Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
From weeds towetland
Instead of planting grapes, a Marlborough wine company has been putting in natives in a bid to restore a wetland on land it leases in the Waihopai Valley.
Delegat’s Wine Estate is an entrant in the landscape and habitat enhancement category of the Cawthron Marlborough Environment Awards for its work restoring the Fault Lake wetland.
Delegat’s grower business development manager Rengasamy Balasubramaniam, known as Bala, says preserving the wetland ties into the ethos of the company.
‘‘As a good corporate citizen it is our responsibility to manage and maintain the natural features of the landscape,’’ he says.
When the company first leased the site in 2001 the 8-hectare wetland was choked with willows and old man’s beard.
Delegat’s did some work cleaning it up, but it was not until 2013 that things really started to take off.
Bala says Delegat’s partnered with the Marlborough District Council, through its Significant Natural Areas programme, to restore the wetland by clearing invasives and planting about 4800 native plants.
Bala says there has been a noticeable increase in the number of birds since the plantings went in.
Funding through the programme has stopped, but he says the company plans to keep improving the area.
‘‘People say you should use this to promote your wine, but it’s not about that, you do what comes from within your heart and feels right - not everything is for financial gain,’’ he says.
- Oliver Lewis