The environmental charity controversially handed record funding from the federal government will give $42 million to traditional owners for the health of the Great Barrier Reef.
The funding equates to about 10 per cent of the $444 million grant the charity received from the federal government last year, despite not applying for it or having an investment plan.
Great Barrier Reef Foundation managing director Anna Marsden says the money will help boost existing activities, including tagging turtles, cleaning beaches, monitoring the health of waterways and remediating the land and the sea.
"Traditional owners have an enduring connection to the reef and have been working to conserve and restore it for generations," Ms Marsden said in a statement on Thursday.
The foundation says the funding will build on work currently being done by more than 200 indigenous rangers and 70 sea country groups within the reef catchment.
The charity is aiming to privately fundraise to increase its platform to $800 million.
In its investment strategy the GBRF has also pledged $201 million towards water quality, $57.8 million for crown of thorns starfish control, $100 million for reef restoration, $10 million for community reef protection and $40 million for monitoring and reporting.
A GBRF spokeswoman told AAP on Thursday the first round of the water quality grants will be announced next month, with $20 million up for grabs.
The charity has also opened up applications for citizen scientists under the community reef protection part of its plan, with a total of $700,000 available for projects.
Grant application dates are yet to be finalised for other parts of the charity's investment strategy.
The little-known charity found itself in the spotlight last year after it was revealed there had been no tender process for the record grant.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has taken responsibility for the decision, saying that as treasurer he wanted the most effective way to make a "significant and urgent" commitment to the reef.
The Senate's environment committee is investigating how the Great Barrier Reef Foundation received the grant last April.
A report from its inquiry was originally due last August, but will now be handed down on February 13, possibly following more public hearings and submissions.
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