Ecologists toast sponsorship scheme

Wine drinkers will help to save a wetland on Auckland's west coast under a novel sponsorship announced yesterday.

Australian wine brand Banrock Station is donating $15,000 to a Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society project at the nationally important Te Henga Wetland, near Bethells Beach.

Part of the proceeds of every bottle sold will be donated to wetlands restoration.

The deal has proved highly beneficial elsewhere, for sales as well as swamps, said Tony Sharley, who is the manager of Banrock Station Wine and Wetland Centre in South Australia.

In eight years, similar schemes had raised $1.5 million for wetland work in nine countries.

But from a marketing view, said Mr Sharley, the brand prospered from appealing to its consumers, particularly Europeans and Americans, who want to know that their wine is produced without harming the environment.

The idea of a wetland sponsorship originated in 1994 when the company bought the 1750ha Banrock Station on the Murray River flood plains to establish a vineyard.

Half the property was swamp, which Wetland Care Australia was trying to save. The winegrower helped in the belief that its irrigation supplies would improve.

Its sponsorship has spread to Wetland Care New Zealand projects and this led to support for the Te Henga Wetland work being done by the Waitakere branch of Forest and Bird.

Branch vice-chairman John Staniland said the donation would be used to continue pest control and build a tower so people could see the birdlife and admire ponds, reeds and cabbage trees.

A boardwalk for access has been built.

The 80ha wetland, 30km from Auckland, is the largest in the region and is home to the threatened species Australian bittern (matuku), and fernbird.

It was once a lake formed by the Waitakere River but became clogged with silt after the Waitakere Reservoir was built and held back the river's flushing effect.

The wetland can be viewed from Bethells Rd or the Matuku Reserve entrance, off Jonkers Rd.

Te Henga Wetland

Where: near Bethells Beach, Auckland.

Area: 80ha.

Threatened species: Australian bittern, fernbird.