Château Mercian Jō-no-hira Vineyard was certified as a “Nature Coexistence Site” by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment on Thursday, February 27, 2025.
For the Kirin Group, this is the second such certification, following Château Mercian Mariko Vineyard in October 2023.
Here are the details.
About Nature Coexistence Sites
To help achieve the global “30by30” target adopted at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in December 2022, Japan’s Ministry of the Environment began operating a certification system in fiscal 2023 for areas of high biodiversity owned or managed by private companies, municipalities and other organizations.
Mercian Corporation applied to have Château Mercian Jō-no-hira Vineyard recognized under the program, and the vineyard received certification on February 27, 2025.
Following certification as a Nature Coexistence Site, it is also expected to be registered in the international OECM database.
About the Certification of Château Mercian Jō-no-hira Vineyard
The Kirin Group and NARO began joint research in 2014, and findings from an ecosystem survey at Jō-no-hira Vineyard were used in the Nature Coexistence Site application.
Jō-no-hira Vineyard was originally a tourism vineyard using overhead trellises. From 1984 it was converted to vertical trellising for wine grapes. Through appropriate management, native species and rare grassland ecosystems recovered, creating a rich ecosystem.
The company says that, like Mariko Vineyard, Jō-no-hira Vineyard is one of the relatively few certified Nature Coexistence Sites that also produces agricultural products as a business, and it views the certification as recognition of an example of “nature positive” action through business activity.
Reference