The Urban Rivers and Catchments Program is part of the government’s Nature Positive agenda and will fund projects to conserve native and threatened species and improve the ecological health of urban waterways.

Projects will be funded via two funding streams:

Stream 1: Small to Medium-Specific

Grants for projects with a grant value from $150,000 up to $2 million across one or more defined project sites. This stream will focus primarily on small to medium sized community-based projects (for example local waterway habitat, habitat connectivity, and water quality improvement). Up to 100 per cent of eligible expenditure will be funded for successful applicants.

Stream 2: Large-Specific

Grants for projects with a grant value from $2 million up to $10 million and a total project value of at least $4 million across one or more project sites. This stream will focus primarily on large scale projects (for example re-naturalising concrete channels to create living streams, stormwater filtration through artificial wetlands to improve water quality). Up to 50% of eligible expenditure will be funded for successful applicants.

The objectives of both streams are to:

conserve native plants and animals including EPBC-listed threatened plants and animals in urban, outer urban/peri-urban and regional centres

improve the ecological health of Threatened Ecological Communities and wetlands of international significance – that is, Ramsar sites, in urban, outer urban/peri-urban and regional centres.