Socio-Ecological Studies in Urban and Rural Ecosystems in Chile - Earth Stewardship: Linking Ecology and Ethics in Theory and Practice - page 300

the wrong species. After wine producers enrolled in the program, they demanded
seedmixes without this invasive species. Currently, the development of cover crop
mixes with native species, which do not actually exist, is taking place.
In summary, the way in which stewardship is understood and put into practice
requires knowledge of local ecosystems, a knowledge that may or may not be avail-
able. As some (or probably most) historically used practices that are not good for
biodiversity conservation in the Chilean Mediterranean ecosystem are inherited
from the global north, local research is extremely important (Rozzi et al. 2012 ). On
the other hand, it has been demonstrated that the main motivations for companies to
“go green” are competiveness, legitimation, and ecological responsibility. These
motivations are infl uenced, among other reasons, by individual concern (Bansal and
Roth 2000 ). For these reason, the approach used in workshops has been very valu-
able in part because it is based on the inquiry methodology of Schoolyard Ecology,
in which participants experience the process of learning through their own practices
(Feinsinger 1987 ; Feinsinger et al. 1997 ). This also has made it possible to work
horizontally during workshops, with all employees of the winery and vineyard, and
enabling local workers to rediscover and validate their local ecological knowledge
without regard to any corporate rank order. In addition these workshops have con-
tributed to corporate social responsibility strategies (CSR) and provide a potential
avenue for extending these educational programs to the local community. Indeed,
interviews conducted with participants after the workshops indicate that 88 % of
respondents believe that protecting native biodiversity inside their farm contributes
to conservation goals. Moreover, when asked “in which areas they would like to
apply what you learned during this” workshop, 67 % responded “in daily life”
(Fig. 19.3c ). This shows that enhancing stewardship in vineyard practices can have
an extended effect into broader areas.
After this experience, it is strongly believed that diversifi cation of knowledge
transfer, in which the variety of individual motivations for conservation are acknowl-
edged (e.g. from CSR to cultural ancestral value) has been one of the reasons why
these workshops have been valued greatly by wineries in the program. Through this
type of strategies almost all participants fi nd some cultural connection to the envi-
ronment, which has also been regarded as a powerful social force fostering steward-
ship and social-ecological sustainability (Berkes et al. 2000 ; Chapin 2009 b). Despite
the success of this initiative, the lack of institutional incentives for conservation of
private lands remains a real threat to this voluntary strategy.

19.3 Awakening into Biodiversity Leads to Urban and Rural

Earth Stewardship

Both study cases show that through capacity building activities with local commu-
nity, we could rely on a bottom-up approach to improve knowledge about wetland
values in Valdivia and natural landscapes around vineyards. However, the combined
effect, with a top-down approach (government institutions and corporations),