Looking after
our world.
The land will look after us if we look after the land. Simple as that. So we take care to keep our environmental footprint as small as possible. This way ARA can go on making wine at our special place year after year, for generations.
Here are some of the steps we’ve taken to minimise our environmental footprint.
Certified sustainable winegrowing
All winegrowing activities at ARA are certified to be fully sustainable. We belong to Sustainable Winegrowing NZ, an initiative of the NZ Winegrowers association, and we follow strict management principles to protect the environment. Our methods and systems are revised regularly, so that we can continuously improve our environmental performance.
Avoiding treated timber
Rather than the chemically-treated timber used for almost all New Zealand vineyards, we chose to use inert galvanised steel posts on the ARA vineyard. With these posts, there is no danger of hazardous chemicals leaching into the earth.
Resettling the native falcon
The New Zealand native falcon (the karearea, pronounced ‘car-eh-ah-re-ah’) is one of the world’s rarest birds of prey. It is listed as a threatened species by the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC).
In 2004, we joined DOC’s native falcon recovery programme and established a breeding pair of the falcons – Dudley and Adelina - in a secluded corner of our vineyard.
Since then, Dudley and Adelina have raised a number of fledglings. Their territory spans more than 10 square kilometres over the ARA estate. They often follow us around while we work, sometimes perching on a post to have a closer look at what we do.
But they’re not just onlookers – the falcons help us to protect our grapes from invasive bird species such as sparrows and thrushes
Replanting native species
After years of intensive stock farming in Marlborough, the number and variety of local plant species have dwindled. ARA is working to restore natural balance by removing exotic plants and deliberately planting native species.
Over the last few years, members of the ARA team have taken the trouble to grow cuttings of native plants around the vineyard blocks. Aside from their beauty, these native plants have lured native birds, such as the tui (pronounced ‘too-ee’)and waxeye, back to our part of the world.
