The relevance of ecosystem services to land reform policies: Insights from South Africa
- Clements, Hayley S, de Vos, Alta, Bezerra, Joana Carlos, Coetzer, Kaera, Maciejewski, Kristine, Mograbi, Penelope J, Shackleton, Charlie M
- Authors: Clements, Hayley S , de Vos, Alta , Bezerra, Joana Carlos , Coetzer, Kaera , Maciejewski, Kristine , Mograbi, Penelope J , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2021
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175767 , vital:42622 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104939
- Description: Land reform is an important socio-political strategy in many countries. Despite the importance of ecosystem health in attaining land reform objectives, human-nature interactions have been largely absent from contemporary land reform discussions. In this perspectives paper, we highlight why land reform programmes could benefit from considering ecosystem services in their planning processes, to better achieve their goals of socio-economic development and equity. Drawing on examples from South Africa, we argue that an ecosystem services lens can help achieve equity in land reform programmes by providing insight into how land-use legacies and the multi-functional nature of landscapes influence who benefits from land reform across space and through time.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Clements, Hayley S , de Vos, Alta , Bezerra, Joana Carlos , Coetzer, Kaera , Maciejewski, Kristine , Mograbi, Penelope J , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2021
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175767 , vital:42622 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104939
- Description: Land reform is an important socio-political strategy in many countries. Despite the importance of ecosystem health in attaining land reform objectives, human-nature interactions have been largely absent from contemporary land reform discussions. In this perspectives paper, we highlight why land reform programmes could benefit from considering ecosystem services in their planning processes, to better achieve their goals of socio-economic development and equity. Drawing on examples from South Africa, we argue that an ecosystem services lens can help achieve equity in land reform programmes by providing insight into how land-use legacies and the multi-functional nature of landscapes influence who benefits from land reform across space and through time.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
Deactivation of field cultivation in communal areas of South Africa: Patterns, drivers and socio-economic and ecological consequences
- Shackleton, Charlie M, Mograbi, Penelope, Drimie, Scott, Fay, Derick, Hebinck, Paul, Hoffman, Michael T, Maciejewski, Kristine, Twine, Wayne
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Mograbi, Penelope , Drimie, Scott , Fay, Derick , Hebinck, Paul , Hoffman, Michael T , Maciejewski, Kristine , Twine, Wayne
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/398210 , vital:69384 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.01.009"
- Description: Smallholder production is a significant contributor to rural livelihoods and rural economies in much of the developing world. Yet, there is evidence of increasing disengagement in some regions, including southern Africa. However, there has been little consideration of the rates and the livelihood, ecological and policy implications of such. In this paper we examine previous studies on rates of deactivation of crop fields by smallholders in the communal areas of South Africa, supported by repeat photo images and case study material. Together these various methods show that it is a widespread phenomenon occurring at variable rates. Over short periods deactivation of crop fields can be balanced through some reactivation or intensification of homegardens. But over longer periods there is a net decline in the area of fields cultivated in many areas, with corresponding increases in the area of fallow land which, through time, may undergo changes towards more natural vegetation. We review the drivers of this deactivation of field cropping, and then contemplate the possible socio-economic and ecological implications at local and national scales. We show that there are numerous and profound implications that require greater understanding and policy responses.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Mograbi, Penelope , Drimie, Scott , Fay, Derick , Hebinck, Paul , Hoffman, Michael T , Maciejewski, Kristine , Twine, Wayne
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/398210 , vital:69384 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.01.009"
- Description: Smallholder production is a significant contributor to rural livelihoods and rural economies in much of the developing world. Yet, there is evidence of increasing disengagement in some regions, including southern Africa. However, there has been little consideration of the rates and the livelihood, ecological and policy implications of such. In this paper we examine previous studies on rates of deactivation of crop fields by smallholders in the communal areas of South Africa, supported by repeat photo images and case study material. Together these various methods show that it is a widespread phenomenon occurring at variable rates. Over short periods deactivation of crop fields can be balanced through some reactivation or intensification of homegardens. But over longer periods there is a net decline in the area of fields cultivated in many areas, with corresponding increases in the area of fallow land which, through time, may undergo changes towards more natural vegetation. We review the drivers of this deactivation of field cropping, and then contemplate the possible socio-economic and ecological implications at local and national scales. We show that there are numerous and profound implications that require greater understanding and policy responses.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Pathogens, disease, and the social-ecological resilience of protected areas
- de Vos, Alta, Cumming, Graeme S, Cumming, David M, Ament, Judith M, Baum, Julia, Clements, Hayley S, Grewar, John D, Maciejewski, Kristine, Moore, Christine
- Authors: de Vos, Alta , Cumming, Graeme S , Cumming, David M , Ament, Judith M , Baum, Julia , Clements, Hayley S , Grewar, John D , Maciejewski, Kristine , Moore, Christine
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/416360 , vital:71341 , xlink:href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-07984-210120"
- Description: It is extremely important for biodiversity conservation that protected areas are resilient to a range of potential future perturbations. One of the least studied influences on protected area resilience is that of disease. We argue that wildlife disease (1) is a social-ecological problem that must be approached from an interdisciplinary perspective; (2) has the potential to lead to changes in the identity of protected areas, possibly transforming them; and (3) interacts with conservation both directly (via impacts on wild animals, livestock, and people) and indirectly (via the public, conservation management, and veterinary responses). We use southern African protected areas as a case study to test a framework for exploring the connections between conservation, endemic disease, and socialecological resilience. We first define a set of criteria for the social-ecological identity of protected areas. We then use these criteria to explore the potential impacts of selected diseases (foot-and-mouth disease, anthrax, malaria, rabies, rift valley fever, trypanosomiasis, and canine distemper) on protected area resilience. Although endemic diseases may have a number of direct impacts on both wild animals and domestic animals and people, the indirect pathways by which diseases influence social-ecological resilience also emerge as potentially important. The majority of endemic pathogens found in protected areas do not kill large numbers of wild animals or infect many people, and may even play valuable ecological roles; but occasional disease outbreaks and mortalities can have a large impact on public perceptions and disease management, potentially making protected areas unviable in one or more of their stated aims. Neighboring landowners also have a significant impact on park management decisions. The indirect effects triggered by disease in the human social and economic components of protected areas and surrounding landscapes may ultimately have a greater influence on protected area resilience than the direct ecological perturbations caused by disease.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: de Vos, Alta , Cumming, Graeme S , Cumming, David M , Ament, Judith M , Baum, Julia , Clements, Hayley S , Grewar, John D , Maciejewski, Kristine , Moore, Christine
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/416360 , vital:71341 , xlink:href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-07984-210120"
- Description: It is extremely important for biodiversity conservation that protected areas are resilient to a range of potential future perturbations. One of the least studied influences on protected area resilience is that of disease. We argue that wildlife disease (1) is a social-ecological problem that must be approached from an interdisciplinary perspective; (2) has the potential to lead to changes in the identity of protected areas, possibly transforming them; and (3) interacts with conservation both directly (via impacts on wild animals, livestock, and people) and indirectly (via the public, conservation management, and veterinary responses). We use southern African protected areas as a case study to test a framework for exploring the connections between conservation, endemic disease, and socialecological resilience. We first define a set of criteria for the social-ecological identity of protected areas. We then use these criteria to explore the potential impacts of selected diseases (foot-and-mouth disease, anthrax, malaria, rabies, rift valley fever, trypanosomiasis, and canine distemper) on protected area resilience. Although endemic diseases may have a number of direct impacts on both wild animals and domestic animals and people, the indirect pathways by which diseases influence social-ecological resilience also emerge as potentially important. The majority of endemic pathogens found in protected areas do not kill large numbers of wild animals or infect many people, and may even play valuable ecological roles; but occasional disease outbreaks and mortalities can have a large impact on public perceptions and disease management, potentially making protected areas unviable in one or more of their stated aims. Neighboring landowners also have a significant impact on park management decisions. The indirect effects triggered by disease in the human social and economic components of protected areas and surrounding landscapes may ultimately have a greater influence on protected area resilience than the direct ecological perturbations caused by disease.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Exploring the linkages between biodiversity conservation and ecotourism in protected areas
- Authors: Maciejewski, Kristine
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Biodiversity conservation , Ecotourism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:10709 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011033 , Biodiversity conservation , Ecotourism
- Description: The prospect of using ecotourism to add value to conservation initiatives has frequently been stated. However, there is a general lack of information on the costs and benefits of biodiversity and its management, and how this can be influenced by the ecotourism industry. This study seeks to explore the value of biodiversity from the perspective of ecotourism in a hierarchical series of studies that move from the biome-level perspective down to the value of juveniles in ecotourism. Ecotourism plays a significant role in the establishment and management of Private Protected Areas (PPAs) and hence the opportunity to be added to the conservation estate. The financial opportunity to be found in ‘big five’ areas had led to an uneven biome coverage of PPAs which has resulted in the over-representation of certain areas and a skewed contribution towards national conservation targets. The landscape-use of PPAs have indicated that ecotourism operators are largely driven to achieve successful game-viewing sightings which has influenced management and affected the landscape use of PPAs, the stocking rate of species, the introduction of extralimital species, and management of flagship species. These management decisions are based on anecdotal sources and have been made at the expense of biodiversity and therefore apparent conflict exists between ecotourism and conservation objectives. This is based on lack of information: ecotourism operators, despite the large area they protect, have not realised their potential to contribute to conservation. It is therefore important to develop policy and incentives to motivate the establishment of PPAs in areas of high conservation significance in order to contribute to national conservation targets. Ecotourism should be used as a solution to provide important insights into tourist preferences which contribute to the larger debate of how to establish a balance between managing animal populations to ensure tourist satisfaction while supporting conservation. To ensure sustainability of PPAs, it is strongly recommended to manage PPAs more intensively with regards to PPA size, species stocking rates and landscape use. The presence of juveniles at an animal sighting significantly contributes to tourist satisfaction which suggests that the loss of juveniles may reduce the attraction. This is used to provide recommendations that using contraception to control elephant population numbers should be applied with caution as a management tool as it may be counterproductive by negatively impacting ecotourism. The findings from this study not only contribute to the conservation of biodiversity through the use of ecotourism, but will also ensure sustainability of the ecotourism industry and build capacity for sustainable living.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Maciejewski, Kristine
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Biodiversity conservation , Ecotourism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:10709 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011033 , Biodiversity conservation , Ecotourism
- Description: The prospect of using ecotourism to add value to conservation initiatives has frequently been stated. However, there is a general lack of information on the costs and benefits of biodiversity and its management, and how this can be influenced by the ecotourism industry. This study seeks to explore the value of biodiversity from the perspective of ecotourism in a hierarchical series of studies that move from the biome-level perspective down to the value of juveniles in ecotourism. Ecotourism plays a significant role in the establishment and management of Private Protected Areas (PPAs) and hence the opportunity to be added to the conservation estate. The financial opportunity to be found in ‘big five’ areas had led to an uneven biome coverage of PPAs which has resulted in the over-representation of certain areas and a skewed contribution towards national conservation targets. The landscape-use of PPAs have indicated that ecotourism operators are largely driven to achieve successful game-viewing sightings which has influenced management and affected the landscape use of PPAs, the stocking rate of species, the introduction of extralimital species, and management of flagship species. These management decisions are based on anecdotal sources and have been made at the expense of biodiversity and therefore apparent conflict exists between ecotourism and conservation objectives. This is based on lack of information: ecotourism operators, despite the large area they protect, have not realised their potential to contribute to conservation. It is therefore important to develop policy and incentives to motivate the establishment of PPAs in areas of high conservation significance in order to contribute to national conservation targets. Ecotourism should be used as a solution to provide important insights into tourist preferences which contribute to the larger debate of how to establish a balance between managing animal populations to ensure tourist satisfaction while supporting conservation. To ensure sustainability of PPAs, it is strongly recommended to manage PPAs more intensively with regards to PPA size, species stocking rates and landscape use. The presence of juveniles at an animal sighting significantly contributes to tourist satisfaction which suggests that the loss of juveniles may reduce the attraction. This is used to provide recommendations that using contraception to control elephant population numbers should be applied with caution as a management tool as it may be counterproductive by negatively impacting ecotourism. The findings from this study not only contribute to the conservation of biodiversity through the use of ecotourism, but will also ensure sustainability of the ecotourism industry and build capacity for sustainable living.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- «
- ‹
- 1
- ›
- »