Cowra Region Vineyard Association is making environmental sustainability its priority task, and has developed the Cowra Sustainable Wine Partnership (“the Partnership”), with a simple mission:

“To produce wine of regional character with the least environmental impact of any region in Australia”.

In order to achieve this, the CRVA is partnering with the leading organisations who bring years of experience in sustainable viticulture, Total Catchment Management, Environmental Management Systems, and biological agriculture in Australia. By creating this partnership, CRVA members aim to share, build and apply their sustainable viticulture practices with benefits not only to their own business viability, but to the sustainability of the Cowra Region and Lachlan Catchment.

The Partnership brings the work already begun by many CRVA members together into a framework which encompasses the Eight National Environmental Outcomes of the Natural Heritage Trust, the Winemakers Federation of Australia's Australian Wine Industry Stewardship Program (AWIS) and the priorities of the Lachlan Catchment Management Authority.

The Partnership is more than a statement of lofty goals without real change in the vineyard. It documents the CRVA's existing and new projects including education and training, the expansion of research, the implementation of sustainable practices, and the certification of members to nationally recognised standards and Environment Management Systems.

The Partnership was launched at the Cork ‘n’ Fork food and wine festival, on November 3, 2007.

Michael Carter, Director of Environmental Services with Cowra Shire Council has commented on the plan as follows:

"Excellent document providing valuable information on the overall view of the current situation of vineyards in the Cowra Shire, a clearly demonstrated commitment by the CRVA to environmental management for sustainable wine production and well detailed guidelines and action plans for benchmarking the future environmental impact of the industry."

The CRVA are currently reviewing their sustainability project. The updated version will be available soon.