WWF Conservation Champions
Meet SA’s WWF Conservation Champions: Global Leaders in Sustainable Wine
Sustainable wine is on trend with growing environmental concerns among wine lovers globally, who realise that producing and drinking wine sustainably has a positive impact on future generations.
Fortunately for local wine lovers, many South African wines are at the forefront of sustainability, including the 55 WWF Conservation Champions in the Cape Winelands, which you can support when you “Follow the Sugarbird”…
The Cape Winelands – where 95% of South African wine is grown – is also home to two major global biodiversity hotspots: the Cape Floral Kingdom and the Succulent Karoo: both unique habitats for many rare and endangered species.
Awareness around environmental threats facing unique habitats like these has driven local and global demand for sustainably produced wine, with some countries even drafting legislation to allow imports only from countries that practice sustainable farming.
Fortunately, South Africa is a world leader in sustainable wine production and 55 wine farms across the Cape Winelands have stepped up as true custodians of the land. Collectively, these wine farms, recognised as WWF Conservation Champions, own 45,263 hectares of land, of which 24,372 hectares is now conserved as a pristine part of the Cape Floral Kingdom.
The Conservation Champions are acknowledged for their exceptional commitment to biodiversity-friendly and regenerative farming practices, conserving previously unprotected ecosystems and biodiversity on their land, and continually improving water and energy efficiencies.
Initiated in 2004, the Conservation Champions programme is facilitated by the WWF (the World Wide Fund for Nature), an independent conservation organisation active in 100 countries, working closely with conservation partners, government, retailers and consumers, and supporting South Africa’s existing wine industry environmental certification scheme – the Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) sustainability seal.
The Conservation Champion programme is a voluntary membership model that requires adhering to WWF conservation principles, and achieving 70% or more in the IPW certification scheme.
Maintaining healthy ecosystems provides benefits such as increased freshwater flow, healthy soil and clean air, and creates habitats for many rare and endangered species. This has also enabled many wine farms to diversify their wine farm offering with nature-based ecotourism activities like hiking and mountain biking trails, outdoor dining, bird watching, eco-lodging, picnics, nature drives and ‘vinisafari’s’.
Furthermore, Conservation Champions enjoy international recognition as environmental leaders in the global wine sector and have earned the right to use the Conservation Champion logo on their wine bottles, so consumers can make informed decisions to support our environmental wine leaders!
Choosing a sustainable wine is a great way to ensure your consumer spend contributes to a better world! To be certain to choose a WWF Conservation Champion wine, just “Follow the Sugarbird” @followthesugarbird by looking for the distinctive sugarbird and protea logo on wine bottles at your local retailer, or download the Champion Wine Guide App at www.championwineguide.co.za.
You can also find out more about the prestigious WWF Conservation Champions programme #ConservationChampions at www.wwf.org.za or follow us on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter.
Note to Editors:
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For further information please contact:
Angela Barter, The PR Agency, 073 284 4432, angela@thepragency.co.za
Champion Wine Guide App
Meet the Champions
Instagram Page
Conservation Champions Brochure
Conservation Chamions Pocket Guide
Conservation Champion Logos
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