Has deregulation of non-timber forest product controls and marketing in Orissa state (India) affected local patterns of use and marketing
- Authors: Mahapatra, A K , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6643 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006872
- Description: State control of marketing agricultural or forestry products may lead to a trade monopoly and restricted competition, resulting in inequitable returns to producers. Consequently, market deregulation for agriculture and other natural products has been advocated to improve market efficiencies, participation and returns for the producers and local traders. The study examines the impact of deregulation of state marketing controls on collection, sale and returns to extractors and traders from non-timber forest products. It assessed whether deregulation policy resulted in greater benefits to primary extractors and a win–win situation for both producers and traders? Mixed effects were found, with no significant changes in terms of trade, demand, or quantum of consumption; but there was an overall increase in the procurement price for several products following deregulation. The collection and farm gate price of tree based oilseeds and honey increased due to lower transaction costs, and ease of trading with a continued demand for these products. The impact on less valuable products was insignificant. Abolition of monopolistic trading increased competition and had a pull effect on the local market prices of several NTFPs. Although traders paid a higher price to procure products, overall they also benefited being able to sell the purchased products to merchants and manufacturers at a better margin than previously.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The potential for voluntary instruments to achieve conservation planning goals : the case of conservancies in South Africa
- Authors: Downsborough, Linda , Shackleton, Charlie M , Knight, Andrew T
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6629 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006821
- Description: Spatial prioritizations and gap analyses are increasingly undertaken to allocate conservation resources. Most spatial prioritizations are conducted without specifying the conservation instruments to be implemented and gap analyses typically assess formally protected areas but increasingly include private land conservation instruments. We examine conservancies to see if these voluntary instruments contribute towards achieving goals of South African conservation planning initiatives. We conducted a nationwide survey and interviews with conservancy members in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape. Conservancies have potential for assisting South Africa to achieve conservation planning goals at national and local scales but their inclusion in spatial prioritizations and gap analyses predicates improved protection for nature, operational refinement and increased support. We sound a warning to conservation planning initiatives that incorporate voluntary instruments on private land, and present recommendations for strengthening such instruments to make them more effective. Our findings may assist conservation planners elsewhere to design more effective conservation planning initiatives focused on private land.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The use and appreciation of urban green spaces: the case of selected botanical gardens in South Africa
- Authors: Ward, Catherine D , Parker, Caitlin M , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2010
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6662 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007086
- Description: There are few formal studies on the contribution of botanical gardens as urban green spaces, particularly within developing countries. Therefore, this paper reports on an assessment of the use and appreciation of botanical gardens as urban green spaces in South Africa. Users and staff were surveyed in six national botanical gardens. The gardens provided numerous benefits in terms of conservation, education and recreation. However, the people using the gardens were not demographically representative of the general population of the surrounding city or town. Generally, most of the visitors were middle- to old-aged, well-educated professionals with medium to high incomes. Most were white and English was their home language. There was an even gender representation. Most visited only a few times per year. The majority of users visited the gardens for recreation and psychological reasons rather than educational ones. However, the staff of each garden placed emphasis on education in the gardens and amongst surrounding schools. Most visitors appreciated the conservation dimensions of botanical gardens, and felt that there was insufficient public green space in their town or city. Understanding how people perceive and use the botanical gardens of South Africa is important to inform future research and strategies regarding the conservation of urban green space within a developing country.
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- Date Issued: 2010
Is HIV/AIDS jeopardizing biodiversity?
- Authors: McGarry, Dylan K , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6642 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006871
- Description: The scourge of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is most prevalent in southern Africa. South Africa has the highest number of people in the world living with HIV/AIDS and a prevalence rate of over 30 % for females presenting at antenatal clinics. There are now almost five million orphans within southern Africa, as a result of AIDS deaths of one or more or their parents. AIDS-related mortality and morbidity of care-givers may lead to increased reliance on wild sources of animal protein by surviving children. This increase in hunting pressure has unknown, but potentially important impacts on local animal populations.
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- Date Issued: 2009
Quantity and significance of wild meat off-take by a rural community in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Kaschula, Sarah A H , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6638 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006864
- Description: When compared to tropical forest zones in west and central Africa, off-take of wild meat from savannah and grassland biomes by local rural communities has not been well assessed. This case study of wild meat collection activities within a rural community in the Mount Frere region of the Eastern Cape (South Africa) uses last-catch records derived from 50 wild meat gatherers to calculate average off-take of taxa, species and fresh mass of wild meat per collection event. When per-event off take is overlaid onto household hunting frequency data, annual off-take would be 268.6 kg km−2 yr−1 or 3 kg person−1 yr−1 presuming constant off-take over an annual period. Monetary value of off-take would be South African R 307 (US$ 39) per household annually. For some species, off-take weight per km2 shows similar values to data from tropical forest zones, but high human population densities tend to dilute off-takes to less nutritionally significant amounts at the per person scale. However, unlike many tropical zones, none of the species harvested can be considered high-priority conservation species. Even densely populated and heavily harvested communal lands appear to offer high wild meat off-takes from low conservation priority species.
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- Date Issued: 2009
Wealth differentiation in household use and trade in non-timber forest products in South Africa
- Authors: Paumgarten, Fiona , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6646 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006892
- Description: Findings from southern Africa and internationally indicate the local use and trade of NTFPs to be significant however most present a composite picture, failing to account for intra-community socio-economic differences. These differences may have implications for policy and practice related to poverty alleviation and sustainable use. This paper reports on a study in South Africa which explored the relationship between household wealth and the use, procurement and sale of NTFPs in two villages. There was no influence of wealth on the proportion of households using or purchasing most of the NTFPs, or the number used. However, wealthier households bought significantly more resources per household, and poor households (at one village) sold significantly more. These results are discussed within the context of local conditions and poverty alleviation debates.
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- Date Issued: 2009
Will the real custodian of natural resource management please stand up
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6657 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007076
- Description: South Africa is the custodian of an immense wealth of biodiversity resources, and is estimated to be the third most biodiverse country in the world. At the ecosystem level this biodiversity supports the production of goods and services used by us all; water, air, soil fertility, wood, food, etc. At a more local level the harvesting of numerous natural resources provides consumptive products for millions of poor South Africans, as well as income for equally significant numbers.Consumption of and trade in these resources is the very mainstay of their well-being, and crucial in preventing deeper poverty levels. For example, despite massive improvements in the provision of electricity, most rural and a significant proportion of urban South Africans continue to use fuelwood as a key energy source for cooking (e.g. 65% of electrified households in the urban areas of Makana municipality, and 92% of households in the rural areas of Bushbuckridge); approximately 75% of the population use medicinal plants for medicinal or cultural reasons; and millions of urban and rural households make use of wild edible herbs. With such high demand for these resources, it is not unsurprising that there are large and established trade networks spanning local, regional, national and, for some resources (e.g. specific medicinal plants, mopane worms), international boundaries. The total value of this trade is unknown, and unrecorded in local or national economic or GDP statistics. It certainly equates to billions of rands per year. The direct-use and trade values are substantial and provide a cost saving to the State. Where biodiversity resources are overused or exhausted, people have to purchase alternatives, which reduces their scarce cash resources, thereby increasing their likely dependency on State welfare grants.
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- Date Issued: 2009
Growth of Aloe ferox Mill. at selected sites in the Makana region of the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Gambiza, James
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6654 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007068
- Description: There is widespread harvesting of the leaves of Aloe ferox to supply bitters and gel for cosmetic and health products. Government and private agencies are interested in expanding the industry as a means of providing income for poor rural communities. With the growing interest in the commercial use of A. ferox it is important that harvesting programmes are based on an adequate understanding of the ecology and productivity of the species, which will underpin estimates of possible sustainable yields. In this paper we report mean annual growth rates of 283 A. ferox plants (at six sites) during the 2005/2006 season. Growth was variable across sites and plant height. In terms of sites, the mean height growth ranged between 1.7 cm per plant per year at site 4 and 4.6 cm at site 2. The mean height increment across all sites and plants was 2.8 ± 0.2 cm. Plant height had a strong effect on annual increment with small plants (< 6 cm) more than doubling their height in the 12 month period, whereas plants taller than 2 m grew by approximately 1% over the year. Across the five unburnt sites, the mean standing stock of leaves grew by two per plant. The proportion of plants flowering increased progressively with plant height. Most (90%) of the plants that flowered in 2005 did so again in 2006.
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- Date Issued: 2007
The importance of dry woodlands and forests in rural livelihoods and poverty alleviation in South Africa
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Shackleton, Sheona E , Buiten, Erik , Bird, Neil
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6653 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007066
- Description: Indigenous forests and savannas, along with plantation forests, offer numerous benefits to rural communities and society at large. Yet, the role of forests and forestry in contributing to sustainable livelihoods and poverty alleviation are widely debated. However, much of the debate pertains to lessons from the humid tropics, with little consideration of the widespread dry forests and savannas. This paper considers the role of dry forest types, including savannas, using South Africa as a case example. It concludes that a large proportion of the population makes use of forests and the resources from them. These are vital components of local livelihoods, which probably prevent people from slipping into deeper poverty. Moreover, for a measurable proportion, engagement in informal forest activities, as well as the formal forestry sector, has resulted in them being able to move out of poverty. Additionally, the generally dry nature of forests in South Africa, coupled with the high unemployment rate, limit the extent of alternative locally based livelihood options, thereby magnifying the contributions from forests and forest products. The depressing effects of widespread HIV/AIDS on labour availability, economic activities and livelihoods has exacerbated peoples' dependence on forest products.
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- Date Issued: 2007
A proposed prioritization system for the management of invasive alien plants in South Africa
- Authors: Robertson, Mark P , Villet, Martin H , Fairbanks, Dean H K , Henderson, L , Higgins, Simon I , Hoffmann, John H , Le Maitre, David C , Palmer, Anthony R , Riggs, I , Shackleton, Charlie M , Zimmermann, Helmuth G
- Date: 2003
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6911 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011872
- Description: Every country has weed species whose presence conflicts in some way with human management objectives and needs. Resources for research and control are limited, so priority should be given to species that are the biggest problem. The prioritization system described in this article was designed to assess objectively research and control priorities of invasive alien plants at a national scale in South Africa. The evaluation consists of seventeen criteria, grouped into five modules, that assess invasiveness, spatial characteristics, potential impact, potential for control, and conflicts of interest for each plant species under consideration. Total prioritization scores, calculated from criterion and module scores, were used to assess a species' priority. Prioritization scores were calculated by combining independent assessments provided by several experts, thus increasing the reliability of the rankings. The total confidence score, a separate index, indicates the reliability and availability of data used to make an assessment. Candidate species for evaluation were identified and assessed by several experts using the prioritization system. The final ranking was made by combining two separate indices, the total prioritization score and the total confidence score. This approach integrates the plant's perceived priority with an index of data reliability. Of the 61 species assessed, those with the highest ranks (Lantana camara, Chromolaena odorata and Opuntia ficus-indica) had high prioritization and high confidence scores, and are thus of most concern. Those species with the lowest ranks, for example, Harrisia martinii, Opuntia spinulifera and Opuntia exaltata, had low prioritization scores and high confidence scores, and thus are of least concern. Our approach to ranking weeds offers several advantages over existing systems because it is designed for multiple assessors based on the Delphi decision-making technique, the criteria contribute equally to the total score, and the system can accommodate incomplete data on a species. Although the choice of criteria may be criticized and the system has certain limitations, it appears to have delivered credible results.
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- Date Issued: 2003