Biodiversity and the South African wine sector: a successful blend?

[摘要] The acceleration of biodiversity loss is understood to threaten the ecosystems upon whichlife on earth depends. Existing conservation approaches have proved insufficient to stemglobal biodiversity losses. Mounting evidence indicates that responsible biodiversityconservation requires an integration of ecology with economics. Accordingly,contemporary conservation interventions incorporate a concept that ecosystems andbiodiversity can be used and also conserved. In South Africa, such interventions can beappropriately applied in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR), an area containing severelyendangered biodiversity where land use and conservation goals rarely mesh. More than80% of land in the CFR is privately owned, with large tracts transformed for viticulture.Conservation challenges thus include the reconciliation of wine production needs withbiodiversity protection necessities.This thesis comprises a case study of the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative, anorganisation that simultaneously promotes biodiversity conservation in the South Africanwine sector, by a process of mainstreaming within an viticultural context. The overallstudy aim was to improve understanding of the BWI as a mainstreaming initiative.Specifically, the area of inquiry is an investigation into how effectively the BWI hasprotected biodiversity in the CFR between 2005 and 2008. Individual aims were toinvestigate reductions in threat to biodiversity in the CFR; to assess farmer adoptionlevels of BWI strategy; and to formulate a sustainability appraisal of the Biodiversity andWine Initiative. A strategic triangulation of methods was employed. Stakeholderinterviews were conducted to probe adoption levels and opinions of BWI strategy. Casestudies of two BWI champion estates provided data on best practice. Towards a criticalappraisal of sustainability, an assessment was made of the BWI as a functioningmainstreaming model, which included case studies of two model farms.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University