service partners

The Australian Rainforest Foundation (ARF) is working hard to protect Australia’s ancient rainforests, a complex natural system that is extremely effective in absorbing carbon dioxide and storing carbon. Hero2 is an ARF project that protects and extends these rainforests by planting the ‘right tree in the right place’ while at the same helping recover rare and threatened species. To find out more go to www.hero2.net.au or www.arf.net.au

Carbon Reporting & Offset Solutions is committed to providing clients with an accurate audit of their current operation and the tools to reduce their environmental impact. Even though we focus on Carbon emissions we supply a complete analysis of our clients' environmental footprint. This is done through site visitation, consultation and verification of appropriate documentation. Our audits are conducted according to the ISO 14000 model and footprints calculated using tools approved by the Australian Greenhouse Office and we recommend strategies to achieve genuine reductions in impacts and operational costs. Where a company requires an offset solution we can provide local offset solutions. It is our firm belief that business will get the maximum benefit from supporting local environmental initiatives.

We believe good environmental management is good business and will show you how minimizing your environmental impact can help maximize your business potential. www.carbonreporting.com.au

The City of Cairns is the premier regional city in Australia and the international gateway to Tropical North Queensland and Cairns City Council presides over an extraordinary region consisting of three World Heritage areas.

With such valuable assets at stake it is therefore responsibly committed to smart environmental practices such reducing greenhouse gases through its Carbon Emissions Reduction Policy and the Cities for Climate Protection Australia Program which Council joined in 2005. Upon joining Council set a target of reducing both corporate and community greenhouse gas emissions to 20% below 2001 levels by the year 2010.

Significant achievements to date include;

• Council's CO2 emissions from electricity use in buildings dropped by 12.4% from 2001-06,
• waste that used to go into landfill has been diverted to the Bedminster composting plant,
• recycling programs have been increased,
• small vehicles are being included in fleet options to conserve fuel and
• energy audits have been carried out at wastewater treatment plants.

Council will continue to seek further ways to reduce carbon emissions through the development of a comprehensive action plan with specific initiatives for all sections of Council.

To find out more go to www.cairns.qld.gov.au

Conservation Volunteers is Australia’s leading practical conservation organisation. Since 1982 Conservation Volunteers has fulfilled its mission to attract and manage a force of volunteers in practical conservation projects for the betterment of the Australian environment. Conservation Volunteers has been active in Tropical North Queensland for over 10 years, working on projects from Hinchinbrook Island to the Daintree, and from the Atherton Tablelands to the Reef.

In July 2007 Conservation Volunteers introduced its Action for Climate Change (ACC) program in response to the major threats posed to our fragile environments. ACC will allow all sectors – businesses, community organisations and individuals - to choose from a range of activities which will help to offset their carbon footprint. Central to this will be a series of Carbon Forests accredited under the Australian Greenhouse Office’s Greenhouse Friendly program.

These forests will be genuine conservation projects aimed at restoring connectivity within fragmented landscapes and building eco-resilience into degraded habitats. This will help to buffer our fragile environments against the impacts of climate change, and give a better chance for some of our more vulnerable species such as the upland possums to adapt to habitat changes brought about by rising temperatures.

Conservation Volunteers offers the opportunity to get personally involved at a ‘hands-on’ level in practical projects, or to simply donate to the program. To learn more about ACC and what’s on in TNQ during your visit go to www.conservationvolunteers.com.au and click on Conservation Connect and Action for Climate Change.

Skyrail is one of Tropical North Queensland's most significant rainforest interpretation attractions. To reinforce their commitment to increasing awareness and protecting our unique rainforest environment they established the Skyrail Rainforest Foundation. To get the facts go to www.skyrailfoundation.org

Arup is one of the leading engineering design and business consultancies in the world, and Ecologically Sustainable development is one of our key priorities. We have been operating in Cairns and the Far North Queensland region for more than 10 years and provide local tropical expertise with the back-up of our global experience.

We enable our clients to incorporate sustainability into their planning, projects and operations for both building and infrastructure developments. To achieve this, the firm provides a range of services including:

• environmental planning and impact assessments
• soil and water management
• environmental management system development and auditing
• environmental building design
• Green Star and ABGR certification
• sustainable tourism, corporate sustainability, baseline sustainability assessments and environmental education

Arup is committed to reducing its environmental impacts through its Corporate Sustainability Strategy. This guides the development of sustainability within our business operations, our people, our facilities and our external relationships. As a service organisation we leave an environmental footprint through our offices, our travel, our waste and emissions. It is our goal for our facilities to reflect our values and commitment to sustainability by managing our carbon footprint related impacts.

For more information about Arup, visit www.arup.com

Our goal: to provide out clients with the right advice and transfer of skills to allow them to grow, improve performance and enhance profitability.

Kleinhardt’s newly formed Sustainability and Eco-efficiency Group extends Kleinhardt’s comprehensive and experienced skills base to provide SME’s with support in moving to a more high performance, sustainable business through cultural change, systems adaption, energy audits, environmental awareness training, carbon footprint calculation and practical eco-efficiency improvements. These will position a business to maximize adaption to climate change to give it an improved bottom-line profit through the strengthening of their competitive advantage.”

The Kleinhardt Sustainability and Eco-efficiency Group will be providing a series of practical workshops to improve business performance under the AusIndustry-funded BESB “Going Green” program during 2008-2009. Workshops will be held throughout North Qld and Northern Territory. They will provide practical advice in improving a business’s bottom-line through training and coaching in improving energy-efficiency, and better water usage and waste control techniques. Our group provides on-site advice, monitoring and eco-efficiency audits to aid in attaining TTNQ’s Planet Safe Partnership accreditation.

Further workshops will also be offered in the coming months focusing on sector specific strategies to improve performance. These will include topics such as developing cost-effective renovation programs, service quality enhancement and risk management for small tourism operators.

Kleinhardt is one of the most prominent business consulting firms in North Queensland with a very extensive track record of providing assistance to hundreds of businesses, Government departments and NGO’s over the years. Our Kleinhardt Sustainability and Eco-efficiency Group includes two environmental scientists with significant regional and industry experience, a qualified electrical engineer and senior business consultants. Kleinhardt is also certified under the Qld EPA’s ecoBiz Programme as a facilitator.

To know more about our extensive range of business improvement services, visit our website at www.kleinhardt.com.au