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Martin Venter, the CEO of Val de Vie, believes in eco-friendly practices and, even before the actual Val de Vie estate development had begun, he brought environmentalists on board. They saved more than 3 000 plants and bulbs – amongst which was rare flora - and planted sour fig cuttings to stabilise the area.
Val de Vie falls within the Cape Floral Kingdom which has been proclaimed a World Heritage Site and, to this end, has created and is implementing, its own holistic biodiversity plan to manage and sustain this part of the beautiful Berg River valley.
Today, Val de Vie is regarded as an example of how an eco-friendly development can be achieved in the current South African context. An environmental management plan is in place to protect and manage the natural assets during the construction period. This ensures environmental compliance and brings back some of the lost indigenous vegetation along the Berg River valley.
This R2 billion development also includes setting aside a conservation area within Val de Vie to preserve rare plants. As part of the Cape Floral Kingdom, the smallest of six floral kingdoms world wide, Val de Vie has its fair share of indigenous and endemic flora.
The estate has a high natural water table, strong boreholes and water rights along the Berg River – all of which are being managed responsibly. Small mammals and birds, especially water birds, abound on the estate and the extensive landscaping, including four interlinking lakes and islands, has been done in such a way, so as to attract even more birds to the area.
To ensure that the world class polo facilities use water as sparingly as possible, a state-of-the-art drainage, as well as an automated irrigation system has been installed – in keeping with the biodiversity plan. |
