Ecosystem Services for Wine Sustainability: A Case in Point of Sustainable Food Systems

This study investigates the concept of ecosystem services in an Australian grape and wine company and explores risks and opportunities to achieve environmental sustainability in this organization. Ecosystem service approach is an emerging paradigm to address natural resource degradation and achieve sustainability in agribusiness organizations. A case study method is used to identify environmental issues at one of the premium wine organizations based in South Australia. This study conducts semi-structured interviews with multiple informants to analyze how this organization integrates ecosystem services approach in their management systems. These semi-structured interviews with multiple informants identified three categories of environmental issues: (1) primary (water use efficiency, soil health, carbon emissions), (2) secondary (energy, water availability), and (3) tertiary (waste water recycling, salinity in soil, loss of biodiversity, impacts due to climate change projections, winery waste management, soil carbon). We used Ecosystem Based Business Risk Analysis Tool (EBBRAT) and found freshwater availability as a major risk for this organization. This tool led to the identification of key areas, such as biological control of insect pests, maintaining biodiversity and management of soil, as an opportunity for the wine company to enhance sustainability. This study highlights ecosystem service approach to achieve sustainability in wine and other agribusiness organizations. This case study is followed by two interactive exercises to illustrate the application of the ideas discussed in the chapter. The chapter concludes with lessons learnt to develop sustainable food systems and some questions that reflect the ideas presented in the chapter and are aimed at shifting the focus toward food sustainability.