26 Jan Lessini Durello: the first Biodiversity Friend® wine Consortium
It was held on the afternoon of yesterday, 25 January 2022, the technical information meeting for members of the Consortium for the Protection of Lessini Durello DOC wines.
During the meeting, held in the pleasant setting of Borgo Rocca Sveva, was presented the “Biodiversity Project – Territory – Lessini – Durello”, to the members present and those connected via streaming. This project, launched at the beginning of 2021, led the Consortium to obtain the voluntary Biodiversity Friend® Certification.
Paolo Fiorini, President of the Lessini Durello Protection Consortium, introduced the evening: “The wait lasted a year. It has been a long and shared path, because the farms have responded very well and with enthusiasm to this initiative ”, adding “ Our goal is to prove that we produce in a territory that we respect ”.
During the meeting, Gianfranco Caoduro, representative of WBA, the association that owns the standard, recalled the history of the Biodiversity Friend Protocol since 2010.“The certified farms, are companies that believe in sustainability and that want to carry on the themes of our philosophy: produce in a sustainable way, with particular attention to the territory and to the future of the younger generations” declare Caoduro.
Representing Siquria, the certification institution responsible for the verification checks, was attended by Nicola Bottura, who remembered the innovation in the field of certifications introduced by the Standard Biodiversity Friend®. In particular, the Biodiversity Indices, effective tools for evaluate the impacts on the quality of air, water and soil, allow winegrowers to know the level of sustainability of their agronomic practices.
The technicians appointed by the Consortium (Andrea Rigo and Igor Bonvento) continued with a rundown of the stages that saw the group of companies arrive after a first “preliminary” project phase (June-July 2021) to deal with controls in the field in Autumn. They also illustrated the steps following the certification phase, for maintaining the quality mark and improving the environmental performance of the companies.
The path begun to increase the environmental, social and economic performance of the Consortium will be challenging, but WBA reiterated its availability to collaborate with the Consortium to create a synergy between “farmers and naturalists finally together for sustainable viticulture”.
