Wine landscapes management in the Spanish biosphere reserves

Abstract

Biosphere Reserves (BR) are delimited areas with the aim of conciliating the conservation of natural and cultural values with sustainable development. This article begins from the hypothesis that this figure of UNESCO can perform a key function in the task of combining the conservation of biodiversity, territorial development and the maintenance of the cultural values associated to grapevine and wine landscapes in fragile surroundings. The main objective of this article is to present a first balance of the importance that Spanish Biosphere Reserves generally have in the management of the landscape, and specially of the vineyard. This approach is carried out from consideration of strategies that affect the vineyard landscape values contained in the Action Plans of the reserves. Furthermore, the wine-growing areas are mapped and weighed and an analysis is executed in depth in those cases in which the vineyard, by its organization or singularity, occupies an outstanding place among the crops.