Environmental Leaders Fund
This year’s Environmental Leaders Fund is open from Monday 4 August - Sunday 28 September 2025.
The Environmental Leaders Fund (ELF) aims to support schools and early childhood centres with projects that increase their students' knowledge and passion for the environment. As we respond and adapt to a changing climate, these projects will help to build climate resilience in our schools and surrounding communities.
Applications can be made online from Monday 4 August - Sunday 28 September 2025.
A link to the application form will be available on 4 August.
When completing the application form, you'll need to have:
- details of your project
- breakdown of the funding requested
- answers to the criteria questions.
Please see the ‘entry criteria’ document for more details.
The Environmental Leader's Fund now has an increased focus on climate action. We are looking for applications for projects that fall into one or more of the following categories:
- Learning to lead in a changing climate
- Getting around sustainably
- Restoring native plants and animals
- Rethinking waste
- Protecting and preserving water
- Growing kai
If you interested in funding and support for traps and pest control in your school or centre, please contact our Education team directly - E: education@nrc.govt.nz or P: 0800 002 004 as funding for traps isn’t included in ELF.
We only have limited funding available, so we cannot guarantee all applications will be successful.
We have a limit of $3000 available per project, as well as a total budget of $35k for the Environmental Leaders Fund.
We will provide a document with detailed information on the judging criteria when the fund opens on 4 August.
Yes! Here are a few projects that were granted funding from the Environmental Leaders Fund last year.
No, only one application will be accepted per school / centre.
No, we encourage you to work with community groups in your local area.
Applicants will be advised of funding decisions in November 2025. Funding will be processed on receipt of an official invoice, which must be from the school / centre awarded the funding.
We require a project completion report from all successful projects by 31 December 2026.
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4 August 2025Applications open.
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28 September 2025Applications close.
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November 2025Notify applicants of outcomes. Invoices received from successful school.
You will need to provide photo evidence of the completed project. We will also provide a questionnaire for you to complete with information about the project.
Contact:
The Environmental Leaders Fund Team
E: elf@nrc.govt.nz | P: 0800 002 004