The Manitoba government is making up to $8.6 million available for Manitoba-based groups to support conservation projects through the Conservation Trust, GROW Trust, and Wetlands GROW Trusts.
“The permanent endowment funds we have created ensure we are able to invest in worthy projects year after year, no matter the financial pressures Manitoba faces,” said Manitoba’s Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Blaine Pedersen. “The work being accomplished through these funds is ensuring Manitoba remains Canada’s cleanest, greenest, and most climate-resilient province.”
The trusts support projects that enhance ecological goods and services on working landscapes through activities such as wetland restoration, small water retention projects, and grassland and tree planting. Over time, these activities will increase resilience to the impacts of climate change by delivering projects on the ground that reduce flooding, improve water quality, sequester carbon, restore soil health and enhance wildlife habitat.
Eligible applicants are able to apply in six funding categories:
- GRowing Outcomes in Watersheds (GROW);
- watersheds projects separate from GROW;
- habitats and wildlife;
- soil health;
- innovation and conservation planning; and
- connecting people to nature.
The Made-in-Manitoba Climate and Green Plan calls for the establishment of a trust to provide long-term and stable support to conservation efforts throughout the province. The Conservation Trust was created by Manitoba in 2018 with a $102-million contribution to an endowment fund established at The Winnipeg Foundation to generate annual revenues for conservation projects. Two additional trusts, the GROW Trust and the Wetlands GROW Trust, have also been created, bringing Manitoba’s total investment in these trusts to $204 million.
The Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation manages the granting programs that administer revenue for the trusts.
For further information on the trusts and details on the application process and criteria, click here.
