Smartgroup has had a Carbon Offset Program in place since 2008, contributing to the fight to protect our climate with the help of our vehicle leasing customers who offset their carbon emissions.
Those who opt to be part of our program make a regular fortnightly donation – taken automatically as part of their vehicle salary packaging deductions.
A partner in our program since the very start, Greenfleet Australia, has been working hard on a number of projects across Australia and their work at Koala Crossing in South East Queensland has been especially incredible.
Australia’s first carbon offset provider
Smartgroup was thrilled to partner with Greenfleet in 2008, and 13 years later, we’re proud of what we’ve achieved together. So far, we’ve directly supported 55 projects with Greenfleet. Since we launched the program in 2008, Smartgroup’s leasing customers have helped to donate over $10 million dollars to Greenfleet projects which have contributed to the planting of over 2 million trees.
An important home for koalas
Located in South East Queensland, Koala Crossing covers about 650 hectares near Flinders Peak. It also makes up a section of the Flinders-Karawatha Corridor - a stretch of continuous open eucalypt forest that’s the biggest of its kind in the region.
Greenfleet focused on a number of connected properties purchased by the Queensland Trust For Nature (QTFN), stretching about 95 hectares. Land that had been cleared for cattle grazing in previous decades.
The chief aim: improve biodiversity and bring back the habitat for the koala (and other vulnerable native species).
In the region, the koala had suffered a devastating loss of numbers in the previous decades. In 2015, figures from the South East Queensland Koala Population Modelling Study* found that in parts of South East Queensland more than 80 per cent of the koala population had disappeared since 1996.
Critical reforestation at Koala Crossing
Greenfleet has managed to plant just under 100,000 native trees, made up of 30 different local species.
One in particular is the Queensland Blue Gum, which is preferred as a food source by koalas, and certain insects and birds.
As a result of the hard work and effort, surveys have shown that the koala population on the land is increasing. Not only that, other threatened native species are also able to call the area home, such as the Brush Tailed Rock Wallaby.
Of course, it’s not just about the restoration of critical wildlife habit (important as that is) – the environmental impact has also been immense. Across its lifetime, Greenfleet expects the forest to take in about 100,000 tonnes of equivalent carbon emissions from the atmosphere.
Learn more about Smartgroup’s Carbon Offset Program
If you’d like to find out how you can get involved (or just learn a little more about the program), click here.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia. We pay our respect to them, and to Elders past, present and future.
References:
*South East Queensland Koala Population Modelling Study