Look out for a new label on some wines (there are about 30 farms using it already) that indicates that the wine maker is ‘fynbos-friendly’. The label draws attention to biodiversity in South Africa and the important relationship that needs to be built between conservation and wine making.

The label – a sugar bird on a protea – endorses wines that are produced in harmony with nature – in other words they follow certain conservation requirements. Wines with this label are doing their bit to conserve critical natural habitats and species in the western cape winelands.

Look out too for South Africa’s green mountain eco route – the world’s first biodiversity wine route and eco route, set in and around the Groenland Mountain including the villages of Bot River, Elgin Valley, Grabouw, Houw Hoek and Villiersdorp – only an hour from Cape Town.

For those who didn’t know, the BWI (biodiversity & wine initiative) is a partnership between the wine industry and the conservation sector, who work together to stave off further loss of threatened natural habitat and push for sustainable wine production. They’ve set up a series of guidelines that will conserve critical ecosystems.

The BWI has 9 champions, 8 co-operative cellar members and 99 members, bringing the total area conserved amongst all of them to 70,412 hectares which represents the equivalent to 70% of the total area under vineyards in the Cape winelands. [bwi.co.za]