Cape Winelands aid conservation
2008-09-25
IN less than four years, the South African wine industry has succeeded in setting more areas aside for long term conservation than is currently planted under vineyard, through the auspices of the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative (BWI). Wine producers who have committed valuable remaining natural areas to the BWI have succeeded in setting aside more than 103 000 hectares to underpin the long term sustainability and integrity of the Cape Winelands. South Africa is leading the world in the conservation of biodiversity within the vineyard landscapes with a conservation footprint that now matches the total area under vineyards! This illustrates the South African wine industry’s commitment to protecting their unique natural heritage, with an additional hectare under conservation for every hectare of vine planted within the South African wine industry. In 2004, faced with just 4% of the Cape Floral Kingdom’s unique renosterveld remaining and much of its lowland fynbos ecosystems under threat, the wine industry developed a conservation partnership with the Botanical Society of South Africa, Conservation International and The Green Trust, which led to the establishment of the BWI. Widely praised as a pioneering partnership between the country’s wine industry and conservation sector, its mandate is not confined to protecting natural habitat. It also encourages wine producers to farm sustainably and express the advantages of the Cape’s abundant diversity in their wines. The initiative’s success will be showcased at the Cape Wine 2008 event this week.
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