WIRES is proud to celebrate the impact for wildlife delivered by WIRES' National Grants Program across Australia over the last five years.

WIRES has awarded over $4 million in funding to support 369 wildlife projects nationally.

For five years the program has focused on increasing the capacity of the national wildlife rescue and rehabilitation sector for wildlife emergency response, wildlife rescue, and wildlife rehabilitation, and supported wildlife projects designed to deliver improved long-term outcomes for native species.

Many grants have focused on the provision of specialist rescue and care equipment. Examples of critical items funded include: ICU's, incubators, diagnostic tools, triage facilities, aviaries, soft-release yards, quarantine facilities, PPE, rescue equipment, nest boxes, and artificial hollows.

WIRES CEO, Leanne Taylor described the impact of this investment in capacity building saying: “These grants represent our commitment to supporting the dedicated wildlife carers and rescue organisations on the frontline of animal welfare. Every piece of equipment funded through this program will directly improve survival outcomes for injured, sick, and orphaned native wildlife.”

Project categories and species supported include the following, and many projects were designed to support multiple species and categories:

• 194 rescue equipment projects

• 118 facility projects

• 83 bird projects

• 76 macropod projects eg kangaroos and wallabies

• 64 koala projects

• 63 flying-foxes and bat projects

• 34 habitat recovery projects

• 32 wombat projects

• 22 gliders projects

• 20 marine wildlife projects

• 18 nest box and burrow projects

• 10 platypus projects

• 7 frog projects

Due to the success of the program WIRES has extended our commitment to the National Grants Program to 2030, and the opening dates for annual applications will be kept up to date on our National Grants page.

📷 NGP 2021 - The Hawkesbury-Nepean Platypus Project, Western Sydney University

📷 NGP2022 - Conmurra Native Carnivor Conservation & Rehabilitation Centre, Conmurra Wildlife Sanctuary

 📷 NGP 2023 - Seabird Rehabilitation Facility Upgrade, Friends of Bonorong