Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 19
Socio-Ecological Studies in Urban and Rural
Ecosystems in Chile
Olga Barbosa and Paula Villagra
Abstract To embrace a global “Earth Stewardship”, researchers associated with
the Chilean Long Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER-Chile) network,
highlighted the urgent need to integrate the variety of ecosystems and cultures, and
overcome the bias of information centered in Northern Hemisphere. However this
initiative doesn't include the Chilean territory under strongest anthropogenic
infl uence, and where most of the population lives and relies economically: agricul-
tural lands and cities. Here we present two innovative projects contributing to the
international Earth Stewardship Initiative: urban planning in the city of Valdivia,
and the development of sustainable winery in Mediterranean Chile. Urban concen-
tration amplifi es strong social inequities that not only impact individual's economic
opportunities, but also the environmental quality of the surrounding landscapes and
the ecosystem services they provide. In Chile, a highly urbanized country and prone
to natural disasters, access to ecosystem services, provided for example by wetlands
and urban forest remnants are essential to mitigate the effects of such catastrophes.
Similarly, a conservation initiative with the wine industry was recently developed to
preserve the threatened Mediterranean ecosystem, and improve vineyard manage-
ment practices to minimize impact on native biodiversity and ecosystem services
that sustain the wine industry and local communities. For both study cases a com-
plementary approach through capacity building activities with the local community
(bottom-up) coupled with building relationships with government institutions and
corporations (top-down), have increased the effectiveness of the decision making
process, highlighting that an holistic approach to Earth Stewardship should consider
a variety of values, and undertake a socio-ecological approach.
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