The construction of large dams has become a contentious issue throughout the world. Environmentalists, human rights activists, NGOs, academics and local communities have all contributed to the debate. On the one hand, proponents have highlighted the role of dams in alleviating poverty, improving the quality of life of communities, and their positive impact on local and national economies. Opponents of large dams have argued that the negative impacts on the environment and local communities outweigh any perceived benefits. Methods for assessing the environmental impact of large projects have been used since the 1970's. By 1988 most of Europe had adopted methods such as environmental impact assessment for evaluating the impact of proposed projects. These procedures aim to inform decision makers and authorities of the potential impact that a proposed project may have. World financial institutions, such as the World Bank, have also adopted the use of these assessment methods as part of their evaluation of projects that are seeking funding. This research establishes the environmental standards and requirements that were in place internationally, nationally and regionally, during the planning, design and implementation of Phase 1A and Phase 1B of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. The products of the environmental investigations during successive phases of the project (1986-1999) are assessed to establish whether the parties involved conform to these standards. In addition, the research highlights affected communities' experience of the project implementation, as well as the impact of the project on their lives. The research suggests that in the early phases of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (feasibility and Phase 1A), studies failed to meet environmental assessment standards and requirements, Studies undertaken during Phase 1B represent a considerable improvement and conform more closely to World Bank standards. Although the participation of interested and affected parties has improved, there still appear to be areas of major concern to affected communities. The study highlights the need for greater transparency during the assessment phase of projects, and in particular, more effective involvement of the local communities. Future environmental assessments of this nature are likely to be subject to more stringent requirements including the systematic assessment and quantification of downstream impacts and the incorporation of the costs of all impacts in the project costs. Further phases of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, will therefore need to demonstrate environmental sustainability in the long term. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

The problems posed by alien invasive plants to our environment and the need for clearing and control has been highlighted by the Working for Water (WFW) programme. Alien plant control requires careful planning, including budgeting. To date, costing and budgeting in alien plant control has largely been a combination of experience on the part of weed 'experts', coupled with much guess work. Weed controllers have through experience calculated the amount of time (or the work rate), recorded as labour days, required for different control actions of different weed habits. These work rates are for weed clearance under ideal conditions and do not take into account the effect of factors such as gradient, access and distance to the weed infestation. Factors affecting the work rate has been researched and modelled by researchers in both alien plant control and the timber industry. While the existing work rate model is useful in its present theoretical state, the model may be improved upon to make it more practical and applicable to the varying conditions of different areas. This research built on existing theoretical research on alien control work rates, and concentrated on two main areas: the adaption and incorporation of the existing research on work rates into a Geographical Information System (GIS), and the creation and demonstration of a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) for the management of alien plant control. The eMpofana river in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands was selected as the study area, as there was an existing alien plant control programme. Initially all factors, such as slope, access to weed infestations, terrain and penetrability of infestations, affecting the work rate in the research area were identified. An existing work rate model was then modified to account for the conditions of the research area. Regression analysis was used to derive the relationship between the various factors affecting work rate, creating a work rate model applicable to the study area. Using the results of the regression analysis together with work rate figures adapted from an existing alien plant control programme, a SDSS for alien plant control along the eMpofana River was created. The use of the work rate model and the SDSS in the development of weed control programmes was demonstrated by examining four different management approaches, each having a different management objective . The SDSS provides a spatial component to weed control planning and costing that has thus far not existed. What this research has achieved is the advancement of an alien control work rate model from a theoretical to a more realistic costing process. While some factors affecting work rate may not have been accounted for, the model does address the present inaccuracies in labour costing, and ultimately alien plant control costing. The research has highlighted the disadvantages of GIS in terms of affordability and expertise. The model has wider uses than the eMpofana River, and is the ground work for the further development of a user friendly model applicable throughout South Africa. More effective project budgeting will decrease the likelihood of project failure and this will directly benefit long-term weed control efforts. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

Commercial forestry in South Africa was born out of the need to alleviate the growing demand on limited natural resources. From small beginnings, the industry has grown over the years and currently plays a significant role in South Africa's economy. The industry is a source of employment, foreign exchange and it facilitates a number of downstream processing activities. However, with the growth of the industry, there has also been increasing concern from various sectors over the impacts of the industry on the environment, particularly on water and biodiversity. More recently, concern has also shifted towards challenging the social and economic benefits of timber to local communities. As a result of growing pressure, legislation, policies and institutions have been transformed to ensure that environmental and social issues are taken into consideration in carrying out any form of development. The forestry industry has also changed considerably and understanding stakeholders perceptions has also become evident. In 1995 as part of the process to adhere to ISO 14001 international standards, Sappi forests commissioned a study to enable them to have a better understanding of activities, products and services which could have an impact on the environment. The concerns of the stakeholder were incorporated into their management plan. In continued efforts to improve the image of the forestry industry, this study was commissioned in 1999 with the aim of understanding how peoples perceptions of the industry had changed since 1995. The change of perceptions was determined through structured as well as semi structured interviews. A comparison between the responses in this study with those in Murphy et al. 1995 was undertaken to determine how peoples perceptions had changed since 1995. Even though the forestry industry had included some of the concerns raised by stakeholder and improved their management plans since 1995, peoples perceptions ofthe industry were largely negative. External changes leading to increased awareness in the intervening period were seen as the reason for the lack of change in peoples perceptions. Among others the external changes include increased transformation of environmental legislation both internationally and nationally which is more focused on addressing social as well as environmental issues. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

The post apartheid government has been engaged in the process of delivering formal housing, water, and sanitation services to the poor. Because of huge backlogs in the provision of these basic services, the government has focused on meeting quantitative targets. The government has made significant strides to reduce the level of backlogs in basic service the delivery. However, there were challenges that confronted government in its endeavours to expedite delivery of services. The main challenge relates to the fragmentation in the funding mechanism for housing and the physical infrastructure, particularly water and sanitation infrastructure. Concerns have been raised about the ability of the local sphere of government to provide suitable land and quality physical infrastructure which were a prerequisite for sustainable settlements. The aim of the study was to evaluate the implementation of water and sanitation policies in a low-cost housing (LCH) settlement of Ambleton and Ambleton Extension in Pietermaritzburg. In line with the set objectives, the study attempted to find out if the implementation of water and sanitation policies in the area was consistent with the national policies and to establish whether or not people that lived in the area felt the quality of services has improved their lives. A qualitative methodology was used to collect data. In this regard three methods of collecting data were used, namely, semi-structured questionnaire, interviews and observation. The findings of the study showed that there were challenges with water and sanitation services. Some of the challenges relate to the inconsistent and fragmented nature of the funding mechanism that is inherent in basic service delivery policies. Residents of Ambleton and Ambleton Extension were generally unhappy about the quality of water and sanitation services. The study recommends that the government should revise its funding mechanism to strengthen the ability of municipalities to provide quality services. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

The Ferncliffe Catchment Conservancy has been identified, within the context of Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, for its important geographical and ecological features. The mapping and communication of these features to the broader community resident within the Conservancy have been envisaged as an important undertaking. A most effective way of achieving this goal was to use a Geographic Information System in the mapping exercise and in creating an inventory of the resources in the Conservancy and a monitoring database. Such spatial information would then provide stakeholders with a spatial context within which to appreciate the natural resources available and the problems associated with them. In undertaking this task, spatial data were acquired in digital form as well as from aerial photographs and 1:50000 topo-cadastral maps. These data were imported into ArcView GIS Version 3.1 where the mapping of the various resources was done. An inventory of the resources was created and a spatial database linking attributes that describe the physical environment, the natural vegetation, agricultural activities and the built environment, was set up. It became evident that using a Geographic Information System for natural resource management provides for integration of spatial information which would otherwise be contained in several separate databases and maps. Further, these data can be readily accessed, queried, upgraded and manipulated. For conservancies in urban and rural KwaZulu-Natal, and indeed, the rest of South Africa, to achieve their aims in natural resource management and monitoring, such an approach would be most efficient and effective. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

Partnerships are a recognized tool for addressing local level environmental problems. They involve knowledge-sharing and decision-making by both local authorities and communities. Two different partnerships developed in Durban's KwaMashu Township with a view to addressing environmental problems associated with a degraded small stream viz, the KwaMashu Development Association (KDA) and the KwaMashu Development Initiative (KDI). This thesis describes a study carried out on these two partnerships, comparing their efficacy in resolving the problems and the factors that contributed to the pollution of the stream. Specific environmental circumstances conducive to the degradation of the stream, as well as measures put in place to address them, were identified during a field survey. Semi-structured questionnaires were then used to interview members of the two partnerships to obtain information on how they developed and functioned as a unit. Information was also obtained from respective individuals, regarding their perception of the factors that contributed to the stream degradation and the effectiveness of their rehabilitation efforts. Although the study found both partnerships to be of the leverage type, there were significant differences between the socio-economic profile and political affiliations of members. The KDA partnership received funding for the project whereas the KDI received no funding, but had a vision. The Keep Durban Beautiful Association created an awareness relating to waste and open space management which was imparted to the KDT members and this enabled them to achieve the goals of the project. These different baselines clearly contributed to the differences in the effectiveness of the partnerships. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

Since 1994, South African governance has been in transition from bureaucracy to democracy. In tenns of democracy, local government is specifically tasked with providing goods and services equitably and sustainably not only to it's citizens, but along with them. In South Africa, the provision of refuse removal services and landfill sites for waste disposal are under local government control. Recently, Durban Solid Waste, a municipal waste management contractor in the Durban Metropolitan Area, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa embarked on a comprehensive exercise, the first of it's kind in the country. to locate, plan, develop and operate new generation landfill sites with the aid of a public participation process involving capacity building which is a requirement of legislation. It is in the North Zone of this area that the existing landfill is to close by December 2000, and so there is an urgent need to locate and develop a new landfill site for the region. It is the capacity building and public participation process of the North Zone landfill site selection process which is the subject of this study. A case study format provides an intensive examination of the public participation and capacity building process. Qualitative research methodology was employed to compliment the interp retive approach undertaken in the research process, which used conceptual frameworks drawn from literature for the data interpretation. Data were collected via participant observation at meetings and workshops, and semi-strucrured interviews with stakeholders of the North Zone process. The research findings revealed that while a variety of capacity building and public participation means suggested by government policy have been utilised., none of the statutory principles of public participation for landfill siting have been implemented satisfactorily by participants in the North Zone public participation process. The findings also indicate that the predominant type of public participation being followed in the North Zone is instrumental in nature. and thus in the main does not exhibit outcome measures of empowerment which are associated with transformative participation. Furthermore. the findings demonstrate that while capacity building made the North Zone public participation process more democratic than previous landfill site selection exercises, principles of equity were only satisfied to the extent that the statutory requirements, the will of the developer, a shortage of time and adequate funding pennitted. The recommendations suggest: lobbying for changes to the statutory requirements. ways of building trust between stakeholders. activities to promote equity and democracy, and the use of more suitable means of capacity building and public participation for landfill site selection public participation processes in South Africa / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

Drought is a recurrent climatic process that occurs with uneven temporal and spatial characteristics over broad areas and over an extended period of time. Therefore, detecting drought onsets and ends as well as assessing drought severity using satellite-derived information is essential. This should be especially the case in an arid country like Namibia where drought is part of Namibia’s climatology. It is believed that proper planning and research using near real-time data can curb the devastating environmental and socio-economic impacts of drought. Weather data used currently are often from a very sparse meteorological network, incomplete and/or not always available in good time to enable delineating accurately and timely, regional- and local-scale droughts. Consequently, the detection and monitoring efforts are hampered to provide timely and unbiased information to decision makers for accurate drought relief allocation and for land reform purposes. Furthermore, even though, data obtained from satellite-based sensors such as the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) have been studied as a tool for drought monitoring for many years and provides an extensive temporal record for comparison, its coarse spatial resolution limits its effectiveness at detecting local scale variability where severe droughts might go undetected due to these data constraints. The objective of this study was to evaluate satellite-based and meteorological drought indices for the spatial and temporal detection, assessment and monitoring of drought condition to accurately delineate drought characteristics of drought prone areas. The study computed the Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from the 250m resolution NDVI data obtained from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor and one- and three-months Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) data from rainfall stations in the study area. Detailed analyses of spatial and temporal drought dynamics during three seasons (2005/6 - wet, 2006/7 - normal and 2007/8 - dry) have been carried out through index maps generated in a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) environment from the mentioned data. Analysis and interpretation of these maps, which give different drought scenarios, reveal that remotely-sensed drought indices can accurately detect and map the local and regional drought spatial occurrence. Moreover, statistical analysis found strong correlations between the regional crop production data and the remotely-sensed data. However, the results showed that the local and regional drought occurrences detected were not reflected in national crop production data, confirming the suspicion that important local spatial variations are only detected if higher spatial resolution data are used. The study concluded that fine spatial resolution satellite data should be used to aid decision makers in monitoring and detecting drought which will also aid the allocation of millions of dollars in drought relief funds. / http://hdl.handle.net/10413/534 / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

The current plight of biodiversity decline has led ecologists, resource managers and policy makers to search for new approaches to reverse the gloomy trend. The aims of the present study were to investigate the potential contribution of indigenous knowledge systems in wildlife management/conservation as a basis in improving community based natural resources management projects in Botswana and to asses the link between indigenous ecological principles and conventional ecological approaches in wildlife conservation. For the purpose of this research, hunting was chosen as a parameter for assessment of the indigenous conservation/management strategies. The choice was based on the knowledge that hunting, as a consumptive form of wildlife utilisation, plays a pivotal role in the long-term viability and sustainability of wildlife populations. The research approach made use of documentary data, traditional gathering, interviews involving key informants and focus groups and participant observation. The nature and purpose of the research called for snowball sampling technique which ensured purposive sampling. The greatest challenge that face indigenous knowledge systems is that they lack systematic documentation as they are only in the minds of local people and they are orally transmitted between generations. The threat towards this knowledge base is that it is often marginalised and lost in the modern times due to fragmentation and homogenisation of cultures and traditional institutions that supported it. It was through the urgent need dictated by this status quo that this research project was conceived in an attempt to document, understand and cautiously interpret the systems and practices for potential contribution to conventional natural resources management strategies. Research findings showed that communities had resource management and conservation strategies based on sound ecological principles though these were marginalised in favour of conventional inadequate conservation attempts that had no relevance to the cultures resident within the ecosystems. It is these resource use strategies together with the traditional institutions and structures which regulated them, that suggestions and recommendations made by this research calls for their revitalisation and policy, legal and institutional reforms and harmonisation to accommodate and give way to the adoption process in conventional conservation endeavours. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1997.

Manganeng area is a communal land with the local community relying on use ofland for their livelihoods. Manganeng shows signs of continued land degradation due to inappropriate land use management, while land use and land cover offer low returns. Continued degradation of natural resources has led to an investigation into changes in land use patterns in the area. Past and present aerial photographs (covering the years 1950, 1964, 1977, 1983 and 1995), recorded and oral history were used as main data sources for investigating changes in land use patterns in the study area. A GIS was also used to quantify the rate of land use change. Data collected from this study aided in providing infonnation about natural resources in the area, how these resources have changed over time and methods used to protect the environment. This study established that from 1950 to 1995, residential land had increased significantly, while farmland and bare rock on Ntswelatau Mountain had increased slightly. Other land cover such as dongas and scattered trees had remained stable over time. Grazing land had decreased significantly while deposited sand and clustered trees decreased insignificantly. A visual change assessment conducted in 2003 indicated that no significant change had occurred in the area since the 1995 aerial photograph was taken. Population growth in Manganeng has led to an increase in residential land use, which directly affected other land uses such as grazing and farmland. The communities' indigenous knowledge has helped in reducing and/or maintaining donga sizes over the past 54 years while restrictions on tree felling on Ntswelatau Mountain has conserved vegetation in the area. Cultivation methods applied in Manganeng are not environmentally sustainable and need to be improved. It is recommended that further research be carried out to assess soil erosion, economic potential, and integration of political/governing powers, as well as levels of agricultural education and awareness among the community. This will ensure an improved understanding of the natural environment in Manganeng, and can provide coping and recovery strategies from stress and shocks of unsustainable resource use in order to preserve these resources for future generations. It is further recommended that the Sustainable Livelihood Framework be adopted in assessing an integrated view of issues related to community based resource management in the area so as to provide insight into priority development options for Manganeng. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006