Flight Centre Business Travel: Making Sustainability Simple

Reforest is a Brisbane-based social enterprise that helps organisations take tangible action for climate and nature in high-integrity restoration projects, with technology that makes impact engaging and personalised for staff and customers.

Both Flight Centre and Reforest take tree planting very seriously, and only partner with the best on-the-ground. Our partners need to be local themselves, understanding the ecology of the ecosystems and best approaches for restoring them. They know their local landscapes like the back of their hand and have strong relationships with the community.

To ensure your trees survive and thrive, they need to be planted in the right place, in the right way, at the right time of year. Based on climate and rainfall, it’s a different time of year in different regions. So, depending on the location of your project, it could be next week or up to 12 months away.

Trees remove CO2 from the atmosphere as they grow, and your dashboard and progress reports from Reforest will include how much CO2 your trees are removing. In most cases though, a single tree is not going to remove all of the carbon emissions generated by your travel. Planting one tree per booking is a simple way to start having an impact on climate whilst benefiting nature and local communities at the same time. It’s a holistic starting point that you can build from over time. If you would like to explore a broader program that considers your full carbon footprint, the Reforest team are ready to support you.

It’s important to be careful not to make claims that could be (or look like) greenwashing, and Reforest are adept at helping to navigate this issue safely. The general principle is to describe the impact you’re having as authentically as possible without overstating anything, in terms that are full defensible. Describing the impact you’re having in terms of CO2 removal, nature repair and community benefits is absolutely fine. Don’t describe your business travel as being ‘carbon neutral’, ‘sustainable’ or ‘green’. A more detailed messaging toolkit is available here.

We totally understand the desire to visit your trees – we're tree lovers too! However, some of the projects are on private land or in sensitive locations, so we can’t always guarantee public access. But don’t worry, depending on where you are based, and where the projects are located, you may be able to take part in a community planting day (at your own cost).

What differentiates good ecosystem restoration from not so good is planting the right tree in the right place at the right time, and ensuring they are protected and cared for. In Australia, we ensure our projects are planting a biodiverse mix of native tree species that reflect the original ecosystem that was once there. Internationally, they may be a combination of native trees and food forest species (e.g. fruit) that provide local communities with sustainable livelihoods that help ensure your trees are cared for over the long term.

Reforest manages each project to a rigorous Monitoring, Reporting and Verification process to ensure that trees have been planted in the right place when they were supposed to be, and that they continue to be there for many years. We use satellite imagery, geo-located photos and other technical reports to assess the progress of each project.

Fire is a tough challenge for any reforestation project, but it's not a reason to give up on planting trees. These projects are run by local experts who take steps to minimize fire risk, such as over-planting and selecting species that are fire and climate resilient. While we can't guarantee that nothing will ever happen, we work hard to spread the risk across a portfolio of projects and plan ahead for potential risks. At the end of the day, our commitment to creating a regenerative economy and tackling climate change drives us to keep moving forward, no matter what challenges come our way.