PROTECT
Photo Jim Tannock
Biodiversity Hotspot Sustainability in action at The Springs KAT PICKFORD
AN AMBITIOUS large-scale planting project in the Wairau Valley aims to return farmland to indigenous forest and create a biodiversity hotspot that doubles as a carbon pool. Whitehaven Wines’ restoration project is expected to take decades to complete. Once finished, the 720-hectare property will be a rare example of podocarp forest in the Wairau Valley, filled with endemic species that date back 80 million years. Whitehaven Wines sustainability manager Josh Barclay says the property will eventually become a carbon sink for the family-owned export company to offset its carbon emissions. However, the project is about “so much more” than a box ticking exercise, he says. “Carbon offsetting aside, the primary motivation for this project was to give something back, to create something that will have a
“As an export company we can’t eliminate all carbon, but we can take responsibility for it.” Josh Barclay lasting impact for the environment and the people in our community.”. The property, known as The Springs, is located about 15 kilometers west of the Wairau Valley township and has been used for sheep and beef farming for the past 150 years. Much of the original vegetation would have been burned off for grazing in the late 19th century, but a few pockets of wetland, riparian plants and slower growing native hardwoods remain, providing a glimpse of what the area would have once looked like.
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16 / Winepress January 2024
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