Thesis (MPhil) Stellenbosch University, 2014 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Existence of natural resources in majority of African countries has been identified to support further development due to continuously increase in commodity revenues. However, the resource curse presents critical aspects of resource intensive economies such as short-term benefits of commodity revenues, limited economic diversification and unstable government. Due to natural resource abundance in Africa, extractive industries are essential in the domestic economic system, although, the disadvantages based on the resource curse theory, question the support of commodity revenues in Africa’s development. South America views the issues of extractive industries from a different perspective by analysing the related developmental approaches namely conventional extractivism, neo-extractivism and post-extractivism. While South American countries are in different transition phases of extractivism, Africa is dominated solely by conventional extractivism. This results in varying degrees of social and environmental impacts on the African continent. However, Africa’s transition towards neo- or post-extractivism will limit the problems of the resource curse and offers a more sustainable resource management of the extractive industries. The Environmental Kuznets’ Curve (EKC) supports the principle of developed and recently industrialised countries by relying on the economic development, which will reduce environmental degradation automatically by achieving a specific turning point. The three phases of EKC can be related to different stages of economic development, as well as to the three extractivism approaches. Therefore, transitions from conventional extractivism to neo-extractivism and finally to post-extractivism have to occur to stabilise economic development and reduce environmental degradation. Within this process of transition towards more sustainable extractivism approaches, the principle of “Sustainable Structural Transformation” (SST) is applicable. SST was described in the UNCTAD report (2012) as a tool to reduce environmental impacts while continuing to provide for the demand of an increasing global population. Neo- and post-extractivism approach supports the concept of SST, which primarily emphasises more efficient technologies, new economic activities, labour productivity and regulations. The foundation of SST is based on resource decoupling in order to separate economic developmental process from natural resource extraction while minimizing environmental impacts. For the application of SST and thus for the transition of extractivism, reinvestment is essential to create a diversified economy. While reinvestment can take place in various forms, the World Bank (2011) identified three types of wealth namely natural, produced and intangible capital contributing to the total wealth of a country. However, developing countries prioritise natural wealth in comparison to other forms of wealth; therefore, reinvestment has to take place in other types of wealth namely intangible and produced wealth in order to achieve sustainable development in Africa. UNCTAD (2012) considers SST as a framework without an attempt of creating a “one-size-fits-all” solution. This understanding is crucial for the transition from one phase of extractivism to another. Depending on the context of a country, tools have to be adapted to support the needed transition. These existing differences are presented in the case studies of Nigeria and Botswana, which are two developing countries in Africa but they present different stages of extractivism and resource management. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Daar is vasgestel dat die beskikbaarheid van natuurlike hulpbronne in ’n meerderheid van Afrikalande verdere ontwikkeling ondersteun deur ’n ononderbroke toename in grondstofinkomstes. Die hulpbronvloek wys egter kritisie aspekte van hulpbron-intensiewe ekonomieë uit. Van hierdie aspekte sluit in korttermynvoordele van grondstofinkomstes, beperkte ekonomiese diversifisering en onstabiele regerings. Weens die oorvloed van natuurlike hulpbronne in Afrika is ontginningsnywerhede onontbeerlik in die binnelandse ekonomiese stelsel, alhoewel die nadele wat deur die hulpbronvloekteorie uitgewys word die ondersteuning van grondstofinkomstes in Afrika se ontwikkeling bevraagteken. Suid-Amerika beskou die kwessie van ontginningsnywerhede vanuit ’n ander perspektief deur die verwante ontwikkelingsbenaderings, naamlik konvensionele ontginning, neo-ontginning en postontginning, te ontleed. Alhoewel Suid-Amerikaanse lande in ander oorgangsperiodes van ontginning verkeer, word Afrika slegs deur konvensionele ontginning oorheers. Dit lei tot wisselende grade van sosiale en omgewingsimpakte op die Afrika-kontinent. Afrika se oorgang na neo- en postontginning sal egter die uitdagings van hulpbronvloek beperk en bied ’n meer onderhoubare hulpbronbestuur van die ontginningsnywerhede. Die Omgewing-Kuznetskurwe (OKK) ondersteun die beginsel van ontwikkelde en onlangs geïndustrialiseerde lande. Hierdie ondersteuning geskied deur staat te maak op die ekonomiese ontwikkeling wat outomaties omgewingsagteruitgang sal verminder deur ’n spesifieke keerpunt te bereik. Die drie fases van die OKK kan met verskillende fases van ekonomiese ontwikkeling asook die drie ontginningsbenaderings verbind word. Om hierdie rede moet oorgange van konvensionele ontginning na neo-ontginning en uiteindelik postonginning plaasvind om die ekonomiese ontwikkeling te stabiliseer en die omgewingsagteruitgang te beperk. Die beginsel van “Onderhoubare Strukturele Transformasie” (OST) is veral toepaslik in die oorgangsproses na meer onderhoubare ontginningsbenaderings. Die OST is in die verslag van die Verenigde Nasies se Kongres van Handel en Ontwikkeling (VNKHEO) (2012) beskryf as ’n middel om omgewingsimpakte te beperk terwyl dit in die behoefte van ’n toenemend groeiende wêreldbevolking voorsien. Neo- en postontginningsbenaderings ondersteun die OST-konsep wat veral meer doeltreffende tegnologieë, nuwe ekonomiese aktiwiteite, arbeidsproduktiwiteit en regulasies benadruk. Vir die toepassing van OST en dus die verandering in ontginning is herbelegging noodsaaklik om ’n gediversifiseerde ekonomie te bewerkstellig. Alhoewel herbelegging op verskillende maniere kan plaasvind, het die Wêreldbank (2011) drie tipes rykdom geïdentifiseer, naamlik natuurlike, vervaardigde en ontasbare kapitaal wat tot die algehele rykdom van ’n land bydra. Ontwikkelende lande gee voorkeur aan natuurlike rykdom teenoor ander vorme van rykdom. Om hierdie rede moet herbelegging binne die ander vorme van rykdom plaasvind om onderhoubare ontwikkeling in Afrika teweeg te bring. Hierdie ander vorme van rykdom sluit ontasbare en vervaardigde rykdom in. VNKHEO (2012) beskou OST as ’n raamwerk wat nie poog om ’n “one-size-fits-all”-oplossing voort te bring nie. ’n Oorkoepelende benadering is kardinaal om die verandering in ontginning teweeg te bring. Afhangende van die konteks van ’n land moet middels aangepas word vir die nodige ondersteuning van die verandering. Hierdie bestaande verskille word in die gevallestudies van Nigerië en Botswana uitgewys. Dié twee lande dui op twee verskillende ontginningstadia en hulpbronbestuur.

Thesis (MScAgric (Conservation Ecology and Entomology)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / This study assessed (a) the inclusion of local communities in the process of the establishment and management of Parque Nacional do Limpopo (PNL); (b) local community resources use practices, livelihoods strategies, land resources use and ownership and institutional arrangements at the grassroots; and (c) attitudes and perceptions of local communities towards the park and its implications for the sustainability of the park. The study shows that local stakeholders were left out in the planning and implementation processes of the park, which was through top-down approach. There was a lack of involvement of local communities and co-ordination with local stakeholders concerning on-the-ground activities. Local community participation occurs through consultation, thereby depriving primary stakeholders of any decision-making power. However, the study notes that the ongoing interaction between the park management, community advocacy organisations and local communities in the park represents a positive step towards the evolving practice of participatory governance of the protected area. It is also shown that local communities have diverse livelihood strategies, including subsistence agriculture, livestock herding, forest products harvesting, small businesses, handicrafts and cash remittances by migrate labourers. It is worth noting that land and forest resources use constitutes the foundation of their livelihood strategies. Local communities considered land to belong to traditional land chiefs who head local socio-cultural and political organizations in rural areas. They allocate land and control access to natural resources. Other community members asserted that the land belongs to the respective families that inherited and use it. The legal framework in Mozambique authorises the establishment of new institutions at the grassroots. This overlaps with the pre-existing traditional institutions in the rural areas, resulting in power conflicts and in some cases disruption of local institutions for governance ...

Public water utilities are tasked with providing high quality, inexpensive water often sourced from watersheds representing a diverse mix of public and private land ownership. There is increasing recognition amongst water resource managers of the role that private landowners play in determining downstream water quality, but bringing together landowners with a wide variety of land management objectives under the umbrella of watershed stewardship has proven difficult. Recently, a large number of "Payment for Watershed Services" programs have aimed to engage private landowners in watershed stewardship initiatives by offering financial incentives for adopting watershed best management practices. However, a growing field of research suggests that financial incentives alone may be of limited utility to encourage widespread and long-standing behavior change, and instead understanding landowner attitudes and non-financial barriers to stewardship program enrollment has become a focus of research. This research examines a population of rural landowners representing a diversity of agricultural, forestry, recreational, and investment objectives in the Clackamas River watershed, Oregon. I designed and distributed a mail and web-based survey instrument intended to measure land uses and land ownership objectives, attitudes towards watershed stewardship programs, barriers to enrollment in stewardship programs, and preferred incentives and goals that would promote enrollment. I received 281 valid responses for a response rate of 29%. I conducted two primary analyses: one focused on relating attitudes and barriers to intent to enroll in a watershed stewardship program, and one focused on identifying how diverse landowners differ according to factors influencing enrollment in stewardship programs. I found that landowners did not report financial considerations to be a primary barrier to enrollment and expressed low interest in receiving financial incentives. Instead, landowners reported that primary barriers related to lack of trust, ecological understanding, and concerns that stewardship program enrollment would be incompatible with their land management objectives. I do not discount the potential utility of financial incentives under certain circumstances, but emphasize the importance of addressing these other considerations before incentives can make a meaningful impact. I compared how barriers to enrollment were perceived by landowners with different land management objectives relating to production, investment, and conservation. I found that landowner attitudes were differentiated from one another primarily by their use of land for production purposes; however, I found a large amount of diversity between producers and non-producers in the degree to which they considered investment and conservation objectives in their land management, and these two variables added further explanatory power to understanding fine-scale differences in how landowner typologies relate to conservation programs.

The social and environmental challenges of the coming decades will require that individuals possess environmental literacy: the understanding of natural systems combined with a sense of care for the earth, and the confidence and competency to act on its behalf. At the same time, disengaged youth need education environments that foster belonging and promote affective outcomes. The youth conservation corps model provides a natural context for engaging academically at-risk youth in environmental science education, while fostering connection to nature and student self-efficacy in ways that are experiential, relevant, and relationship-based. The focus of this study was a conservation corps program that integrates habitat restoration fieldwork and environmental science curriculum. The participants of this study were eight high school seniors who participated in the program for credit toward their high school diplomas. Data were collected through both quantitative and qualitative measures. Students completed a pre-test to assess their understanding and application of conceptual knowledge in ecosystem relationships and biodiversity. Upon completion of a six-week curriculum, they completed a post-test assessing knowledge in the same areas, two retrospective pre-post surveys measuring connection to nature and self-efficacy, and a post-evaluation measuring affective outcomes. Individual interviews were conducted in order to provide further insights and to identify elements of the program that contributed to positive outcomes. Results showed statistically significant increases in all outcome areas as well as positive student evaluation of affective outcomes. The outdoor and experiential components of the program were found to contribute most significantly to the positive outcomes.

A dissertation submitted to the faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Johannesburg 1997 / South Africa has recently begun a number of conservation Initiatives which link conservation with the development of people This follows a worldwide trend in which it is acknowledged that conservation cannot be undertaker without the participation of local communities who are most affected by the establishment of protected areas The Thukela Biosphere Reserve In KwaZulu/Natal South Africa iS such an Initiative The research provides an assessment of the potential of the TBR to successfully introduce a sustainable land use strategy in the region This assessment is achieved through an investigation of the historical situation as well as local communities perceptions and attitudes toward the TBR and environmental degradation These attitudes are compared to a more scientific analysis of land degradation The research made use of participatory methodologies to assess these perceptions Findings indicate that local Afrrcan communities are intensely aware of environmental degradation in the TBR A number of factors however prevent them from accepting the TBR as an effective land use option These include oppressive historical polices leading[Abbreviated [ Abstract. Open document to view full version]

Aquatic invasive species are a major threat to native freshwater biodiversity. The North American signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus was introduced to Great Britain during the 1970s and is now widely distributed throughout England, Wales and Scotland. First recorded in Scotland in 1995, P. leniusculus is now established at more than twenty sites. The only other introduced crayfish species present in Scotland is the white-clawed crayfish Austropotamobius pallipes. A. pallipes is restricted to only two locations in Scotland, Loch Croispol and Whitemoss Reservoir. P. leniusculus negatively impacts macrophytes, invertebrates and fish though ecological and physical processes. Additionally, P. leniusculus has displaced A. pallipes throughout much of its native range within Great Britain due to competition and disease. Consequently, the two A. pallipes populations in Scotland have a high conservation value. This PhD study aimed to improve understanding of P. leniusculus invasion success by examining trophic dynamics and to develop methodologies that could improve the detection and control of P. leniusculus populations in Scotland. Stable isotope analysis was used to determine the diet composition, trophic position and whether an ontogenetic dietary shift occurs in the Loch Ken population of P. leniusculus. Bayesian mixing models indicated that P. leniusculus in Loch Ken do exhibit an ontogenetic dietary shift. Additionally, individuals of all sizes occupied the trophic position of a predator in Loch Ken suggesting that invertebrates and fish constitute an important component of P. leniusculus diet. Stable isotope analysis was used once again to compare the isotopic niche width and diet composition of P. leniusculus populations from Loch Ken and A. pallipes populations from Loch Croispol and Whitemoss Reservoir. At the species level, A. pallipes exhibited a larger niche width than that of P. leniusculus. At the population level, the isotopic signatures of the A. pallipes populations were considerably different from each other suggesting an overestimation of A. pallipes’ niche width at species level. Results showed no dietary overlap between species and Bayesian mixing models suggested P. leniusculus and A. pallipes were consuming different resources, indicating there would be no direct competition for food resources if they were to co-occur. A plus-maze study was used to determine if P. leniusculus exhibited a preference for one of four food attractants (Oncorhynchus mykiss, P. leniusculus, beef or vegetation), which could be used to improve trapping efficiency. In the maze system, P. leniusculus exhibited no preference for any food attractant presented. This would suggest that either the maze was not a good model or food attractants would not improve trapping efficiency of P. leniusculus. Additionally, a comparative investigation into the use of gill nets as a method to control P. leniusculus was conducted. Results showed that the net type and the presence of fish entangled in the net influenced the number of P. leniusculus caught. Finally, environmental DNA (eDNA) was used and evaluated for detection of P. leniusculus. A robust quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) assay and DNA extraction protocol were developed. Using the developed qPCR assay, P. leniusculus eDNA was detected in controlled aquaria conditions but not in environmental water samples collected from the field. Furthermore, the quantities of P. leniusculus eDNA declined in aquaria conditions while individuals were still present suggesting the mechanisms for eDNA release by P. leniusculus are complex. Stable isotope analysis indicates that P. leniusculus exhibit an ontogenetic dietary shift, and in each life stage, P. leniusculus function as an omnivore but occupy the trophic position of a predator. Niche width analysis revealed that the diet of P. leniusculus was less general than that observed in A. pallipes and thus diet of P. leniusculus may not be responsible for invasive success. Food attractants will not enhance trapping efficiency but nets may present a potential new method to control P. leniusculus. Similarly, eDNA presents a promising new method for rapid detection of P. leniusculus. It will not be possible to eradicate P. leniusculus in Scotland but the findings of this PhD may help prevent establishment of new populations. These results should be incorporated into future management strategies for P. leniusculus populations in Scotland and may have broader applications in Great Britain and Europe.

Landscapes are changing environments. Conservation of the amenities associated with landscapes must take into account the tendency of a landscape to change over time. Change is considered to be influenced by both cultural land use practices and natural resource processes which act on the landscape. A technique is developed which demonstrates an approach to measure the stability of landscapes. This approach also provides a means to qualify the importance of the elements which make up the landscape, thus defining the matrix of the landscape. A case study of the San Pedro National Conservation Area is used to demonstrate the technique. Sampled at three intervals 1935, 1973 and 1986 the landscape is shown to be stable, identifying this area with intrinsic value for conservation. Landscape scale assessments are shown to be inappropriate for ecosystem scale changes.

This study is concerned with the availability and adequacy of environmental information resources to support field workers at the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa's (WESSA) four environmental education centres in KwaZulu-Natal. It begins by examining the environment, the environmental crisis and environmental education as a response to the crisis, before giving an overview of the history of WESSA. To provide a wider context within which to view the study, literature dealing with environmental education, environmental education centres in South Africa and environmental information was examined. A study population consisting of 18 field workers and eight management staff, based at the four environmental education centres, was surveyed by means of interviews. This allowed for selected attributes such as length of employment at the centre, highest education qualification and previous environmental education experience to be elicited from field workers. Other information asked ofthe population concerned available environmental information resources, the environmental information support required by field workers and the adequacy of this support to field workers. Results were then analysed. With the responses to the open-ended questions, content analysis was used to determine categories which were subsequently tabulated, together with the responses from closed questions. The results revealed that WESSA provides a number of ongoing, in-house training opportunities which expose field workers to environmental information resources; WESSA publications dominate the environmental information resources used during the training offield workers and consequently, during the preparation and conducting of courses by field workers; booklets, books and colleagues are considered valuable information resources by field workers; and there is a recognised lack of environmental information by both field workers and management staff. Recommendations for improving the environmental information resource support to field workers are made in light of the results of the survey and the literature review. / Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) constitute an important source of livelihood for most poor rural households and communities in Zimbabwe. NTFPs also serve as a vital livelihood safety net in times of hardship. An important feature of this dependence is that almost all NTFPs are deemed to have ‘public good’ characteristics, with no exclusive property rights. Consequently, extraction is often intense and exhaustive because of lack of alternative income sources, unreliable productivity and weak enforcement of institutional arrangements governing NTFPs use. In recent years, with HIV/AIDS rampant in Zimbabwe, there are indications of a rapid increase in the extraction of NTFPs, mostly from common property resources. Appropriate natural resources policies need to be based on comprehensive research, yet to date scant attention has been paid to understanding the role of NTFPs in mitigating the predicaments of HIV/AIDS-affected households in Zimbabwe. The main objective of this study was to determine the types of and need for natural resource management interventions to help ensure the sustainability of local responses to HIV/AIDS. The research focused on five communities of Sengwe Communal in the Chiredzi district, Zimbabwe. Multistage cluster sampling was used to select ten villages and households for the survey. Two villages from each community, representing the most and the least affected by epidemic were selected for each community using stratified random sampling. A cluster analysis was used to improve understanding of the challenges of rural livelihoods and how households diversify their livelihood strategies to cope with the various constraints. Five dominant groups based on their livelihood diversification patterns were identified : (1) smallholders/unskilled workers; (2) subsistence smallholder/non-timber forestry products harvesters; (3) crop production and non-timber forestry products extraction integrators; (4) commercial smallholders with regular off-farm employment; and (5) specialised commercial livestock producers. Multinomial logit model results showed that the level of education of the household head, the value of physical assets, cattle numbers and income, remittances, NTFPs income and economic shocks were the main determinants of these livelihood choices. Empirical evidence also revealed that households that were statistically significantly affected by HIV/AIDS economic shocks practised ‘distress-push’ diversification by extracting NTFPs. These results suggest that policy makers need to advise rural households on how to improve their risk management capacities and move from geographically untargeted investments in livelihood assets to a more integrated approach adapted to the asset base of individual households. Using panel data from 200 households in 2008 and 2009, regression models revealed that NTFPs extraction is an important ex-post coping mechanism for many HIV/AIDS-afflicted households. The results also revealed that the main determinants of livelihood strategy choices were differences in asset endowment, especially education, land and livestock and the impact of the shock. Asset constraints compelled diversification into lower-return activities such as NTFPs extraction. Findings from a comparative analysis of HIV/AIDS-afflicted and non-afflicted households showed that HIV/AIDS-afflicted households were relatively young, with relatively few physical and livestock assets. A fixed-effect Tobit model indicated a positive significant relationship between HIV staging and quantity of NTFPs extracted. The relatively young, poorly educated households with low household coping capacity in terms of livestock value relied more on the natural insurance of forests in buffering HIV/AIDS economic shocks. These results have important policy implications for development planners, conservationists and non-governmental organisations working in the region. There is a need for programmes that reduce pressure on forest resources, and improved access to education and health care, thus helping the poor to cope with the HIV/AIDS economic crisis. This study also examined the extent to which forest degradation is driven by existing common property management regimes, resource and user characteristics, ecological knowledge and marketing structure. A Principal Component Analysis indicated that the existence of agreed-upon rules governing usage (including costs of usage), enforcement of these rules, sanctions for rule violations that are proportional to the severity of rule violation, social homogeneity, and strong beliefs in ancestral spirits were the most important attributes determining effectiveness of local institutions in the management of Common Pool Resources (CPRs). Empirical results from an ordinary least regression analysis showed that resource scarcity, market integration index, and infrastructural development lead to greater forest resource degradation, while livestock income, high ecological knowledge, older households, and effective local institutional management of the commons reduce forest resource degradation. The results suggest that there is a need for adaptive local management systems that enhance ecological knowledge of users and regulates market structure to favour long-term livelihood securities of these forest-fringe communities. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

Proponents and advocates of transfrontier conservation in southern Africa have postulated rural communities living adjacent to conservation areas as one of the main determinants of the success of such initiatives and thus they should be potential beneficiaries along with the state and the private sector. This assertion is reflected in the various memoranda of understanding (MOU), treaties, policies and agreements establishing transfrontier conservation initiatives. For community participation to be effective, the laws, policies and institutions establishing transfrontier conservation in southern Africa must lead to the empowerment of these rural communities who commonly subsist on local natural resources and perceive them as opportunities to earn a living. I derive a principle and set of criteria and indicators that are used to analyse the legal, policy and institutional framework and its implications for community participation and empowerment in transfrontier conservation in southern Africa. The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park provides a case study. I argue that while provisions for community participation are made in the laws, policies and institutions under which transfrontier conservation is being initiated and implemented in the region, they are not sufficiently prescriptive about empowering communities to secure commitment from conservation agencies to enable communities to effectively participate in transfrontier conservation. It is suggested that as presently defined, the laws, policies and institutions may lead to community disempowerment from transfrontier conservation, as they allow too much scope for interpretations that weaken options for censure where agencies are not demonstrating commitment to community participation and empowerment in conservation. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.