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| Dr. Bruce McKenzie, Su Birch, Jean du Toit (Waterkloof) & Johan van Rooyen |
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| Dr. Bruce McKenzie, Su Birch, Granville De Klerk (De Grendel) Johan van Rooyen |
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| 4 of the 21 BWI Members: Stevie Smit, Dr. Lance Nash, Sandra Moss, Sir Antony Rawbone-Viljoen |
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| Wine producers honoured for conservation commitment |
| 22 November 2005 by Biodiversity and Wine Initiative |
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| The Botanical Society of South Africa honoured the conservation commitment of the first batch of Biodiversity & Wine Initiative members at Hartenberg on Friday 18 November. |
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The enlisting of these 21 Biodiversity & Wine Initiative (BWI) members (including 20 individual producer members and 1 co-operative cellar member) and the existing champion, has secured 11,745 ha of pristine natural vegetation for conservation, explains BWI project director, Tony Hansen. ?This is only the beginning of a huge contribution that the South African wine industry will be making to conserve the biodiversity of the Cape Floral Kingdom for future generations.?
The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Botanical Society and the SA Wine & Brandy Company in 2004, paved the way for this pioneering partnership between the wine industry and the conservation sector. ?The BWI aims to minimise the further loss of threatened natural habitat, and to contribute to sustainable wine production, through the adoption of biodiversity guidelines by the South African wine industry? says Dr. Bruce McKenzie, director of the Botanical Society.
Let us take a step back to put the BWI in context. A simple definition of ?biodiversity? is the variety of life on earth. Healthy biodiversity means healthy ecosystems enabling us to breathe air, drink water, grow our food and continue with life as we know it. Large losses of biodiversity remove these privileges, casting uncertainty over not only agricultural production, but over our very human existence and future.
?The Cape Floral Kingdom (CFK) is a region of unprecedented biodiversity, one of the richest and most threatened reservoirs of plant and animal life on earth,? clarifies McKenzie. ?The CFK has earned international recognition as a global biodiversity hotspot and as South Africa?s newest World Heritage Site. Therefore, the conservation of the biodiversity of the CFK has become a national priority.?
Hansen continues, ?The logic behind the BWI partnership is that 80% of the CFK is privately owned, making landowner participation an essential part of conservation efforts. The most effective method of reaching these landowners is through the agricultural industries that they supply. For example, this partnership with the wine industry gives the conservation sector access to approximately 5000 farms and cellars.?
However, the BWI acknowledges that to attain the conservation objectives on a sustainable basis, tangible economic benefits and business opportunities must be realised by the participating landowners. Therefore the BWI consists of two major components; conservation and economics, the one reinforcing the other.
According to Hansen, the conservation component revolves around incorporating biodiversity guidelines into the industry Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) guidelines (achieved in May 2004), and providing a system whereby producers can set aside land for conservation with the appropriate status. To ensure that the biodiversity guidelines are being legitimately implemented, producers and growers are encouraged to become BWI members or champions.
BWI membership is the entry level and becoming a BWI champion is the exemplary level for those producers demonstrating exceptional conservation land management. An important part of being a BWI champion is putting land aside into CapeNature?s Stewardship Programme. Members are required to identify an area of natural vegetation on their property and sign a commitment to not develop new vineyards in this natural area. Furthermore, members must obtain an IPW certificate for the farm and cellar (which also provides traders and buyers an assurance that sustainable production guidelines are being followed). Producer cellar (co-operative) members must fulfil different criteria which are applicable to the many farms, one cellar scenario and include amongst others, the need to identify their 5 best areas of natural habitat within the co-op?s domain that will be committed to conservation.
?The economic component introduces a biodiversity angle to wine marketing and wine tourism. At a producer level, landowners can develop a ?biodiversity story? by identifying what is special about their natural environment, and incorporating this into their marketing strategy. To reinforce this, Wines of South Africa (WOSA), responsible for the promotion of South African wine in export markets, have repositioned Brand South Africa to incorporate the biodiversity of the Cape Winelands as a unique selling point. In a nutshell, the message is that the biodiversity of the Cape Winelands, exponentially greater than any other wine producing country, is a bold indicator of the variety of terroir-driven wines that are produced in the Cape?, says Hansen.
The next step in building economic spin offs from biodiversity is to encourage BWI members and champions to structure their visitor experience to showcase both the wines and their natural environment. This could involve incorporating ecotourism activities; for example, establishing a hiking trail or bird-hide on their property. Producers with these products are encouraged to combine to form biodiversity wine routes, appealing to a far wider range of interest groups than offered by wine tourism alone. The world?s first biodiversity wine route, the Green Mountain Eco Route has recently been launched in the Elgin, Bot River and Villiersdorp areas of the Overberg.
The first 22 BWI members & champion (listed below) have resulted in 11,743 ha being conserved. Hansen elaborates, ?With approximately 5000 growers and cellars in the SA wine industry, if 50% join-up, the BWI could hypothetically result over 1 million ha being conserved.? Now that is a worthy target! WOSA are playing an integral role in helping promote the BWI to producers and will be showcasing the industry?s commitment to biodiversity at Cape Wine 2006, in April next year.
The list of BWI members & champions and the land conserved is detailed below:
CHAMPIONS
Vergelegen - Stellenbosch (Helderberg)
MEMBERS
Mooiplaas - Stellenbosch
Koopmanskloof - Stellenbosch
Tulbagh Mountain Vineyards - Tulbagh
Montagne - Franschhoek
Delheim - Stellenbosch
Louisenhof Wines - Stellenbosch
Oak Valley Wines - Overberg
Avondale - Paarl
Hartenberg - Stellenbosch
Backsberg - Paarl
Towers - Swartland
Winecorp Holdings (Spier Vineyards) - Stellenbosch
Black Pearl Wines - Paarl
Waterkloof (False Bay Vineyards) - Helderberg
Beaumont Wines - Overberg
Plaisir de Merle - Paarl
De Grendel - Tygerberg
Boschendal - Paarl
Paul Cluver Wines - Overberg
Glenwood - Franschhoek
CO-OP/PRODUCER CELLAR MEMBER
Rooiberg Winery - Robertson
(Photo's of members, courtesy of Karen Barnard Photography) |
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