Guidelines for applicants
Applying to the Nature Heritage Fund
Preparing Your Application
Processing Your Application
General Information
Applications must be on the Fund's official application form and accompanied by the required supporting material. The original plus six copies (7 in total) of the application form and all supporting material.
In the cases involving land purchase all information provided to the Fund is to be treated as commercially sensitive and should remain confidential between the applicant and the Fund, or those whom the Fund needs to consult in the process.
Nature Heritage Fund application forms can be downloaded from this site or can be obtained from:
The Executive Officer
Nature Heritage Fund
PO Box 10-420
Wellington
Tel: +64 4 471 0726 or Fax +64 4 471-3018
Email NHF-Admin@doc.govt.nz
Applications for funding close:
• 10 February • 30 April • 31 July • 31 October
All applications received by the Fund will be acknowledged and a project number provided.
All correspondence and communications concerning the application to be directed through the Manager, Nature Heritage Fund, PO Box 10420, Wellington and are to quote the project number provided.
Proposals must be in accord with the objectives and aims of the Nature Heritage Fund and need to meet the Funds criteria. Further information can be found in the information section about the Nature Heritage Fund and on the Fund's application form.
Applications should be for "project funding" rather than for administrative overheads or for equipment to be purchased for unspecified projects. Consideration may on occasion be given, on a case-by-case basis, to including reasonable costs of hui, legal advice and protection negotiations.
Applications may seek to obtain approval in principle from the Fund in order for protection negotiations to proceed. Such applications would need to outline a timetable for negotiations and a price range for those negotiations. It is the Fund's policy to negotiate purchases, or use an independent Fund negotiator.
Assessment of applications will be based on the completed application form and associated supporting material. Applicants should therefore take care in the preparation and presentation of this material. The Committee may require further negotiation, for example, on purchase price or may need to undertake inspections of the site, or may require visual/personal presentations by applicants. Grants will be offered to successful applicants after the Committee and Minister of Conservation have considered applications. These grants will be made subject to a number of conditions and successful applicants will be required to complete an acceptance agreement. Payment of grants will be staged until protection has been finalised. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified in writing. Unsuccessful applicants may be invited to amend their applications and resubmit them for further consideration.
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Applications are to be prepared on the current Nature Heritage Fund application form addressing each of the Fund's criteria guided by the statements and questions included in the appendices of the application form.
In addition to the supporting material requested on the application form, colour photographs of the area to be protected and maps giving a strategic overview of the general area showing existing protected areas and other areas under consideration for protection should be provided. It helps if property and proposal boundaries are marked on the photographs.
A statement should be provided as to how the application sits within Government's national protection priorities for protecting rare and threatened native biodiversity on private land under the New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy. This is not an inclusive criteria but a factor that the Fund takes into account in relation to the New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy.
Download Protecting our Places: Introducing the national priorities for protecting rare and threatened native biodiversity on private land brochure (PDF, 288K) from the New Zealand Biodiversity website.
Where there is a formal regional protection strategy, the application should indicate an assessment, or commentary with respect to the strategy.
As a matter of policy the NHF Committee will recommend approval of acquisition proposals as scenic reserve under the Reserves Act 1977 and covenant proposals as conservation covenants under the Reserves Act 1977. Exceptions to such status will be considered if justification is provided in the application.
NHF standard covenant conditions are to be included in all covenant agreements funded by NHF. Details will be provided by the Fund.
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Applications are initially assessed to ensure the meet the Fund's criteria and further information may be requested if necessary.
Consultation with the Department of Conservation may take place in cases where Crown management, or ownership is proposed.
Applications that meet the Fund's criteria are considered by the Nature Heritage Fund Committee which meets two to four times a year. The Committee is a technical advisory Committee appointed by the Minister of Conservation under section 56 of the Conservation Act 1987. Because funding is contestable applications are assessed on an ecological basis according to national priority. The Committee may request further information if necessary.
The Committee submits their recommendation/s to the Minister for his/her decision and to authorise funding.
Applicants will be notified in writing of the Minister's decision
In most cases the Fund will negotiate any purchase of land.
The Minister reserves the exclusive right to issue media statements concerning individual NHF projects.
Successful applicants having an ongoing role in the project will be required to provide monthly progress reports until project completion in a format provided by the Fund.
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Because the Fund operates in a highly competitive commercial land purchase market it is important that all information is provided to the Fund in confidence.
The Fund reserves the right to disclose any information provided in the application in the process of assessing applications and negotiating purchases to consultants, the Department of Conservation, or other parties it considers necessary.
Because public disclosure of information, lobbying or pre-negotiation may prejudice the outcome of the application, applicants are not to disclose information provided in the application to other parties without the express permission of the Fund.
In cases where the applicant is not the landowner care should be taken if discussing potential purchases with the landowner. Applicants should be careful not to raise landowner's expectations, disclose information or to enter into direct negotiation that may prejudice the outcome of their application to the Fund.
Funding application should not be for:
- commercially-oriented projects including subdivision of land where protection of natural areas is a condition of a resource consent, or those projects involving the immediate or future production of indigenous timber;
- projects which are appropriately funded for water and soil purposes by Regional Councils;
- projects which are ordinarily the responsibility of local and regional government.
Please note that the Nature Heritage Fund does not provide funding for restoration projects, nor does it provide funds for the administration/management of projects.
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