In honor of national wetlands month in May, Australia’s Banrock Station Wines and the United States’ The Conservation Fund have announced the latest grant recipients in their ongoing commitment to save the country’s vanishing wetlands.

The Banrock Station United States Wetlands Conservation Program has just awarded grants to 12 environmental groups committed to saving wetlands across the nation. It is the third successive year for the groundbreaking partnership between internationally-acclaimed Banrock Station and The Conservation Fund.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. loses 100,000 acres of wetlands per year. In the early 1900s, the U.S. had more than 220 million acres of wetlands. Today only 22 million acres remain; 90 percent of the original wetlands have been destroyed over the past 100 years.

“There’s never been a more urgent time to save U.S. wetlands,” says Tony Sharley, environmental scientist and Banrock Station Manager. “Across the globe Banrock Station is forging invaluable working relationships with conservation groups that are passionate about saving wetlands in their own backyard. Banrock Station practices the environmental maxim of thinking globally and acting locally.”

A major part of the Banrock Station success story is the relationship between good earth, fine wine and sponsorship of environmental projects around the world. Banrock Station pioneered this environmental wine marketing, with part of the proceeds from wine sales going toward the restoration of wetlands in 11 countries, in addition to Australia.

The property has been awarded Ecotourism Australia designation, and declared a RAMSAR wetland of international importance— the highest accolade for wetlands management.

Wetlands are known as "biological supermarkets" and “nurseries of life” because of their high biological productivity. They help regulate water levels within watersheds, improve water quality, reduce flood and storm damages, provide habitats for fish and wildlife, and support fishing and other recreational activities.

“Banrock Station serves as a model for companies and organizations that value responsible land stewardship and protection of our most important natural resources,” says Larry Selzer, president of The Conservation Fund. “We applaud Banrock Station’s commitment and congratulate this year’s grant winners for advancing a new brand of environmentalism that brings together unusual partners and leverages new conservation capital to achieve extraordinary conservation results.” This year’s award winners include: Anchorage Waterways Council; Arthur R. Marshall Foundation; Back Bay Restoration Foundation; Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge; Chattahoochee Hill Country Conservancy; Columbia Land Trust; Friends of Ballona Wetlands; Friends of the Hylebos Creek (Federal Way, WA); Katy Prairie Conservancy; Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation; New Jersey Conservation Foundation; and Save the Bay.

About Banrock Station Wines
Banrock Station Wines is located on a 4,200-acre property in South Australia, 3,600 acres of which are wetlands that have been restored to their original state. The property uses state-of-the-art energy-saving technology to support the 600 acres of vineyards and surrounding wetlands. Work at Banrock Station has helped to restore the natural flooding and drying cycle of the River Murray, Australia’s longest river. For its leadership in the Florida Everglades restoration, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service awarded the Regional Director’s Conservation Award to Banrock Station in 2001. Banrock Station is imported by Pacific Wine Partners, a Constellation Wines U.S. company and a leading producer of premium California wines and importer of wines from Australia and New Zealand. Constellation Wines U.S. is part of Constellation Wines, the world’s largest wine business, an operating division of Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE: STZ and STZ.B) ("CBI").

About The Conservation Fund
The Conservation Fund is forging partnerships to protect wildlife habitat and enhance public recreation opportunities. Since its establishment in 1985, the Fund has protected more than 4 million acres of America's most important outdoor heritage, including nearly one million acres of working forestland. For the fourth year in a row, the Fund was named the nation’s top-rated environmental nonprofit by the American Institute of Philanthropy. With a 1 percent fundraising cost, the lowest of all environmental groups in the country, and a program allocation of 96 percent, the Fund is unmatched for its efficiency and effectiveness.

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