Rabobank’s Rabo Community Fund has partnered with bee awareness organisation, the Wheen Bee Foundation, to support its Trees for Bees Community Tree Grants program. The program provides funding to community groups and organisations to increase vital habitat – providing spaces for bees to forage, live and breed.
The specialist food and agribusiness bank – in collaboration with the Wheen Bee Foundation – will provide grants of $500 to support the planting of bee-friendly trees in extended gardens, community-owned land, school grounds, sporting club precincts and urban corridors.
Rabobank community engagement manager Skye Ward said the Community Tree Grants program – which launches as part of this year’s World Bee Day – is open to not-for-profits, schools, Landcare groups, community organisations and sustainability groups.
Ms Ward said this will be the second year the Rabo Community Fund has supported the Wheen Bee Foundation, but the first in this capacity – and the Trees for Bees Community Trees Grants “aligns perfectly with the fund’s community ethos”.
With an estimated one in three mouthfuls of food pollinated by bees or insects, bees are fundamental to agricultural productivity and the food supply chain, Ms Ward said. “And as a bank focused on supporting our client’s farming businesses, we are proud to support a grassroots program that aims to protect and nurture these essential pollinators.”
With a dedicated pool of funding for national and local initiatives, the Rabo Community Fund supports meaningful community projects. Since its launch in 2021, the fund has invested more than $4 million in projects to help address key agribusiness and community challenges.
“As a global cooperative, founded by farmers, Rabobank has a long history of community engagement and now, thanks to our Rabo Community Fund, we can make an even bigger impact in the communities where our clients live,” Ms Ward said.
“From supporting environmental sustainability programs – like the Trees for Bees Community Tree Grants, to health checks in remote areas, providing agri-educational resources for schools and hosting succession planning and financial skills workshops for over 770 farmers, our impact has been far-reaching.”
Wheen Bee Foundation CEO Fiona Chambers said the Trees for Bees Community Tree Grant program is an important part of the Foundation’s efforts to create lasting habitat for Australia’s bees and strengthen local communities.
“The grants are always incredibly popular, with hundreds of applications from communities keen to take action for bees,” Ms Chambers said.
“It’s fantastic to be able to back even more projects this year, with the support of Rabobank’s Rabo Community Fund, and to see that enthusiasm continue to grow.
“The program is about more than planting trees. It creates real, lasting habitat for bees, while bringing people together and building a stronger understanding of the role pollinators play in our food systems and environment.”
In addition to supporting the Trees for Bees Community Tree Grants program, Rabobank will also be supporting the Foundation’s Centre for Bee Education. The bank will fund 20 Centre for Bee Education Learning Kits – providing learning resources, information sheets and lesson plans for educators and students to access for hassle-free and engaging learning that fosters a lifelong passion for bees.
The grant applications open on Monday, May 25, and close on Monday, 20 July 2026 at 5pm AEST.
Grant applications can be submitted via the Wheen Bee Foundation website, or the following link – Community Tree Grants. Terms and conditions are available via the link.
For more information or to learn more about the Rabo Community Fund and Rabo Client Councils, visit – Rabo Community Fund | Rabobank Australia
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About us:
Rabobank Australia & New Zealand Group is a part of the international Rabobank Group, the world’s leading specialist in food and agribusiness banking. Rabobank has more than 125 years’ experience providing customised banking and finance solutions to businesses involved in all aspects of food and agribusiness. Rabobank is structured as a cooperative and operates in 35 countries, servicing the needs of more than nine million clients worldwide through a network of more than 1000 offices and branches. Rabobank Australia & New Zealand Group is one of Australasia’s leading agricultural lenders and a significant provider of business and corporate banking and financial services to the region’s food and agribusiness sector. The bank has 87 branches throughout Australia and New Zealand.
