New SPRING add-on v2 for responsible water management available now

The updated Sustainable Program for Irrigation and Groundwater Use (SPRING) add-on version 2 was launched on 5 September 2023 with recognition from both the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Spain and the Sustainability Initiative Fruit and Vegetables (SIFAV).

Designed to be combined with the Integrated Farm Assurance standard for plants or the Crops for Processing standard and developed in collaboration with stakeholders from across the sector, SPRING v2 covers a wide range of topics such as water use and extraction rates, legal compliance and protection of water sources, and sustainable watershed management.

The updated version comes after extensive revisions and features simplified implementation rules and stricter principles and criteria regarding legal compliance, reflecting the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat’s growing emphasis on solutions for environmental sustainability and underscoring the central role of water management in a sustainable future.  

The add-on enables producers to demonstrate their extra commitment to responsible water management and helps farms to raise their water awareness and implement more efficient farm-level management of water resources. SPRING v2 anticipates key environmental pressure points and provides smart solutions to protect at-risk water resources.

Producers and certification bodies will have sufficient time for appropriate training before the first audits against the new version may be conducted from 1 October 2023. SPRING v2 will then become obligatory from 1 January 2024, replacing v1.1-1.

WWF Spain recognizes SPRING v2

Following a long-running collaboration with the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat, WWF Spain has rated the SPRING v2 add-on among the top farm-level water certification options available to producers in Spain. A key reason for this is the add-on’s inclusion of legal compliance as a significant requirement for certification, as water scarcity plays an important role in Spanish agricultural production and impacts water legislation across the country.

Recognizing that governments craft legislation to address the unique water risks in their regions, the new SPRING v2 places even greater emphasis on adherence to local legal requirements. To achieve certification to SPRING v2, producers must demonstrate compliance with legal criteria regarding land use, flow rates, water infrastructure, and water source identification.

Agriculture and Water Coordinator for WWF Spain Felipe Fuentelsaz commented, “We very much appreciate the close and constructive cooperation with the GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat. In our view, this approach can serve excellently as a blueprint for other regions or countries facing similar challenges.”

Sustainability Initiative Fruit and Vegetables endorses SPRING

SIFAV has benchmarked and recognized the SPRING add-on as part of its “Basket of Water Standards,” a selection of standards that satisfy specific legal, environmental, and sanitation criteria. The “Basket of Water Standards” is part of SIFAV’s 2025 strategy in which the organization has commissioned the independent benchmarking of water standards for agriculture.

“SIFAV gladly recommends SPRING among our basket of approved voluntary water standards for fruit and vegetable producers,” said SIFAV Program Manager Coen Frederiks. “We are confident that the updates in the new version of the add-on will further support our ambition to optimize and promote on-farm water management in the fresh produce sector.”

FoodPLUS GmbH Managing Director Dr. Elmé Coetzer-Boersma commented, “We are pleased to have our work recognized by groups like WWF Spain and SIFAV, who share our dedication to environmental sustainability. It shows we’re doing the right thing and inspires us to continue striving for more transparency and more responsibility in demonstrating how producers use water on their farms.”

SIFAV is a membership-based initiative coordinated by IDH that aims to actively contribute to more sustainable fresh fruit and vegetable supply chains globally. SIFAV unites private companies, civil society organizations, and voluntary standards active in the fresh fruit and vegetable sector.

sifav.com/

WWF Spain is part of the WWF network, the largest independent international organization dedicated to the defense of nature and the environment. Founded in 1961, the WWF now operates in more than 100 countries and is supported by nearly five million members around the world.  

www.wwf.es