Grant Guidelines

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General Requirements

• The primary purpose of the Trust is the maintenance of existing huts and tracks that would not otherwise be undertaken by the Department of Conservation (DOC). In special cases we have contributed to the construction of new huts and tracks where there is agreement between the community and DOC that this is a logical extension of the hut and track network. New facilities are usually delivered with funds that come directly from donations or bequests.
• Your project will be volunteer-led and located on public conservation land administered by DOC. Generally the process to agree on some hut and track maintenance work being carried out is a three way conversation between the land managers (DOC), the funders (BCT) and the group wanting to do the work. This flow sheet gives an idea of how this process works in most situations: DOC process for approving volunteer hut and track work.
• The facilities you are working on will be accessible to the general public, ie. not of a private commercial nature and we cannot fund projects on private land.
• Your project will be consistent with the relevant Conservation Management Strategy and/or any National Park Management Plan.
• Your project will be approved by your local DOC Operations Manager. In some cases you maybe required to sign a management agreement for the hut along with the track to it as an ongoing commitment to the facility. If this is beyond your groups means then talk to the BCT project manager about alternative options.

 
Applying
Funds are generally provided for these broad categories to support volunteer work:

• Materials. Note that the Backcountry Trust has existing sponsorship arrangements with materials suppliers like Placemakers and Kingspan/Thermakraft and DOC has national partnerships with suppliers such as Dulux Paints. In most cases we will be able to get materials for your project at the best price.
• Contractors, where specialist qualifications or experience are required to undertake a task, eg. digger and skilled operator for track construction; consented building work requiring an LBP builder.
• Helicopter transport for volunteers and/or materials.
• Volunteer direct expenses such as food and transport - see guidelines below.
• Hand tools, eg. hand saws, loppers, grubbers, hammers, spades, rakes, grubbers, wheelbarrows etc.
• Equipment hire, eg. generators, power barrows, scaffold etc.
• Safety equipment, eg. eye protection, gloves, ear protection.
• Hire of Emergency Communication devices such as Mountain Radio and/or InReach (usually required in your Health & Safety plan).
• Trail signs, map boards and/or mapping projects.
• Costs associated with applying for resource or building consents.

Quotes

• At lease two quotes are required for any proposed purchase over $3,000. On hut projects, this generally crops up for helicopter transport. We advise selecting the quote best suited to the job, not necessarily the cheapest. Your local BCT Project Manager will provide the best advice on this.
• You may have contacts who can provide 'mates rates'. That helps everyone, but please disclose as a conflict of interest.
• We may request additional quotes or peer review of existing quotes before funding is confirmed.

We are unable to fund:

• Overheads, eg. web hosting, electricity, PO Box fees etc.
• Retrospective applications.
• Alcohol.
• Other conservation work such as pest control - although as an associated activity this will add weight to your application
• Tools, although we may agree to a tool allowance up to $500 for certain projects depending on the project.
• Fire permits for replacing open fires. If an open fire in a hut is to be upgraded to a wood burner by agreement with the department, then the cost of the compliance permit falls to DOC.

Volunteer Reimbursement

• Expected ‘volunteer expense’ costs must be budgeted for in the original application.
  
• In general, no volunteer will be paid a per day or per hour rate for their work.
• Private vehicle use to and from a project may be claimed at 65¢/km (plus GST if registered).
• $25 per night per volunteer can be claimed for extra food when staying overnight.
• The BCT may at its discretion, reimburse the cost of a basic first aid course and certificate for any one member of the project team.
  

Criteria
The Backcountry Trust looks at the following criteria when evaluating each application.

• A clear and achievable outcome such as: “Maintain X hut by carrying out Y repairs and also maintaining Z access track” or “Clear A to B track, improve drainage, install water control and sustainability measures such as grade-reversals and outflow, repair benching, apply surface material, enhance and reinstate trackside flora”.
• The level of volunteer participation and connection being made between the community and a local place.
• It is advantageous if you have raised money from other sources, or have sourced discounted materials or services from a local ‘sponsor’.
• Experience within your team in the type of work you’re proposing is clearly useful. Supporting your application with photos of previous work and any relevant experience/qualifications of your team is always helpful.
• If you’re new to all this, then talk to us so we can suggest some appropriate mentoring to harness your enthusiasm.
• Applications demonstrating wider community benefits (eg. rubbish clean up, native tree planting etc.) and broad community support will be viewed favorably. A priority is given to projects that clearly demonstrate a benefit for a local biodiversity volunteer group working in the backcountry.
• Often DOC will be working in the same area as a volunteer project. Coordinating with DOC, or any other volunteer groups, to allow helicopter transport to back load in materials and/or combined drop offs can help reduce transport costs.

 
Complying
DOC Short term authorisation/Scope of Works Agreement

• All project applications require explicit written permission from DOC signed by the local Operations Manager. Typically for one-off projects this is a letter or email from the local Operations or Area Manager approving the work on the hut or track and outlining the scope of works to be undertaken.
  
• You may also have an enduring Management Agreement with DOC, if so, then please also include that with your application.
• If your project is a hut, then please include a copy of the most recent DOC Inspection Report (if available), or a report  you have done yourself.
• Photos to help describe the location and scope of your project are useful for assessing your application and for reporting/publishing on our web site.

Health and Safety

• Assessing liability under the 2015 Health & Safety at Work act. The act does not subject most independent volunteer groups to the same responsibilities which are placed on people and organisations involved in paid work. If your club or group does have paid staff organising the work, then it is clear that you need to comply with the act as if you were in employed work, and this responsibility extends to any volunteer workers. If the activity involves a paid contractor onsite with volunteers, then it is clear that the contractor sets the Health and Safety plan and the volunteers onsite must comply with this (this may mean the contractor will not accept volunteers using, for example, power tools which in a standard independent volunteer situation they may be competent at using). To assess whether your planned activity has a liability under the law, Worksafe provides the following guidance: Information for volunteers.
• Independent Volunteer Groups working on Public Conservation Land still have an obligation to plan and think through how they are going to carry out the volunteer work safely and competently. In short, you are still responsible for your safety, carrying out the work safely and for watching out for the other people involved in the activity. A certain level of pre-planning is implicit in being able to do this. The Backcountry Trust has worked with the Department of Conservation to develop a template to guide groups with putting together a safety plan. If you need a bit of help with this you can develop one by using the basic template or pdf template.
• Your Health and Safety Plan needs to be viewed and accepted by DOC. Once this has been signed by both parties it then needs to be sent to the Backcountry Trust for our records.

Hut and Track Standards
All hut and track work must meet the relevant NZ or DOC backcountry  standards. (Note: that the current DOC Hut Service Standards are being reviewed and this process is expected to be completed in early 2020).

• DOC Hut Service Standards
• SNZ Tracks and Outdoor Visitor Structures Handbook
• Track Maintenance Guide
• Mountain Bike Trail Design Guidelines

 
Conditions
The applicant is expected to:

• Meet any and all conditions and/or deadlines agreed to with the Trust.

• Start and complete the project within the agreed time. You may negotiate an extension if confronted with reasonable delays such as adverse weather.
• Claim no more than the total sum granted, for the approved items and activities. If your project is heading over budget contact the manager at the BCT to discuss whether you are eligible for a top up to the Grant.
• Provide a short report using our example to help the BCT meet its reporting requirements to DOC. This will include for example, the number of volunteers, volunteer hours, number of organisations involved, kilometres of track maintained and level of other funding obtained.
• Provide before and after photos of the hut or track, and of your crew. These may be freely used by the Trust for publicity.
• Agree that work is carried out to Department of Conservation standards appropriate to the backcountry zone the facility is in.