Many vineyards are monocultures, or plots devoted to one crop, and, as such, they face extreme weather conditions and climate change with a limited set of biodiverse levers to pull. Agroforestry, the cultivation and preservation of trees and their ecosystems, presents a range of solutions to these types of viticultural issues, maintaining vineyard production while reducing negative impact on the environment.
Here’s how wineries around the world have embraced agroforestry for the betterment of their surroundings and their products.
Amirault Vignerons, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, France
Sixth-generation vignerons Xavier and Agnès Amirault oversee the organic and biodynamic Clos des Quarterons vineyard in France’s Loire Valley. Their work is comprised of “thousands of actions” that promote biodiversity, says Xavier Amirault. “We are caretakers!”
On their vineyard, geese and hens eat grass and weeds (often pecking them out by the roots), gobble pests and fertilize soil.
“We are in the process of extending this to the entire estate,” says Amirault. “We want to be able to let them do everything, including laying their eggs right in the vineyard. But we must manage and share the space with the foxes and weasels.”
Sharing the space with organisms that call the area home is exactly what agroforestry seeks to achieve. Amirault points out the need to plant trees not just for wood and fruit, but to provide habitat and shade for birds and insects, and organic matter from fallen leaves.
Harvest in Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, France.
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Graham Beck, Robertson, South Africa
Since the designation originated in 2004, sparkling wine producer Graham Beck has earned Conservation Champion Status from the WWF South Africa. The winery team is committed to conserving at least four acres of natural vegetation for every one acre farmed, in a region that is also a biodiversity hotspot.
“We also initiated a voluntary agreement with 27 of our neighbours by creating the Rooiberg-Breederiver Conservancy, and, as a group of farmers, we now conserve more than 35,000 acres of natural vegetation,” says Mossie Basson, conservation manager for Graham Beck. This effort, in cooperation with WWF, establishes a dedicated rehabilitation manager for this corridor of the endangered Succulent Karoo biome, which Basson says is the most vulnerable part of the “glorious” Cape Floral Kingdom.
Vineyards at Graham Beck in Robertson, South Africa.
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