The Tauranga Environment Centre Trust is receiving a $60,000 boost from the government's Community Environment Fund.

Environment Minister Nick Smith was in Tauranga today to make the announcement to the centre's board.

Dr Nick Smith talking with the Tauranga Environment Centre's trustees.

Tauranga Environment Centre Trust chairperson Mary Dillon says the minister's effort does not go unnoticed.

'It's great he took the time to come and see us personally,” says Mary.

During the meeting between the minister and the board, a number of things were discussed including working closely with other organisations and working more efficiently to help protect the environment.

'Environment centres provide valuable support to community initiatives to improve the environment in their areas,” says Nick.

'The Tauranga Environment Centre has a strong reputation for providing practical tips on household sustainability including education on waste reduction and recycling.

'Projects the centre has supported in raising environmental awareness include the Sustainable Backyards programme and the National Jazz Festival.”

Nick also spoke about what he was looking for in the way of environmental projects and what was high up on his priority list when he was looking at funding allocation.

'When it comes time to hand out money, I will be telling people what is expected to come from the grants, encourage them to work with other organisation so individuals aren't reinventing the wheel and educating them around waste and ways of proper disposal.”

The Tauranga Environment Centre is also benefitting from its participation in a study to explore the feasibility of a nationwide environment centre network.

'This network would enable the centres to share ideas and achieve a level of national consistency that will help them better meet the needs of the government and their communities.

'This boost in funding to the Tauranga Environment Centre is part of the government's overall funding increase of $89,000 to the country's 12 environment centres bringing the overall funding this year to $589,000,” says Nick.