In the Christmas cards it sent out, the Jerez-based Wine Family suggested to Instagram, Facebook and Twitter users that they post about themselves enjoying the Family’s wines with the hashtag “Vinoenfamilia”. The initiative was designed to help restore the areas of the Doñana Nature Area that have been damaged by fire.
The aim was fulfilled and the winery will be reforesting 1Ha with indigenous species such as Savin Junipers (Juniperus Sabina) and Junipers (Juniperus comunis). The initiative, part of the WWF’s “100 Businesses for Forests” project, means that González Byass is adding its grain of sand to the efforts to recover and improve Doñana’s forests, whilst adding a new page to the story of its relationship with the National Park, which dates back to the 19th century.
Doñana and the González family
The González family first contacted Doñana at the end of the 19th century. Then, in 1940, Manuel María González Gordon, the 3rd generation of the family, José López de Carrizosa, Marqués del Mérito and Salvador Noguera joined forces to purchase a total of 16,500 hectares in the northern part of the reserve. González Gordon passed his love of Doñana on to his sons, including Mauricio González-Gordon Díez, father of González Byass’ current chairman. Guided by his passion for nature and birds, he went on to found the Spanish Ornithology Society, join the British Union of Ornithologists and play a key role in the future of Doñana.
In the light of plans to re-plant the reserve with foreign species such as guayule (Parthenium argentatum) and eucalyptus, González-Gordon Diez invited biologists José Antonio Valverde and Francisco Bernis to visit, to help put together a case for the conservation of Doñana. This invitation marked the start of the “Doñana Expeditions” which brought ornithologists, photographers and documentary-makers of the time to the marshlands along with eminent international personalities, who all documented the Park’s natural wealth in a genuine scientific trailblazer that was crucial to the Park’s future.
Gaining National Park status
The figure of Mauricio González-Gordon Díez and the efforts of the scientific and ornithological community to save Doñana were pivotal to preserving the Park’s natural riches. When the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was formed in 1961 it joined in the efforts and it was not long before Doñana was designated a National Park.
A major step forward was taken in 1968 when ADENA, the Spanish delegation of the WWF, was created and acquired the Guadiamar Reserve. The next significant advance came in 1969, when the Council of Ministers declared the 35,000 hectares that comprise the heart of Doñana a National Park. The dedication and talent of the many professionals involved in serving the environment had finally hit its mark. One of these people, José Antonio Valverde, celebrated the conservation of Doñana by riding into the Mari López lagoon in the marshes holding a bottle of Tío Pepe and toasting the achievements.
This was the high point of one of the 20th century’s most fascinating conservation stories, in which the González family forged a path based on protecting the environment and pursuing eco-friendly improvements. Those efforts are still ongoing today, as in the initiative this last Christmas which launched in the digital environment and was fulfilled materially with the reforestation of 1 hectare of the Doñana Nature Reserve.
Photo caption:
Seated: M. Nicholson, G. Mountfort, Lady Huxley, Lord Alanbrooke, Lady Alanbrooke, Sir Julian Huxley and Eric Hosking.
Standing: G. Shannon, A. Valverde, J. Ferguson-Lees, Mauricio González Gordon, T. Miller and Ph. Hollom.
