2026 call for projects now open

Projects to support farm forestry and agroforestry in Australia.

Forestry Australia is seeking proposals for projects that will support farm forestry and agroforestry in Australia. The funding is made available through the Forestry Australia’s Grower Reserve Fund, with up to $10,000 available per project.

The purpose of the Grower Fund is to support projects that meet one or more of the following criteria:

Benefit Forestry Australia’s forest grower members, particularly those engaged in small to medium scale enterprises including farm forestry and agroforestry.
To provide resources, produce educational information or undertake projects to support forest growing.
To support Forestry Australia members and branches to conduct field days, mini-conferences, seminars on forest growing.
To increase the number of grower members of Forestry Australia and,
To support and encourage Australians to grow more trees.

Project principles & selection criteria

Applications for projects supported from the Grower Reserve Fund will be considered according to the following principles:

Clearly promoting the interests of private growers and advocating for improvements in legislation, policy, codes of practice and other instruments that affect tree growing and private forestry.
Encouraging interaction and communication between members and the development of expanded networks.
Enabling growth in grower membership of Forestry Australia.
Being accessible to a broad range of members, while recognising the need to cater for diversity in regional settings and grower interests throughout Australia.
Providing longevity of benefit to members by making information available through stable and secure platforms such as websites, searchable databases and bibliographies.
Opportunities to maintain and grow the fund will be pursued to the extent that resources allow and where these are consistent with the principles of Forestry Australia.

Please note: The Grower Reserve Fund will generally not be used to cover expenses that could reasonably be expected to be met from other sources – e.g. catering or food costs for meetings and events that can be recouped via an event cover charge.

Proposals will be evaluated by the Forestry Australia Grower Committee and Board on the basis of the following selection criteria:

Demonstrated experience and expertise in Farm Forestry
Outcomes and value of the project to forest growers
Capacity to deliver
Demonstrated understanding of the reserve fund criteria

Proposal

Please provide a proposal of no more than 4 pages that includes the following elements:

A project plan that includes:
o Details of the project
o It’s expected outcomes and deliverables
o Key dates
o How it links to the reserve fund purpose
A detailed budget including a proposed schedule for the release of the funds.
Key personnel involved in the project. Will the project be undertaken by a company, organisation or individual?
Declarations of interest
A statement that endorses your commitment to Forestry Australia’s Code of Conduct
Will public liability insurance be covered by the applicant? Noting that Forestry Australia Branch activities are covered by Forestry Australia’s public liability insurance

Project governance

Forestry Australia’s Board will approve all projects and Forestry Australia’s Grower Committee will consider and provide oversight to all projects.

A final project report including budget expenditure will be required at the conclusion of the Project, with brief written progress updates provided to the Grower Committee every quarter.

For information or queries please contact Lauren Hayward, Growers secretary at growers@forestry.org.au