|
THE START
In celebration of conservation, the international wine company “African Dawn Wines International” and Rooiberg Winery have teamed up – with acknowledgment from the WWF – to launch a range of wines that would generate funds for the conservation of South Africa’s natural environment
-The first introduction of African Dawn wines as a potential “vehicle” to generate funds for the WWF was launched in The Netherlands.
-The response was extremely positive to such an extent that the Head Office of the WWF in Genevé gave their immediate full support to African Dawn in countries all over the world.
-African Dawn Wines have since being introduced in Belgium, Germany, UK, Ireland, USA and South Africa.
 Our Winery
Being totally devoted to conservation Rooiberg Winery became the FIRST co-operative to become a member of the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative (BWI) in South Africa. a project undertaken by the wine industry to protect threatened natural areas on wine farms.
Biodiversity highlights: Area conserved – 6343ha. The natural area represents some 57.3% of the total land belonging to Rooiberg. An endangered, indigenous fish called the Breede River Redfin was discovered on one of the members farms, and a number of rare succulents and other plant species have been identified on some of the others.
 WHAT IS THE BIODIVERSITY & WINE INITIATIVE (BWI)?
The BWI is a pioneering partnership between the South African wine industry and the conservation sector. The goals are to minimise the further loss of threatened natural habitat, and to contribute to sustainable wine production, through the adoption of biodiversity guidelines by the South African wine industry.
One of the strategies of the BWI is to identify and enlist interested producers as members or champions of the initiative, who will implement the biodiversity guidelines, conserve critical ecosystems and incorporate a biodiversity story into their winery experience.
 WWF : “FOR A LIVING PLANET”
A natural progression of this strategy was therefore to launch a range of wines that would fund broader conservation such as:-Climate Change, Marine, Freshwater, Eco-regions, Conservation Education, Species. The distinctive PANDA logo on every bottle of African Dawn wine is the proof that a percentage of each purchase is donated to the World Wildlife Fund.
African Dawn Wines proudly displays the distinctive PANDA Logo
 FSC – FOREST STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL
In addition to the support to Biodiversity and WWF, the corks used for the African Dawn range will be Amorim’s enviromentally friendly corks, harvested from organic forests. These forests have been licensed by the FSC which certifies that each cork is produced organically.
With the certification on the 18th of September 2007 of their bottle plant
“F.W. Langguth Erben Gmbh & Co.KG”
for the use of FSC Corks and Labels African Dawn Wines becomes the first range of Wines in the world to get full Chain of Custody for the use of FSC Corks and Labels.
Having already earned the support of the WWF and the Biodiversity & Wine Initiative (BWI) it is safe to say that African Dawn is the most environmentally friendly range of Wines in the world.
 Corks and Labels
African Dawn is one of the few in the world to use FSC certidied corks on their wines. These Corks are supplied by Amorim the biggest manufacturer of cork in the world
African Dawn is the only wine in the world to use labels that are printed on FSC paper.
|
