A comparison of ecosystem health and services provided by subtropical thicket in and around the Bathurst commonage
- Authors: Stickler, Meredith Mercedes
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Ecosystem services -- South Africa -- Bathurst , Ecosystem management , Commons -- South Africa -- Bathurst , Natural resources, Communal -- South Africa -- Bathurst , Land use, Rural -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Ecosystem health -- South Africa -- Bathurst
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4766 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007169 , Ecosystem services -- South Africa -- Bathurst , Ecosystem management , Commons -- South Africa -- Bathurst , Natural resources, Communal -- South Africa -- Bathurst , Land use, Rural -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Ecosystem health -- South Africa -- Bathurst
- Description: Municipal commonage in South Africa offers previously disadvantaged, landless residents access to both direct ecosystem goods and services (EGS) that provide additional income options and indirect social and cultural services. Given that EGS production is a function of ecosystem health, it is imperative that commonage land be managed to maximize current local benefit streams while ensuring future options through the maintenance of natural ecosystem functions. The payments for ecosystem services (PES) model potentially offers an opportunity for contributing to local economic development while providing fiscal incentives for environmentally sustainable natural resource management. PES depends on the demonstration of quantifiable changes in EGS delivery due to improvement in or maintenance of high ecosystem health that are a verifiable result of modifications in management behavior. This thesis therefore compared spatial variations in (i) ecosystem health and (ii) nine direct and indirect EGS values derived from natural resources on the Bathurst municipal commonage and neighboring Waters Meeting Nature Reserve (NR) to explore how different land use intensities affect ecosystem health and the resulting provision of EGS. The results indicate that the total economic value of annually produced EGS on the study site is nearly R 9.8 million (US$ 1.2 million), with a standing stock of natural capital worth some R 28 million (US$ 3.4 million). Nearly 45% of the total annual production is attributed to Waters Meeting NR, with roughly 34% from the low use zone of the commonage and the remaining 22% from the high use zone. Of the total annual production value on the study site, roughly 59% is derived from indirect (non-consumptive) uses of wildlife for the study site as a whole, though this proportion varies from 25% in the high use zone of the commonage to 94% on Waters Meeting NR. The two largest annual production values on the study site derive from ecotourism (R 3.5 million, US$ 0.4 million) and livestock production (R 2.6 million, US$ 0.3 million), suggesting that while increased production of indirect EGS could generate significant additional revenues, especially on Waters Meeting NR and in the low use zone of the commonage, direct (consumptive) EGS will likely remain an important component of land use on the commonage. A PES project to support the adoption of silvo-pastoral practices could provide positive incentives for improved land use practices on the commonage and potentially be financed by conservation-friendly residents of the Kowie River catchment and/or increased ecotourism revenues from Waters Meeting NR. Allowing carefully designed and monitored local access to natural resources within Waters Meeting NR could also reduce pressure on commonage resources. Together, these approaches could lead to a more sustainable subtropical thicket landscape and ensure that critical natural resources remain available to support local livelihoods in the long-term.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Stickler, Meredith Mercedes
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Ecosystem services -- South Africa -- Bathurst , Ecosystem management , Commons -- South Africa -- Bathurst , Natural resources, Communal -- South Africa -- Bathurst , Land use, Rural -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Ecosystem health -- South Africa -- Bathurst
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4766 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007169 , Ecosystem services -- South Africa -- Bathurst , Ecosystem management , Commons -- South Africa -- Bathurst , Natural resources, Communal -- South Africa -- Bathurst , Land use, Rural -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Ecosystem health -- South Africa -- Bathurst
- Description: Municipal commonage in South Africa offers previously disadvantaged, landless residents access to both direct ecosystem goods and services (EGS) that provide additional income options and indirect social and cultural services. Given that EGS production is a function of ecosystem health, it is imperative that commonage land be managed to maximize current local benefit streams while ensuring future options through the maintenance of natural ecosystem functions. The payments for ecosystem services (PES) model potentially offers an opportunity for contributing to local economic development while providing fiscal incentives for environmentally sustainable natural resource management. PES depends on the demonstration of quantifiable changes in EGS delivery due to improvement in or maintenance of high ecosystem health that are a verifiable result of modifications in management behavior. This thesis therefore compared spatial variations in (i) ecosystem health and (ii) nine direct and indirect EGS values derived from natural resources on the Bathurst municipal commonage and neighboring Waters Meeting Nature Reserve (NR) to explore how different land use intensities affect ecosystem health and the resulting provision of EGS. The results indicate that the total economic value of annually produced EGS on the study site is nearly R 9.8 million (US$ 1.2 million), with a standing stock of natural capital worth some R 28 million (US$ 3.4 million). Nearly 45% of the total annual production is attributed to Waters Meeting NR, with roughly 34% from the low use zone of the commonage and the remaining 22% from the high use zone. Of the total annual production value on the study site, roughly 59% is derived from indirect (non-consumptive) uses of wildlife for the study site as a whole, though this proportion varies from 25% in the high use zone of the commonage to 94% on Waters Meeting NR. The two largest annual production values on the study site derive from ecotourism (R 3.5 million, US$ 0.4 million) and livestock production (R 2.6 million, US$ 0.3 million), suggesting that while increased production of indirect EGS could generate significant additional revenues, especially on Waters Meeting NR and in the low use zone of the commonage, direct (consumptive) EGS will likely remain an important component of land use on the commonage. A PES project to support the adoption of silvo-pastoral practices could provide positive incentives for improved land use practices on the commonage and potentially be financed by conservation-friendly residents of the Kowie River catchment and/or increased ecotourism revenues from Waters Meeting NR. Allowing carefully designed and monitored local access to natural resources within Waters Meeting NR could also reduce pressure on commonage resources. Together, these approaches could lead to a more sustainable subtropical thicket landscape and ensure that critical natural resources remain available to support local livelihoods in the long-term.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
The geography of the Bedford, Adelaide, Fort Beaufort, Stockenström and Victoria East magisterial districts
- Authors: Childs, Nicol Treloar
- Date: 1972
- Subjects: Eastern Cape (South Africa) -- Geography , Land use, Rural -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:4861 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006845 , Eastern Cape (South Africa) -- Geography , Land use, Rural -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: From introduction: This is a study of the physical landscape, climate, natural vegetation, historical geography and rural land use of the Bedford, Adelaide, Fort Beaufort, Stockenström and Victoria East magisterial districts. These five districts may be regarded as a natural region bounded by the crest of the Amatole-Winterberg range in the north and by the Great Fish River in the west. The southern boundary is a zone of semi-arid scrub bordering the Great Fish River valley. The Ciskei may be regarded as the eastern boundary of the region.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1972
- Authors: Childs, Nicol Treloar
- Date: 1972
- Subjects: Eastern Cape (South Africa) -- Geography , Land use, Rural -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:4861 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006845 , Eastern Cape (South Africa) -- Geography , Land use, Rural -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: From introduction: This is a study of the physical landscape, climate, natural vegetation, historical geography and rural land use of the Bedford, Adelaide, Fort Beaufort, Stockenström and Victoria East magisterial districts. These five districts may be regarded as a natural region bounded by the crest of the Amatole-Winterberg range in the north and by the Great Fish River in the west. The southern boundary is a zone of semi-arid scrub bordering the Great Fish River valley. The Ciskei may be regarded as the eastern boundary of the region.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1972
The mutual embodiment of landscape and livelihoods: an environmental history of Nqabara
- Authors: De Klerk, Henning
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Land reform -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Human ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Human beings -- Effect of environment on -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land use -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Landscapes -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Landscape ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land use, Rural -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4750 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007054 , Land reform -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Human ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Human beings -- Effect of environment on -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land use -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Landscapes -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Landscape ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land use, Rural -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: This thesis presents a history of the landscape of Nqabara, an administrative area in a rural and coastal area of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. In the process of investigating landscape history, the inquiry engages with a range of data sources from diverging discursive contexts, including data from ethnographic fieldwork, from the consultation of archival documents and historical reports as well as from comparative historic and ethnographic research, necessitating a critical consideration of the epistemological contexts of data production and the dialogue between researcher and data. Furthermore, in its aim to move beyond historical description towards explanation, the study interrogates the dualist ontological conceptualisations of nature and culture, society and ecology, object and meaning upon which are built three dominant conceptual frameworks concerned with human-environment relationships: social-ecological systems theory, transdisciplinary landscape studies and political ecology. Drawing primarily upon the works of James Gibson, Anthony Giddens and Tim Ingold, an ontological foundation is developed to guide the enquiry and move towards an alternative understanding of the relationship of people’s livelihoods with respect to the landscape in which it is lived, which I call here the praxisembodiment perspective. This ontology takes the situated patterns of action of a situated agent-in-its-environment as its point of departure and proceeds to develop a framework explaining how relations among the patterns of action of different agents-in-their-environment, emerge in structures that simultaneously enable and constrain future action. The foundation is thereby provided for a monist understanding of how landscape and social structure emerge simultaneously from the complex intersection of patterns of actions and interactions of agents in their environment. This framework calls for an understanding of time, space and scale, not as independent variables influencing process and action, but as emergent properties arising from the patterns of actions of situated agents. Finally the alternative ontology is applied to the history of landscape and livelihoods of people of Nqabara. It is concluded that an appropriate understanding and explanation of the critical transformations in the landscape as well as in social institutions, should be sought through analysis of the complex ways in which patterns of action of multiple spatial and temporal rhythms and between multiple agents in an environment, intersect and resonate.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: De Klerk, Henning
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Land reform -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Human ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Human beings -- Effect of environment on -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land use -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Landscapes -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Landscape ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land use, Rural -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4750 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007054 , Land reform -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Human ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Human beings -- Effect of environment on -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land use -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Landscapes -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Landscape ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land use, Rural -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: This thesis presents a history of the landscape of Nqabara, an administrative area in a rural and coastal area of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. In the process of investigating landscape history, the inquiry engages with a range of data sources from diverging discursive contexts, including data from ethnographic fieldwork, from the consultation of archival documents and historical reports as well as from comparative historic and ethnographic research, necessitating a critical consideration of the epistemological contexts of data production and the dialogue between researcher and data. Furthermore, in its aim to move beyond historical description towards explanation, the study interrogates the dualist ontological conceptualisations of nature and culture, society and ecology, object and meaning upon which are built three dominant conceptual frameworks concerned with human-environment relationships: social-ecological systems theory, transdisciplinary landscape studies and political ecology. Drawing primarily upon the works of James Gibson, Anthony Giddens and Tim Ingold, an ontological foundation is developed to guide the enquiry and move towards an alternative understanding of the relationship of people’s livelihoods with respect to the landscape in which it is lived, which I call here the praxisembodiment perspective. This ontology takes the situated patterns of action of a situated agent-in-its-environment as its point of departure and proceeds to develop a framework explaining how relations among the patterns of action of different agents-in-their-environment, emerge in structures that simultaneously enable and constrain future action. The foundation is thereby provided for a monist understanding of how landscape and social structure emerge simultaneously from the complex intersection of patterns of actions and interactions of agents in their environment. This framework calls for an understanding of time, space and scale, not as independent variables influencing process and action, but as emergent properties arising from the patterns of actions of situated agents. Finally the alternative ontology is applied to the history of landscape and livelihoods of people of Nqabara. It is concluded that an appropriate understanding and explanation of the critical transformations in the landscape as well as in social institutions, should be sought through analysis of the complex ways in which patterns of action of multiple spatial and temporal rhythms and between multiple agents in an environment, intersect and resonate.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
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