Socio-Ecological Studies in Urban and Rural Ecosystems in Chile - Earth Stewardship: Linking Ecology and Ethics in Theory and Practice - page 297

Fig. 19.2 ( b ) Photo of Viña Veramonte, with native forest remnants in the background in
Casablanca valley, a main wine production valley (Photo Olga Barbosa)
between 2 and 4,000 ha, or more, of natural adjacent land. Moreover, the quality of
the wine is defi ned by its geographic origin, a meaning that is captured in the French
term “ terroir ” (Viers et al. 2013 ). This term highlight the connection between the
resulting product (e.g. wine) and the environment (Wilson 2001 ; Renouf et al.
2006 ), thus inclining the industry to favor the conservation of Mediterranean
ecosystems (Fig. 19.2b ).
With the opportunity afforded by innovative new funding by the government of
Chile (Fondos BASALES, CONICYT), a group of Chilean scientists embraced a
5-year program working with the wine industry to develop ways to balance the
growth of the industry and the conservation of this highly fragile ecosystem. This
program was planned essentially through research on the links between the provi-
sion of ecosystem services to vineyards, and their susceptibility under climate
change and land use change, leading to the establishment of the Wine Biodiversity
and Climate Change Program (WBCC). 2 The overall goal is to improve vineyard
design with management practices that minimize their impact on native biodiversity
and ecosystem services that sustain the wine industry and local communities.
Since the beginning of this program, the number of wineries interested in part-
nering with the WBCC consistently has increased, from one in 2008 to 14 in the fi rst
5 years of the program, together accounting for nearly 70 % of wine Chilean global
exports by volume (Wines of Chile 2013 ). However, after 2 years of developing
2 The Wine, Climate Change and Biodiversity Program is a scientifi c initiative of the Institute of
Ecology and Biodiversity and Universidad Austral de Chile, which aims to conciliate biodiversity
conservation with the development of the Chilean wine industry. www.vccb.cl