Biodiversity Hotspot

Sustainability in action at The Springs

KAT PICKFORD

Photo Jim Tannock

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

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.

Spanning from the Wairau plains to 1000 metres above sea level, the property provided an exciting opportunity to regenerate a “significant wetland” and podocarp forest, while leaving an environmental legacy for generations to come. Josh is married to Samantha White, the daughter of Whitehaven founder and co-owner Sue White. Their vision to be responsible members of the community and kaitiaki of the lands they work on, took on a more personal meaning a couple of years ago with the birth of their son, Arthur. “I fully expect my son to still be planting trees here when he’s my age,” Josh says.

Whitehaven purchased the property in May and Josh has been working closely with the Marlborough District Council and an ecologist and hydrologist to design a planting plan to restore the wetland. Work has already begun collecting seeds from the site and neighbouring properties, with between 10,000 and 20,000 plants needed for the wetland alone. The seeds are being taken to Selme’s Garden Centre, which is run by the Selme’s Garden Trust, a not-for-profit organisation which aims to provide work opportunities for people with disabilities. The team there will propagate the seeds and cultivate seedlings to be planted back in the same area they were sourced from. “Covid hit Selmes Garden Centre pretty hard,” Josh says. “This long-term agreement has provided them with some confidence going forward, in terms of being able to employ more people. It’s a great outcome for everyone.”

Eco-sourcing the seeds was an important factor in the success of the restoration project, as the plants will be better suited to the local conditions and more likely to survive, Josh says. “Using eco-sourced seeds helps maintain the area’s unique characteristics.” Pests preying on native birdlife and plants are a huge issue and something they are working hard to eliminate before planting begins. A pest control programme targeting pigs and goats is already underway and a series of traplines for wild cats, rats, stoats and possums is also being developed.

Beyond the immediate restoration work planned for the wetland and riparian areas, about 50 hectares has been set aside for vineyard development. Other areas with early pioneering plants including mānuka and kānuka that have already kickstarted the regeneration process naturally and pockets of hardwood including matai, tōtara and kahikatea will be observed to see if they need any help as they develop into mature podocarp forest.

Whitehaven has been calculating its carbon emissions internally for the past couple of years, while looking at ways to increase efficiencies and decrease its carbon footprint. The company had implemented many positive changes, including a waste reduction policy, planting natives in vineyards to increase biodiversity, and having a more balanced approach to vineyard practices to reduce the use of tractors and agrichemicals, Josh says. “The big thing for us is reducing the amount of greenhouse gas we’re producing in the first place – offsetting it is the easy part.”

While Josh hopes the regeneration project will be large enough by 2030 to offset all Whitehaven carbon emissions internally, until then, the company will mitigate its emissions by investing in verified carbon credit projects such as renewable energy generation, forest sequestration and landfill methane capture.

At the time of writing, Whitehaven was in the final stages of achieving its net carbonzero certification through Toitū, the internationally recognised climate positive certified organisation, which also facilitates the offset of remaining emissions through verified carbon credits. “As an export company we can’t eliminate all carbon, but we can take responsibility for it,” Josh says. “Having a carbon neutral product shows our customers on the other side of the world, that when they purchase a bottle of Whitehaven Wines, they’ll know we’ve done all we can to produce a responsible, sustainable product.”