Vinecology Synthesis Workshop 2011

The upcoming Vinecology workshop is a follow-up to the 1st International Workshop on Biodiversity and Vines, held in Stellenbosch, South Africa in 2007. That event came out of a collective recognition that vineyard conversion is a major threat to global Mediterranean ecosystems, but that within the winegrowing economic sector there is willingness and opportunity to effect positive change. Over the past 10 years a group of researchers and conservation practitioners have been investigating ecosystem services, sustainable vineyard practices and biodiversity conservation in these systems. At the same time, sustainable vineyard development and management approaches are becoming increasingly prevalent. The benchmarks of sustainability, however, remain somewhat unclear and are generally lacking in scientific basis. As a result, there is a need for the synthesis of scientific and economic data, climate change model results and best management practices in order to guide future vineyard development.
The goals of the 2007 Workshop were to identify and improve landscape-scale vineyard design and management practices with an eye towards safeguarding biodiversity. Special emphasis was placed on educational development opportunities for students of conservation and enology, and on promoting increased collaborative exchange between industry professionals and researchers. There was also a thematic focus on the watershed unit and the importance of integrated catchment management, including monitoring of downstream impacts. A summary of the workshop’s proceedings can be found online.

Building on the successes of 2007, the participants decided that a second workshop would be valuable for focusing on how conservation science, policy and economics come together to determine what actions are taken for habitat and biodiversity protection in vineyard landscapes. This meeting will focus on ecosystem services, and in particular on identifying gaps in understanding of the potential economic value of ecosystem services provided to grape growing by native biodiversity and surrounding natural landscapes. The workshop will concentrate on the California context, but we will be thinking constantly about ways to incorporate ideas that have worked in other regions, as well as how to make California solutions applicable elsewhere. The specific objectives of the workshop are as follows:

◊ Provide a context for conserving existing native habitat in and around vineyards by quantifying ecosystem service benefits to grape growing;
◊ Provide a better understanding of the scientific/economic tradeoffs of biodiversity conservation within a working landscape, focusing on the relationship between ecosystem services and economies that depend on Mediterranean cropping systems, while accounting for future climatic conditions;
◊ Assist conservationists in capitalizing on the sustainable grape growing movement in an industry with high network sophistication.

Pages for Participants:
◊ Draft Agenda
◊ Reading List
◊ Location and Directions
◊ Resource for Visitors
◊ Policy Briefs

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VinecologySynthesis2011Flyer.pdf	679.75 KB