SA project finds balance between wildlife and wine

Prominent winemakers in McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills have recently found themselves with a tree planter rather than glass in hand, as they embrace the Wildlife for Wine project to boost biodiversity in the vineyard and meet sustainability goals.

Staff of Petaluma, Shaw+Smith and Shingleback Wines are just a few who have teamed up with the Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board and local communities to increase beneficial insects, microbats and arachnids like spiders and false scorpions by planting native species of grasses and shrubs.

At Shingleback in McLaren Vale, hundreds of volunteers have helped to start and maintain what’s believed to be the world’s biggest ‘insectary’ planting – five hectares around the Shingleback Ephemeral Wetland sown with 80 local plant species that offer the pollen and nectar resources required by beneficial insects.

At Shaw+Smith in the Adelaide Hills, over four hectares has been planted in three distinct zones — a wetland restoration, a woodland slope, and two hectares of native grass and forbs, low-growing broadleaf shrubs, while at Petaluma they’re restoring a two hectare wetland.

The project has captured the interest of local communities and sparked new partnerships, with the University of Adelaide supporting a PhD student to analyse the bat droppings of up to nine different microbat species to determine which insect groups they are feeding on.

Local communities built roosting boxes for the bats (unrelated to fruit bats), and it wasn’t hard to convince the wineries to take part, says James Hall, the Central Hills Project Coordinator for the Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board.

Partnerships have been forged with local groups such as Biodiversity McLaren Vale and Hills Biodiversity to assist with site preparation and planting of native seedlings. Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board staff provide the technical guidance, including species lists and planting designs.

“One of the reasons we started the project was to boost the vineyards’ scores for biodiversity under Sustainable Winegrowing Australia, which aligns with UN sustainability goals,” explains James.

“We talk to interested growers then draw up a Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) and produce a map of the property that shows different zones for actions like new plantings, rabbit and weed control, and we also help to set up photo points for monitoring.”

A distinctive Wildlife for Wine logo highlights involvement in the project and can be seen at the cellar doors of wineries in the McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, Langhorne Creek and Barossa regions.

Hills and Fleurieu website – https://www.landscape.sa.gov.au/hf/our-priorities/past-projects/wildlife-for-wine

AWRI – https://www.awri.com.au/industry_support/sustainable-winegrowing-australia/

Wine Grape Council SA – https://www.wgcsa.com.au/ecovineyards.html