The Role Of Biodiversity In Vines In A Changing Climate

In a multifunctional agricultural system, that has characterized our viticulture for centuries, biodiversity provides important ecological services that underpin vineyard health, productivity, quality and resilience. In the last decades, vineyard expansion and intensification are compromising the diversity and abundance of service-providing organisms, due to landscape homogenization, loss of key structures such as stone walls and hedgerows, high mechanization (including frequent tilling), and/or overuse of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides.  The wine industry relies on nature, so we need to enhance and preserve the Eco services that nature provides, such as carbon storage, natural control of undesirable organisms, self-regulation and reliance on the natural balance that biodiversity provides. On the other hand, and in line with the European Green Deal, the European Commission adopted a comprehensive new Biodiversity Strategy to bring nature back into our lives and a Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally friendly food system. These two strategies are mutually reinforcing, bringing together nature, farmers, businesses and consumers for jointly working towards a competitively sustainable future. This Climate Talk will address how farmers are managing biodiversity in their vines and how they can benefit from the balance provided by it. For that purpose, in this conversation we will bring together, producers from different parts of the world to talk about their experience on how they are enhancing the role of biodiversity in their vines. They will share the solutions they have been implementing and the impacts on their grapes and wines, and how these practices are aligned with their challenge of adapting to climate change. In this debate, we will also explore the importance of international and national strategies and the role of each partner in achieving the goals set. Host:  PEDRO BEJA . Portugal . Rechearcher at CIBIO – Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources Guests: GABRIELA MASCIOLI . Portugal . Co-owner of Herdade de Coalheiros (Alentejo) JOHN WILLIAMS . USA . Owner and Winemaker at Frog’s Leap MICHAEL GOËSS-ENZENBERG  . Italy . Owner of Manicor

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