Australia Forest Industries Climate Change Research Fund

Forest Industries Climate Change Research Fund
– July 26, 2010

1. Overview
The Australian Government is committed to ensuring Australia meets its responsibilities in facing the global challenge of climate change.
Climate change has significant implications for Australia’s forests and forest industries. The Australian Government, as part of its 2007 election commitments, has provided $8 million in government grants over three financial years from 2008–09 to 2010–11 to address major knowledge gaps about the impacts of climate change on forestry and forest industries. The forest industries ministerial advisory committee, the Forest and Wood Products Council, has assisted in identifying priorities for investment.
As part of this commitment, the Australian Government will provide $5 million in government grants through the Forest Industries Climate Change Research Fund, which will commence in 2009-10 and cease on 30 June 2011.
These guidelines provide details on the Forest Industries Climate Change Research Fund program, which is to be administered by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (the department).
2. Purpose and aim of the program
The Forest Industries Climate Change Research Fund will provide $5 million in government grants in one round of funding to address major knowledge gaps about the impact of climate change on forestry and forest industries in Australia.
Through research, this government grant program will assist the industry to better understand the implications of climate change and build industry capacity to adapt to predicted scenarios and capitalise on emerging mitigation opportunities.
Addressing knowledge gaps will assist commercial forest planners and managers to better manage their forest assets in a changing environment. Generating information and developing tools and expertise will assist sustainability benefits to flow through the value chain and contribute to growth and development in forestry dependent communities.
Projects funded through this program aim to achieve the following outcomes:
Forest industry stakeholders are better able to adapt to changed climatic conditions through the availability of new technologies and techniques which encourage different practices
Forest industry stakeholders are better equipped with the knowledge, tools and strategies to manage their emissions, including a greater ability to participate in the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme
Forest industry stakeholders and forestry dependant communities better understand the range of climate change impacts and the future implications for their enterprise and region.
Collaborative research projects involving industry, scientific and government organisations are supported. This will ensure that relevant expertise and experience is brought together so that commercial realities are taken into account in achieving outcomes and improve the transition from applied research to demonstration and implementation of commercial applications.
3. Delivery of the program
This program is a competitive government grants program. Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from research providers will be assessed on a competitive basis by an independent assessment panel including relevant experts from the industry, scientific and government sectors.
In assessing EOIs, the panel will draw upon work completed to date to ensure that projects sufficiently advance the forest industries’ understanding of the implications of climate change, the ability to adapt to predicted climate scenarios, to manage emissions, and capitalise on emerging mitigation opportunities.
Based on the assessment by the independent panel, proponents of highly ranked EOIs will be invited to prepare full project proposals. The department will negotiate these project proposals with the proponents. Finalised research project proposals will also be sent to the Rural Research and Development Council for consideration. The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry will be responsible for the final approval of projects under this program.
Larger scale collaborative projects with cross sectoral applications, and which combine the efforts of a number of eligible parties in consortia, are strongly encouraged.
Government grants from this program will generally be up to $500,000. Higher grants may be considered in special circumstances where collaborative and integrated projects seek outcomes that will apply across the whole industry. Some very specific projects in priority areas will not require the full available allocation. The funding will be provided on the basis of cash and in-kind co-contributions by proponents. Funding from other Australian or state/territory government sources, research institutions and industry partners will be accepted as an applicant’s contribution to a project.
Government grants under this program will complement not duplicate, other research initiatives.
Government grants will be paid when an applicant completes each milestone specified in a negotiated Funding Deed. The program will end on 30 June 2011. Approved projects must be delivered by 30 May 2011, in order to ensure final funding is paid before 30 June 2011.
4. Who is eligible?
To be eligible to apply for government grant funding, you must satisfy the following criteria:
1. Your organisation must be able to provide, upon request, professionally prepared financial statements demonstrating your ability to fund your share of project costs
2. The proposed project must primarily involve new work
3. The proposed work must be completed and reported by 30 May 2011
4. Your EOI must address the assessment criteria
5. The proposed work must not duplicate other research activity
6. EOI proponents must be an Australian registered company or research agency, for example:
Peak national or state forestry organisations
Australian, state or territory government agency
Australian tertiary education institution
Australian Cooperative Research Centre
Australian registered business or registered industry group
Australian public sector research agency
Australian private, not for profit, research organisation.
5. What activities are eligible for funding?
Project proposals need to address major knowledge gaps about the impact of climate change on forestry, forest industries and forestry dependent communities in Australia, while providing skills, knowledge or strategies to help industry address these issues and respond to the challenges and opportunities arising from climate change.
Priority areas for addressing knowledge gaps for the industry include, but are not limited to:
Adaptation
Further research, which will allow all commercial forest sectors, forest planners and managers, and forestry dependent communities, to better adapt to climate change is a priority. The fund will support research in the following area:
Development of diagnostic tools and techniques to determine when (and what) specific management intervention is required to respond to the threats and opportunities of climate change. This will include but will not be limited to determining interactions between; increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, changed rainfall regimes, water availability, fire risk, incidence and severity of pests and disease outbreaks; and forest enterprises, to inform the development of management systems and intervention options
Develop methods to identify critical infrastructure necessary for the industry where viability is at risk from climate change
Develop, provide and facilitate farm forestry and other regional-scale tree planting and sustainable forest management options, which can be used in the business models of forestry, agricultural and other land use sectors as a means of adaptation.
Mitigation
As a sequesterer of carbon, the forestry sector has opportunities to make contributions to the national climate change mitigation effort. Projects on mitigation techniques and technologies which attempt to integrate economic and social analysis are strongly encouraged as it would assist in informing the development of commercial applications.
Mitigation priorities include:
Expanding and strengthening the dataset underpinning the fate of carbon in harvested wood products during use and after disposal; and demonstrating how net emissions from harvested wood products could be recognised within international carbon trading protocols
Research and demonstration projects that identify and investigate opportunities to reduce emissions and improve carbon sequestration potential in the industry, and determining the social and economic implications of these opportunities
Develop measures to identify and address critical bottlenecks to greater use of recycled wood and paper products
Bioenergy
Bioenergy currently contributes just 0.5% to Australia’s total electricity supply, with energy generation from wood related waste and residues occurring on a very small scale. The Australian biofuels industry is also small, supplying less than 0.5% of Australia’s transport fuel. Research projects may be considered that promote the development and deployment of sustainable bioenergy generation based on forest industries resources on a commercial scale. Projects that identify required resources to realise the opportunities presented by bioenergy may also be considered.
Inventory and data
A basic level of information about the forestry and forest products industry is required urgently to establish a benchmark against which the results of strategies addressing the challenges and opportunities faced by the industry from climate change may be assessed in the future. A stocktake of existing relevant data sets and a gaps analysis of existing baseline data have been undertaken. The Data Gaps Overview is available from the Secretariat by request. A priority is to fill the data gaps so that quantitative analyses on climate change responses can be undertaken in the future.
Projects demonstrating the results and integration of applied research will be considered. The assessment panel will seek to balance the level of investment across priority areas.
6. What activities are not eligible for funding?
Government grant funding will not be provided for:
Projects that look at non production forests
Capital expenditure for the purchase of assets such as office furniture and equipment, motor vehicles, computers, printers, photocopiers, construction, renovations and utilities
Any cost incurred prior to the commencement date of a Funding Deed with the Commonwealth
Staff relocations costs
Administration/overhead and infrastructure costs
Travel and living expenses
Hospitality/catering costs
Costs involved in the purchase/upgrade of software including licences
Costs associated with the protection or patenting of intellectual property
Feasibility projects/studies
Costs associated with market research for products or research carried out by surveys to assess the size of the market and/or the price of a particular service or product
Costs associated with activities of a distinctly commercial or proprietary nature that are aimed at selling or attracting investment
Costs associated with product development and the building or production of commercial prototypes
Marketing campaigns
Projects funded solely by other Australian Government programs.
Expressions of interest close on 20 August 2009