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basic research, it was realized that deliveries in both time and spatial scale were not
really coupled with the producers' immediate needs. This was especially evident
when the world fi nancial crisis hit at the beginning of 2008, when many producers
expressed the willingness to continue the ongoing collaboration, but needed to post-
pone any investment on restoration or conservation programs until the economy
stabilized. It is important to realize that WBCC's fi rst approach was essentially
focused on the ecological component of the system. However, these systems are
susceptible to external variables such as global markets that determine prices and
therefore sales, thus proving the vulnerability of any system where components are
treated in isolation (Chapin et al. 2009 ). This unexpected but nonetheless learning
process led to the creation of an education and knowledge transfer program for
delivering best management practices to producers through the recognition and
valuation of native local biodiversity and coupled ecosystem services (Fig. 19.3a ).
These WBCC workshops highlighted two important things. The fi rst was to real-
ize how some inherited agricultural practices from the northern hemisphere were so
ingrained that Chilean biodiversity had suffered dire consequences over time. The
second was the keen interest and participation of farm workers to link biodiversity
with their local ecological knowledge and cultural identity. As a result of these
workshops and long-term engagement with wine producers, many of the vineyards
associated with the program have already set aside areas that contain native forest
and shrubland, approaching nearly 20,600 ha in a region where the National System
of Protected Areas includes only 64,930 ha in National Parks (CONAF 2013 ).
However, the WBCC program is still voluntary and has not been adopted by the
Chilean wine industry as a whole, a situation that contrasts with South Africa
(Von Hase et al. 2010 ).
A survey conducted with an open sample of Chilean wineries has shown that
land set aside for conservation proposes is not a rare practice. Out of 45 surveyed
wineries, 86 % claimed to have conservation areas on their farms. However, when
asked about specifi c management practices to preserve biodiversity, we found out
that only 35 % took steps to ensure that cattle were not allowed into these areas.
This common practice in farmlands is based in the erroneous belief that cattle will
remove grass biomass and therefore decrease the risk of fi res. However, this practice
not only severely limits the recruitment of native fl ora (Henriquez and Simonetti
2001 ), but it increases propagation of invasive grasses that are highly fl ammable
(Pauchard et al. 2008 , 2011 ). The introduction of nonnative species is of particular
concern in Chile, given that 15 % of plant species present in the country are nonna-
tive (Fuentes et al. 2013 ). Chile has a strict quarantine control over pests, and there
is a clear normative to avoid the introduction of exotic species without a permit.
However, a national strategy for control and prevention of exotic invasive species
based on the damage that can be caused to the native biodiversity, has not been
implemented (Pauchard et al. 2011 ).
Implementation of cover cropping between roads that might involve exotic
species can be nevertheless a benefi cial practice that prevents soil erosion, improves
soil conditions, and provide habitat for natural enemies (Altieri 1999 ; Nicholls et al.
2001 ; Patrick-King and Berry 2005 ). When choosing species for this purpose, com-
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