NSW Wildlife Heroes – Wildlife Friendly Vets Grant Program Guidelines

The NSW Wildlife Heroes – Wildlife Friendly Vets Small Asset Grant program is managed by the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife with funding from the New South Wales Government through its Environmental Trust.

The overall purpose of this grant program is to enable veterinary organisations (clinics, mobile clinics and hospitals) that support wildlife rescue and rehabilitation to acquire incubators/humidicribs for use in the treatment of sick or injured native animals.

More specifically, it aims to address the lack of funding for native wildlife care at veterinary practices – vets often treat wildlife free of charge, and often outside of clinic hours, without being eligible for wildlife rehabilitation grants. The provision of small grants for assets such as wildlife incubators can help to increase a vet’s capacity to treat wildlife, while minimising financial stress. Wildlife incubators also allow wildlife to be housed separately, away from domestic animals that may cause distress to native animals.

Overview

Applications open 9.00am 10th January 2022 and close 5.00pm 18th February 2022. All times are in AEDT.
Applicants will be notified of the outcome on March 21st, 2022.

Who is eligible?

Applicants will be eligible for funding if they are:

  • A veterinary clinic, mobile clinic or hospital in NSW registered as a Wildlife Friendly Vet through the Wildlife Heroes project
  • Have endorsement from the organisation’s practice manager, owner, senior staff member or equivalent

Please note: veterinary organisations can register to become a Wildlife Friendly Vet in order to be eligible for funding, see https://wildlifeheroes.org.au/nominate-a-vet/ for registration.

 

Applicants will not be eligible for funding if they are:

  • Not registered as a Wildlife Friendly Vet clinic through the Wildlife Heroes project
  • Based outside of NSW
  • The application is not endorsed by the organisation’s practice manager, owner or senior staff member

Eligible items

Eligible items the grant can pay for:

  • Wildlife incubator/humidicrib/ICU

Examples would be the Vetario T50M or S50 Intensive Care Unit.

Funds Available

In this program the maximum grant available is $3000 per application, with one application only per organisation. Organisations can apply for the cost of one incubator only, up to the maximum amount. Part-funding may be offered if the cost of the incubator requested exceeds the maximum grant amount.

 

The total amount of funds available for allocation under this grant program is $50,000.

 

Please note that if successful, organisations will be required to purchase the incubator specified in their application before the grant payment is made.

Goals of the grant round

The key goal of the grant program is to enable veterinary organisations that support wildlife rescue and rehabilitation to acquire wildlife incubators that can be used in the treatment of native animals.

 

The key output will be to increase the number of veterinary organisations in NSW that have access to a wildlife incubator/humidicrib for use in the care of native animals.

 

The program aims to achieve the following outcomes:

  • Increase the number of wildlife that can be successfully treated in veterinary organisations in NSW
  • Decrease the cost of providing wildlife care to the vet practice

Essential criteria

All applications must comply with essential criteria. Applications that do not confirm the following for their organisation will not be accepted:

  • Have a current ABN and associated bank account
  • Have no outstanding grant reporting requirements with Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife (FNPW) or National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), or money owing to either organisation
  • Have endorsement from the organisations’s practice manager, owner, senior staff member or equivalent
  • Have a valid quote for the wildlife incubator/humidicrib that they wish to purchase at the time of application
  • Be able to obtain their chosen wildlife incubator and submit a final report by June 30, 2022.

Assessment criteria

During the assessment process, the following assessment criteria will be scored:

  • Positive relationships and collaboration with local wildlife rehabilitation groups are demonstrated
  • The need for the grant is clearly justified
  • A predicted increase in capacity to treat wildlife, and benefits to wildlife admitted to the organisation are clearly justified
  • Overall quality of the application

 

Priority will be given to:

  • Organisations that have not previously received funding from FNPW
  • Organisations that treat a large volume of wildlife annually
  • Organisations that are willing to participate in future data collection trial for wildlife rescue through the Wildlife Heroes program.

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Reporting requirements

Successful grantees will be required to meet the following Milestone dates:

  • Milestone 1 – Contract signing: by April 1st 2022
  • Milestone 2 – Purchase of incubator and upload of receipt and invoice: by April 29th 2022
  • Milestone 3 – Final grant report including photos and a story about the asset: by June 30th 2022

No extensions will be granted.

The information provided in the final report will be shareable with the general public, media, government and potential funders, to maintain awareness of the need for and benefits of supporting wildlife emergencies.

 

Grant administration and record keeping

The NSW Wildlife Heroes – Wildlife Friendly Vets Small Asset Grant program will be administered using the online SmartyGrants grant management program. Applications must be made via SmartyGrants.

 

The following documents will also be stored by SmartyGrants:

  • Financial invoices, contracts and acquittal forms
  • Contact details of organisations and grantees
  • Additional documentation required for application assessment and reporting

 

Application process

Applications will only be accepted via the online applications portal, Smarty Grants, from January 10th 2022.