Janie Stevenson, who oversees MOWS' education programme, says some of the money will go towards the programme.
''It will enable some other schools from our core contract with Western Bay of Plenty District Council to be involved in our education programme,'' she says.
''It adds to our ability to be able to take on extra schools and tops up our education funding so we can provide more for our current schools which is fantastic.''
Janie says there are changes to the programme about to be put in place.
''So, we can have some catchment based activities so that we can expand our current education programme and be providing some new ecosystem learning for our schools and some new environments for them to explore.''
Te Whakakaha Trust works to restore the natural vegetation and reduce pests in a former quarry site, Otawa Sanctuary, off No 3 Rd.
The land is administered by the Department of Conservation and is the site where a population of endangered Hochstetters frogs was discovered by a Te Puke Forest & Bird field trip in 1992.
Its grant will be used to meet operations costs over the next two years and to buy equipment.
An application for funding for these and five other groups was approved in September.
Facilitated by Bay Conservation Alliance (BCA), the application pulled together the various needs of BCA and seven of its member groups into one collective submission.
The joint funding application was the second of its kind to be received by TECT, with a similar submission made by BCA in 2019.
BCA is an organisation that supports community-led environmental restoration and nature conservation.
The charity works to reduce the administration load on its members, supporting them with tasks like financial management, communications and marketing, volunteer recruitment and management, fundraising, advocacy, and project management.
Bay Conservation Alliance CEO Michelle Elborn says it is constantly obvious that the back-end administration of any charitable work can be taxing.
"So, for us to be able to offer some support to lighten the load on things like website development, funding applications, or organising volunteer systems means the group volunteers can enjoy the hands-on stuff more."
Michelle says having one application has been a game-changer.
"This is such a valuable opportunity to reduce the admin burden on our member groups. By BCA coordinating one funding application on behalf of multiple groups, it becomes a win-win for everyone.
"We can support our groups to understand what funding options match their needs and hopefully give TECT some further assurance their investment is well placed and supported.
"It feels fantastic to receive this multi-year funding a second time around. Work in the environment is ongoing, and so to have certainty of project funds beyond a year is so reassuring. And again, it reduces the admin load, meaning the focus can be on the real work on the ground – so thank you, TECT."
