Green Mountain Eco
Route – the world’s first biodiversity
wine route
Conservation, Sustainability
and Social Upliftment
The commitment
of all members of the Green Mountain Eco Route is
conservation, sustainability and social upliftment.
All members belong to the Groenlandberg Conservancy.
All wine growers and grape producers are Biodiversity
Wine Initiative members or champions.
The members of the Green Mountain Eco Route follow
profitable, sustainable and ethical business principles
and commit to the social upliftment of historically
disadvantaged communities by using local people
and resources throughout the route around the Groenland
Mountain.
What
is biodiversity
Biodiversity refers to all the
genes, species, eco-systems and processes that allow
life to persist over time. When biodiversity is
intact, species and eco-systems are resilient, enabling
them to adapt to environmental changes. When biodiversity
is lost, nature responds unpredictably, making it
difficult for growers to plan production and protect
natural resources.
The Green Mountain Eco Route exposes visitors to
both the wine and the biodiversity experience of
each participating wine producer around the Groenland
Mountain with the villages Bot River (Botrivier),
Elgin Valley Grabouw, Houw Hoek and Villiersdorp
in the heart of the Cape Floral Kingdom. Tours of
the natural vegetation communicate the wine producer's
stories and the role of biodiversity conservation
in sustainable wine production.
The Cape Floral Kingdom is the smallest yet richest
plant kingdom on earth, and has earned international
recognition as both a global biodiversity hotspot
and South Africa’s newest World Heritage Site,
the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve. However, the Cape
Floral Kingdom is under increasing threat from agriculture,
urban development and invasive alien species, with
only 9% of the unique renosterveld and lowland fynbos
eco-systems remaining. Since 80% of the Cape Floral
Kingdom is privately owned, landowner participation
in conservation efforts is essential.
Following an initial study by the Botanical Society
of South Africa and Conservation International,
the wine industry and the conservation sector have
embarked on a pioneering partnership to conserve
the rich biodiversity of the Cape Floral Kingdom.
The Biodiversity
and Wine Initiative aims to:
Prevent further loss of habitat in critical
sites
Increase the total area set aside as natural
habitat in contractually protected areas
Promote changes in farming practices that
will enhance the suitability of vineyards as
habitat for biodiversity, and
Reduce farming practices that have a negative
impact on biodiversity, both in the vineyards
and the surrounding natural habitat
The
Groenlandberg Conservancy
“Conservancies
function like an environmental club, where landowners
join hands to improve the conservation status, sustainable
utilization and aesthetic value of the natural resources
on their property." Justine Sharples, conservancy
co-ordinator for Cape Nature Conservation (CNC)
in the Garden Route.
Purpose and advantages
Some of the advantages
of establishing the Groenlandberg Conservancy in
a
rural environment include:
Conservation of our environment, fynbos
and its bio-diversity (flora and fauna).
Increased interest by botanists in doing
surveys of flora in the area.
Access to biological control measures and
expertise for alien control.
Improved possibilities for government support
in alien clearing.
Re-establishment of wildlife in area.
Fire protection and management.
Increase in eco-tourism and business opportunities
(job creation).
Increased environmental awareness and education.
Closer contact with immediate neighbours
for mutual benefit – community-based
problem-solving
Eco-Tourism
Eco-tourism is assumed
to:
Include activities in natural settings, as
well as historic and cultural pursuits
Be limited to sustainable activities that
do not consume resources or degrade the natural
or social environment and minimize negative
environmental and social impact
Promote travel that has an educational component
and increases awareness of local environmental,
social and cultural issues
Be based on sound resource management and
planning,
Be as much an ethic or philosophy of travel,
as a tourism product.
