In the year the Jerez-Alberto Durán Zoobotanical Biodiversity Conservation Centre celebrates its 70th anniversary, Bodegas Williams & Humbert has begun a close partnership with this leading Jerez institution, which is firmly committed to the conservation of endangered species, environmental education and research – in short, to protecting biodiversity
The winery’s partnership with the Conservation Centre focuses on two key areas: environmental education and conservation
The Williams & Humbert gardens are home to various native bird species and pond turtles. The winery also supports the “Swift Project”, which helps these birds nest on the winery’s premises
On the conservation side, the winery’s support covers both its own premises and the Zoobotanical Centre. At the winery, the Williams & Humbert gardens are home to various native bird species around the large pond, and a smaller pond has been created for pond turtles. The winery also supports the “Swift Project” run by Jerez Zoo and the Cádiz Natural History Society. During the 2023 season, 2 nest boxes were installed to help swifts nest on the winery’s premises.
At the Jerez-Alberto Durán Zoobotanical Biodiversity Conservation Centre, Bodegas Williams & Humbert sponsors the enclosure of the Aldabra giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea). This land tortoise is native to the Indian Ocean and, like many other reptiles, is threatened. The genetic isolation of species in remote places such as islands encourages the emergence of unique species, different from those found elsewhere and often very large. The Aldabra tortoise is a good example of this process.
The Marketing Director and the Biodiversity Conservation Centre’s keepers with members of the Williams & Humbert team in the winery gardens
Williams & Humbert sponsors the Aldabra tortoise enclosure at the Jerez Zoobotanical Biodiversity Centre Alberto Durán. This land tortoise is native to the Indian Ocean and, like many other reptiles, is threatened
In environmental education, the winery has sponsored the Nature School held at the Jerez-Alberto Durán Zoobotanical Biodiversity Conservation Centre during the summer. Aimed at children aged 6 to 12, it lets them discover the daily life of the Conservation Centre: caring for wild animals, handling and feeding them and, as far as possible, taking part in those daily tasks. Trees and plants are also an important part of the Summer School: to get to know them up close, the children build a large herbarium over the summer. The school also introduces them to history’s great naturalists and explorers and all they did for nature and wildlife, as well as walks in the park, games, and visits to the veterinary clinic, laboratory, nursery, Osteology Museum, Endangered Species Recovery Area, library and plant nursery. In short, activities designed to give the youngest children direct knowledge of an institution devoted to biodiversity conservation, fostering the respect and awareness so necessary to preserve our natural heritage.
Dos Maderas Rum and the protection of endangered turtles
Since 2014, Bodegas Williams & Humbert has carried out important work to protect endangered turtles. Through one of its most emblematic brands, Dos Maderas Luxus Rum, the winery has provided resources that have saved thousands of turtles, whose survival is also vital to the environmental balance of the Pacific and Atlantic. Partnerships with organisations such as ICAPO and SOS Nicaragua have launched conservation and environmental education projects: awareness programmes about avoiding the sale of tortoiseshell from hawksbill turtles, with campaigns such as “Too rare to wear”; nest protection that gives local families a decent income in exchange for collecting and handing over turtle eggs; beach plastic clean-ups with the support of local people; and investment in field stations and hatcheries. All these activities aim to conserve biodiversity and improve local livelihoods. With these resources, funded by sales of this Bodegas Williams & Humbert rum, the winery has helped protect these endangered turtles while supporting local communities and involving them in every project.
After a decade of investing in the Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean, Williams & Humbert continues its conservation and environmental education work in its home town, partnering with the Jerez-Alberto Durán Zoobotanical Biodiversity Conservation Centre – a prestigious institution devoted for more than 70 years to conservation, environmental education and research, running almost 50 breeding projects for endangered species.