1. Establish an enabling environment:
The BWI partners have established an enabling environment to assist the South African wine industry with adopting biodiversity best practices. This process includes defining partner's roles and responsibilities, securing funding, opening a BWI office, employing a project co-ordinator and extension officer, and building capacity to meet the objectives.

2. Incorporate biodiversity guidelines into the Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) Guidelines:
The BWI is working closely with the wine industry to include relevant biodiversity guidelines in the IPW environmental guidelines. The biodiversity guidelines will be practical and realistic for growers and producers to implement, with maximum conservation benefits. The first draft of biodiversity guidelines have been incorporated into the current IPW guidelines.

3. Identify and enlist biodiversity & wine champions:
Through marketing the BWI in wine industry publications, the BWI will enlist interested producers and growers to champion the initiative. These "champions" will be guided through the implementation of the biodiversity guidelines, and assisted with building a biodiversity story into their winery identity. The role of champions is to test the implementation of the biodiversity guidelines, and to demonstrate the tangible benefits to the wine industry.

4. Extend conservation stewardship to the wine industry:
Cape Nature's existing Conservation Stewardship Programme will be extended to wine grape growers with endangered renosterveld and lowland fynbos on their properties. Stewardship encourages land owners to enter into formal contracts with Cape Nature to conserve critical sites. Although this might only be a small portion of a land owner's farm, benefits to the land owner could include property rate rebates, securing the area for conservation, assistance with land management, alien plant clearing and positive media coverage.

5. Integrate biodiversity into Brand South Africa:
The BWI aims to incorporate biodiversity into Brand South Africa, thus giving South Africa a competitive marketing advantage in the global wine market. The advantage is based on the unique attributes of the scenery and biodiversity of the Cape Floral Kingdom, a recently listed World Heritage Site. The BWI will build on the fact that South Africa's complex terroir, unique in the world, results in complex biodiversity and complex wines.

6. Develop a biodiversity wine route:
The BWI aims to establish a biodiversity wine route where visitors are exposed to both the wine and the biodiversity experience of each participating producer. For example, guides from the local community will conduct tours of the natural vegetation, communicating the producer's story and the role of biodiversity conservation in sustainable wine production. The biodiversity wine route is an opportunity to create employment and develop a new ecotourism angle for South African wine tourism.