Greenfleet has been restoring legally protected, native forests for over 27 years. We deliver critical climate action by restoring native forests and by doing so, we are economically supporting regional communities through our revegetation operations.
We have staff based in regional areas and wherever we can, we purchase, hire, and source locally, from native plant nurseries, tree planting and restoration specialists, machinery and equipment contractors, and ecological consultancies.
In 2024, Greenfleet invested over $3 million regionally, helping to stimulate economies and creating demand for local industries.
“Greenfleet has been a heavy investor in regional Australia for over twenty-fiveyears, so we are a very strong supporter of local communities,” said Greenfleet CEO Wayne Wescott, “being fully funded by individuals and organisations that want to see local, authentic climate action, it is vital that we deliver our work in this way”.
Our native reforestation projects spread across Australia and into New Zealand. While we have regionally based Project Managers within our Revegetation Team, our partnerships with local forestry services are also invaluable to Greenfleet’s work.
Paul Dettmann is the founder and Managing Director of Cassinia Environmental, an organisation focussed on landscape restoration and biodiversity protection. Greenfleet has worked with Cassinia for many years revegetating parts of Victoria and helping to restore ecosystems in those areas. For these projects, the importance of local support goes beyond growing and planting native trees.
From seed collectors to earth movers to local farmers, Paul says there are many people who benefit from the employment opportunities provided by our joint projects. Specialty earth work and weed management teams within these communities are also critical in ensuring the success of a new forest.
Paul reflects that there is “no way to separate the local communities and the projects that we work on together,” and that there is often economic benefit to communities from our joint projects.
This project is called Ledcourt, located near the Grampians in Victoria. It is being delivered in conjunction with Cassinia Environmental.
Investing locally also decreases the need for extensive travel when sourcing trees and services needed for our work. Where possible, we buy, hire and source as locally as we can. This is important to us from an environmental perspective and, as a not-for-profit organisation, it also helps ensures that our supporter funds are delivering the best outcomes possible.
In addition to the environmental benefits of our work, we aim to continue to maintain strong relationships with our regional teams and suppliers. Through this, we hope we can continue to bring benefits to the local communities and economies that we work in.
Our regional investments also allow us to provide direct economic benefit to Traditional Owner communities. For example, on Kabi Kabi Country in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, we are delivering an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) with the Kabi Kabi Peoples Aboriginal Corporation.
Together with Kabi Kabi people, Greenfleet has developed a new carbon offset with cultural and social co-benefits that are verified by the Aboriginal Carbon Foundation. The creation of these offsets ensure that we are providing economic support to the Kabi Kabi people while taking critical steps to protect our climate.
In partnership with Noosa District Landcare, we are also seeking to offer employment opportunities and traineeships that will help Traditional Owners work on Country. In 2024, two of Kabi Kabi people were part of the program participants.
Greenfleet is fully funded by our individual and corporate supporters, choosing to take climate action and restore our forests. You can learn more about our partnerships here.