Natural Capital

The importance of our contribution to natural capital is valued by not only our customers, but by Australia’s broader community.

The wine sector remains committed to enhancing the quality of the environment in which we operate. This can be achieved by recognising and mitigating any operational impacts and practicing good stewardship over the natural values and landscapes on our properties and within wine regions generally. Valuing our natural capital remains an area of increased interest in the political space. Our services to natural systems on our properties and the surrounding environment provide significant public benefit which should be recognised. We hope that in time there will be increasing opportunities to seek rewards for our efforts and expect to see more producers seeking to accurately measure and monitor their contributions to natural capital.

Collectively, we all have an important role to play in encouraging:

• An enhanced understanding by grape and wine producers of the value of biodiversity in maintaining productivity and ecosystem health;

• Knowledge about the relative importance of all levels of biodiversity from soil, fauna, and flora, through to native vegetation providing valuable habitat in the productive agricultural landscape;
• Financial and in-kind investment in the establishment of regional vegetation and wildlife corridors, and the protection of healthy natural waterways;
• Interaction between grape and wine producers, regional wine industry associations and the state and territory environment departments; and

What we advocate for:

• Australian Government recognition of the value of the sector’s contribution to natural capital; and
• The progression towards more effective market-based solutions that reward grape and wine producers who contribute to the nation’s natural capital.