amount granted are:
- Arapohue School, Bin It! $1500
- Bay of Islands International Academy, Food forest for everyone - Kai Ngahengahe Uru Kahika, $1500
- Dargaville Intermediate School, Solar Innovators, $3000
- Educare Totara Park, Giving Back, $1500
- Kaikohe Christian School, Thorpe Rd Wetland Restoration, $1500
- Kaiwaka School, Our Rongoā Garden, $1500
- Maromaku School, Growing our Mara Kai, $2899
- Maungaturoto Primary School, Maungaturoto School & Community Garden: Growing Together, $3000
- New Shoots Childcare Kerikeri, Growing our own Kai, $1000
- Nga Tamariki o Te Tai Ao, Maara Kai, $2200
- One Tree Point School, Garden to Table, $1500
- Opononi Area School, Food Waste Prevention, $1142
- Oromahoe School, Ecosourcing and propagating native plants, $1000
- Parua Bay School, Solar Panel project, $1500
- Pouto School, Ngā Kaitiaki o Pouto: Wetland Guardians, $3000Riverview School, ‘Roots to Resilience’ Rebuilding our Māra Kai, $1000
- Ruakākā School, Ruakākā School Eco Warriors Compost Project, $1500
- Springbank School, Food Forest, $1500
- Tangiteroria School, Community Mahi - capturing the collaborative effort and the work involved in the project, $2000
- Tauraroa Area School, The Joy of Composting, $700
- Te Hapua School, Native planting and Food forest diversity, $3000
- The Ridge Childcare, Feed Our Mara Kai, $1277.51
- Whangārei Girls High School, Manse St Restoration Project, $1500.
print this story
The Reality of Everything: A sold-out symposium at VUW
Thu 25 Jun 2026
Media release: Victoria University of Wellington | What do rising grocery bills, soaring insurance premiums, food producers under pressure, and growing international instability have in common? According to organisers of The Reality of Everything Symposium in Wellington, they are all part of a much bigger story – one that New Zealanders urgently want to understand.
New map highlights mining threat associated with controversial conservation reforms: Greenpeace
Wed 24 Jun 2026
Media release | Greenpeace has launched an interactive online map exposing the overlap between known deposits of minerals the Government has deemed "critical" and the public conservation land that would be easier to sell off and exploit under the Government's Conservation Amendment Bill.
Sustainability profession ‘comes of age’ – but pressure remains beneath the surface
Wed 24 Jun 2026
Media release: Sustainable Business Council | New research shows the sustainability profession in Aotearoa New Zealand has firmly established itself at the centre of business strategy – but ongoing pressures around capability, career pathways and pay are threatening to stall its progress.
Calder Stewart to invest $110m for solar across industrial portfolio
Tue 23 Jun 2026
Media release | NZ’s largest industrial landowner is preparing one of the country’s most significant industrial rooftop solar rollouts, with Calder Stewart set to invest more than $110 million in solar panels and battery storage across its property portfolio.
High Court hearing highlights the 'shrinking pool' for fisheries research and science
Mon 22 Jun 2026
Media release: Environmental Law Initiative | At the close of a four-day High Court hearing challenging the government’s under-levying of the fishing industry, the Environmental Law Initiative (ELI) says more science, research and observer coverage is needed to protect marine wildlife and ecosystems from the impacts of fishing.
Forest owners call for wider FENZ review as funding changes considered
Mon 22 Jun 2026
Media release - Forest Owners Association | The Government’s review of how Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) is funded should be accompanied by a wider examination of whether FENZ is delivering for rural communities, forest owners say.
Public conservation land maps show risk of sale
18 Jun 2026
Media release | Forest & Bird has today released new maps highlighting public conservation land across Aotearoa New Zealand that could be more exposed to development or sale.
Coromandel protections could be stripped away for mining through hidden law change
17 Jun 2026
Media release| Forest & Bird is warning that a hidden provision in the Government’s Conservation Amendment Bill could strip away long-standing protections and open up parts of the Coromandel Peninsula to mining.
ANZ confronted with petition and video screening after report exposes fossil fuel ties
15 Jun 2026
Media release: 350 Aotearoa | A petition signed by over 3000 New Zealanders was handed over to ANZ, calling on the bank to cut banking services to coal expansion companies. The petition comes as the annual ‘Banking on Climate Chaos’ report has confirmed that ANZ continues to back fossil fuel expansion.
Communities need to prepare for increased landslide risk
12 Jun 2026
Media release: Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha University of Canterbury | New UC-led research shows where future Cyclone Gabrielle-like storms could cause more landslides and how communities can reduce the risk.
