The casino giant, which comes off a tumultuous year of inquiries into connections with organised crime and money laundering that triggered a parade of high-level executive departures, will spend the next five years planting 100,000 trees to support biodiversity and regenerate koala habitat.

The Corymbia property near Gympie becomes the group’s first carbon credits project, helping the casino operator to offset the carbon it emits through its operations in Sydney, Brisbane and Gold Coast.

The Star Entertainment Group’s head of sustainability, Amanda Visser said it had taken two years to bring the project to life as an extension of its sustainability strategy and would directly bolster the company’s target to reach net zero by 2030.

The carbon credit units are expected to contribute to Star’s scope 1 emissions footprint, which is about 9 per cent of the group’s current reportable emissions under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting scheme.

“We have completed initial biodiversity assessments to ensure this regeneration project supports local, native forest cover and we can measure the impact we are having over time,” Visser said.

The project will be supported by carbon management consultant Ndevr Environmental, with the native tree planting component of the project registered under the national Emissions Reduction Fund.

Planting is expected to start in coming months, following completion of soil testing by Noosa Landcare and guidance from the Odonata Foundation on selecting the best tree species to attract koalas, help threatened species, and improve biodiversity and river health.

The Star Group hasn’t ruled out reviving the property as a food-producing enterprise and supplier of fresh produce distributed across its restaurants, bars and hotels.

The farm is currently running a small number of cattle with plans to integrate tree planting with pockets of mixed-use farming as a nature-based farming practice.

The Star is also exploring what vegetable produce can be grown on the land and sourced from other farmers in the community to supply to its kitchens.

“The bigger picture is to fully engage our teams in sustainable agriculture and biodiversity education and it’s already creating great interest,” Visser said.

The Star’s pathway to its 2030 net-zero target also includes energy efficiency initiatives, such as on-site solar (where possible) and offsite renewable electricity delivered via power purchase agreements.

Visser said the group has a building analytics and optimisation system in place across its Sydney and Gold Coast casinos, which saved 397 tonnes of carbon last financial year by calibrating plant and equipment.

“We also conduct building energy audits and upgrade our plant and equipment to more energy efficient replacements,” she said.

“In FY22 we upgraded a number of air handling units, lighting, pool heaters and optimised run times on fans. About 1038 tonnes of carbon was saved in FY22 though these opportunities.”

Managing director and CEO, Robbie Cooke, said the farm was further demonstration of The Star’s ambition to develop and operate socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable destinations.

“As an organisation, we’re committed to delivering positive impacts on the communities and cities in which we operate,” he said.

“Corymbia is the evolution of our wider sustainability strategy and will help us achieve our goals.”