Donating back to Nature
Late 2019 we decided to follow a new direction for our winery. Being urgently aware that nature everywhere is under great pressure, we decided that we want to take action. We came across ‘1% for the Planet’ and immediately got inspired by the philosophy.
1% for the Planet is an international organization whose members contribute at least one percent of their annual sales to environmental causes. The mission is to build, support and activate an alliance of businesses financially committed to creating a healthy planet. It was founded in 2002 by well known American business man Yvon Chouinard (Founder of clothing brand Patagonia).
Within our membership we will be working closely with two local environmental orgainisations, BirdLife Cyprus and Terra Cypria. Both are well established in Cyprus and have an excellent record of on the ground projects as well as influencing evironmental policies on a national level. Besides monetary donations, we will be setting up various educational and preservation projects together with them.
We feel that the timing of our announcement could not be more urgent. For over 2 months there have been terrible fires raging across Australia and we are devastated to see this ecological and environmental disaster unfold. For those of you who know us better, you are probably aware that Marcos spend almost 2 years in Australia for his masters degree in Enology and Marleen and Marcos met there. Australia has a special place in our heart and we feel very sad about what is going on.
Numerous wineries in the Adelaide Hills have been terribly affected and this brings back our own memory of just escaping an enormous wild fire surrounding Agios Amvrosios in September 2015. We were extremely lucky to escape the fire, but the valley around the winery got completely destroyed. The fear of losing our winery, the smell, the dark night lit up by slowly burning olive and almond trees around us, the ashes falling from the sky, the caughing that lasted for weeks; images and memories that will never leave us.
A stark reminder that we must take action now to protect our planet, and we have committed to do so.
We look forward to work together with Bird life Cyprus and Terra Cypria and embark on projects making a small, but positive impact.
Marcos & Marleen
Further reading:
- Interview with 1% for the Planet Founder Yvon Chouinard in FastCompany
- Announcement of new EU Budget for Cyprus’ Natura 2000 Area’s