Environmental Action
For many years the Langhorne Creek community has worked together to address environmental issues. Initially, group action was required 30 years ago to deal with issues resulting from the over use of the Angas Bremer aquifer. Since that time community and wine industry initiatives include:
The establishment of the Angas Bremer Water Management Committee (ABWMC) which has developed and introduced a mandatory code of practice for irrigation management with an objective to reach 85% water use efficiency. A feature of the code of practice is the requirement to manage 2 hectares of un-irrigated deep rooted vegetation for each 100 mega litres of irrigation water licence. The code of practice can be viewed at: http://www.angasbremerwater.org.au/code.htm
With the ABWMC, the Langhorne Creek Wine Industry Council (LCWIC) has established a regional Environmental Management System (EMS) that introduces environmental stewardship to vineyards, supporting catchment objectives. Property planning from risk assessment is carried out using environmental Best Management Practices (BMPs) developed with catchment Natural Resource Management (NRM) officers. The BMPs can be viewed at: http://www.angasbremerwater.org.au/ems.htm. Approximately 30 vineyards, representing in excess of 60% of the planted vines in the region are involved in environmental risk management.
Through the EMS program, the community established a regional Biodiversity Plan for the wine region of Langhorne Creek. The plan is referred to in the environmental property planning process. The plan encourages the development of vegetation corridors and linked activities. The activity required a series of workshops. The plan can be viewed here. A biodiversity map has also been prepared for easy reference and the recording of revegetation work.
To encourage best practice for waste management, the Langhorne Creek Wine Grapegrowers’ Association (LCWGA) has established a regional recycling and waste disposal program underpinned by a user-friendly reference and information sheet.
With funding through the ABWMC, the LCWIC has supported a community climate change risk management planning initiative for Langhorne Creek. The major climate change issues have been identified and regional plans developed which will be underpinned with associated codes of practice for land managers. A summary is attached. The activity was conducted through a series of workshops with in excess of 30 people attending and included planning for climate extremes.
LCWIC has funding to continue the environmental activity for the 07/08 year under the NLP Community Support Program. Planned activities include:
Maintaining the EMS program on a continuous improvement basis.
Introducing additional grapegrowers into the program.
Further developing the Biodiversity Plan
Supporting the development of the climate change codes of practice
Establishment of a revegetation trial site
Initiate the rehabilitation of sections of the Angas River banks
Organise a community native vegetation garden site at Mosquito Creek.
Introduce the wine industry environmental stewardship program Australian Wine Industry Stewardship
(AWIS) into all wineries in the region.
Related Files
A regional approach to environmental activities [36 KB Word document]
Development of a biodiversity plan [400 KB PDF file]
Elephant weevils
The Langhorne Creek Vine Improvement group has undertaken to investigate the prevalence, impact, biology and management of this vineyard insect pest. With the support of the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation, and collaboration with the University Of Adelaide, the following has been achieved:
Literature Review to establish current knowledge of the Elephant Weevil.
Grower education through the production of a grower identification guide and wall poster.
Collation of a grower survey to establish the incidence of Elephant Weevil.
Field observation, collection and monitoring to better understand the lifecycle and biology of the Elephant Weevil.
Development and presentation of a poster, which was presented at the 2004 Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference.
The group is currently investigating extension of this project through the option of a PhD scholarship.
Related files:
Literature Review: Elephant Weevil (Orthorhinus cylindrirostris) recent findings. Prepared by Mary Retallack 26/02/2003 [614 Kb PDF file]
Elephant Weevil (Orthorhinus cylindrirostris) impact and control in vineyards Stage 3: Field assessment and grower survey [2.1 Mb PDF file]
Elephant Weevil Visual Identification [1.2 Mb PDF file]
Observations of elephant weevil (Orthorhinus cylindrirostris)in the Langhorne Creek wine region. SA Coventry, LJ Jaensch, MA Keller and FJ Wood [490 Kb PDF file]
Elephant Weevil wall poster [1.75 Mb PDF file]
