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Factors affecting ecoagriculture for integrated farming and biodiversity conservation in a transfrontier conservation area inSouthern AfricaChitakira, Munyaradzi January 2013 (has links)
The transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs) concept appears well-timed and appropriate to
Southern Africa but the role of local communities in these enterprises is not defined. A
framework that fully integrates agriculture, biodiversity conservation and livelihoods, known as
ecoagriculture, provides opportunities for achieving TFCA goals through bottom-up means. The
aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of planning and managing ecoagriculture in the
Lubombo TFCA spanning across the borders of South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland. The
study area is a biodiversity hotspot and is inhabited by poor people who need to meet their
livelihood needs through utilising local natural resources. There is thus a need for initiatives that
balance biodiversity protection and utilisation. Methodological triangulation including transect
surveys, participant observation, key informant interviews, household questionnaire surveys and
participatory approaches is employed. The study involves stakeholder identification and
consultation, participatory landscape performance assessment, evaluation of the community’s
future visioning and the analysis of policy and governance mechanisms impacting on
ecoagriculture implementation.
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The study revealed a unique combination of stakeholders with varying degrees of
importance and influence in the TFCA communities under focus, a situation which cannot be
expected in an ordinary communal farming area. Potential conflicts of interest were evident
among certain stakeholder groups but the stakeholder roles and interests were largely
complementary. Key informant interviews pointed towards a high feasibility of planned
ecoagriculture implementation in the area. The questionnaire survey showed an overwhelming
willingness to plan the integration of biodiversity and farming. According to the participatory
evaluation of the landscape’s performance the area’s overall performance score was 2.97 out of a
possible score of 5, which implied a performance in the middle of the range. There were
significant differences in the scores for the landscape dimensions (p-value < 0.01) but there were
no significant differences in scores across the landscape (p-value = 0.37). The area is a mosaic of
unplanned ecoagriculture with a good potential for transformation into systematically managed
agriculture-biodiversity integrated approaches. Biodiversity-agriculture integration elements are
evident in the Mathenjwa community vision, reflecting the community’s consciousness of its
future in the TFCA. None of the Lubombo TFCA countries has an explicit ecoagriculture policy
but ecoagriculture aspects are implied in existing legislation. Weak transboundary collaboration
makes the Lubombo TFCA to exist as a treaty on paper rather than on the ground. Conflicts
between customary norms and public legislation create policy enforcement challenges and pose a
barrier to ecoagriculture implementation. Existing conditions could be improved to allow
stakeholder-driven integrated landscape management. Innovative efforts (like policy
harmonisation, capacity building and campaigns to raise awareness of the benefits of agriculturebiodiversity
integration) are recommended for ecoagriculture to become a systematic landscape
management practice in the area. The contributions of this study include: (i) a suggested
framework for local community involvement in TFCAs which improves their resilience to
climate change impacts, (ii) a suggested ecoagriculture feasibility index (EFI) for a specific
landscape, (iii) a proposed landscape evaluation tool that practitioners and researchers can adopt,
(iv) a methodological contribution to landscape studies involving the use of participatory
processes and (v) contribution to the literature on the subject and practice of ecoagriculture. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2013 / Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology / Unrestricted
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Conservation for development : a literature study of the socioeconomic effects of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation AreaPettersson, Rebecka January 2014 (has links)
Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) are considered a suitable strategy to combine nature conservation and poverty alleviation in southern Africa, usually through ecotourism. There have, however, been critical voices questioning whether this is actually succeeding. Many researchers claim that the conservation and tourism efforts are leaving the local communities at greater risks of impoverishment rather than helping them. This study consults previous research to examine this issue through the examples of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA), and the communities living close to its National Parks in Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The methodology used is a systematic literature study of 26 secondary sources. The study finds that the previous research reveals that the experiences of the communities vary between different areas in the TFCA. The general feeling is that of displacement in different ways, except in those communities that have found ways of empowering and developing themselves; through tourism schemes. Otherwise, the attitude from the authorities in the national parks of the TFCA seems to be that the conservation and tourism efforts in the area are given priority over the local residents’ needs. Theories such as systems ecology, sustainable development and deep ecology may have answers to this issue on paper, however judging from the reality presented in the literature used in this study they are not realistic in practice. What is obvious is that economic interests are prioritized in the GLTFCA just as in the rest of the world.
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Environmental sustainability through participatory approaches : socio-geographic assessment of the Mathenjwa tribal authority landscape, Northern KwaZulu-NatalAlexander, Patrick James 21 June 2013 (has links)
Development, environmental sustainability, agriculture and livelihoods are dimensions
that are often considered antagonistic. By thinking at the landscape level however,
innovative opportunities arise for simultaneity as these entities manifest spatially and
require communication across disciplines. Trans-frontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs)
embrace this thinking. These are large areas that cut across two or more international
boundaries, include within them at least one Protected Area (PA) and other multiple
resource use areas, including human dwellings and cultivated areas. Similarly,
ecoagriculture is an innovative approach to land use management as it seeks to spatially
synergise agriculture, livelihoods and biodiversity conservation across space and
requires an awareness of landscape-level issues by land users, a condition which is not
necessarily met. Such landscape thinking stems from the fact that if a piece of land is
subject to rigorous conservation, it will fail if the surrounding areas are degraded.
Additionally, it has been shown that agriculture often benefits from the nearby presence
of natural areas for ecosystem services such as pollination, pest management, and
erosion control. As such, multifunctional landscape mosaics together with small scale
farmers, not large scale monocultures, are the key to global food security, as the former
more effectively links agricultural intensification to hunger reduction. In order to
ascertain an integrated understanding of the landscape concept, necessary for the
formalisation of ecoagriculture, this study assessed the landscape perceptions and
understandings held by local people residing within a TFCA. We employed
participatory methods within the Mathenjwa Tribal Area (MTA), an area falling within
the Lubombo TFCA and identified as holding ecoagriculture potential. Results revealed
that local people perceive landscape as a function of subsistence utility. Local people
perceive land-use multifunctionality, necessary for the formalisation of ecoagriculture, but at a smaller scale than expected depending on both social and biophysical
interpretations. Landscape scale projects should incorporate local landscape
understandings. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology / MA / Unrestricted
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Genetic structure of the savannah elephant population (Loxodonta africana (Blumenbach 1797)) in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation AreaDe Flamingh, Alida January 2013 (has links)
Earlier studies investigated the genetic structure of fragmented or isolated elephant populations
by comparing the genetic characteristics of pre-defined populations. This study aimed to
determine if there was genetic evidence for spatial structuring in a continuous elephant
population in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA-TFCA).
I sequenced one mtDNA gene region for 88 individuals and genotyped 100 individuals for 10
nuclear microsatellite loci. Bayesian Clustering Algorithms incorporated in the program
Geneland were used to identify groups of genetically similar individuals. An Analysis of
Molecular Variance (AMOVA) determined if these groups (henceforth referred to as subpopulations)
were significantly differentiated. I used a Geographic Information System (GIS) landscape genetic toolbox to identify areas in the landscape with high genetic divergence
between individual samples to determine if there were identifiable genetic barriers in the
landscape.
There were three significantly differentiated mtDNA sub-populations (Fst = 0.787), and two
nDNA sub-populations that were not significantly differentiated (Fst = -0.02; Rst = -0.045),
implying obstructed mtDNA, but high nDNA gene flow across the study region. Also, gene flow
was apparent between Chobe and Kafue National Parks, where telemetry data has as of yet not
recorded inter-population movements between these parks.
The three mtDNA sub-populations were geographically differentiated and followed political
boundaries as apparent sub-populations in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The differences
between mtDNA and nDNA genetic structuring may be explained by i) historical events that
shaped the current genetic structure (e.g. through founder-effects and persistent poaching
hotspots) and ii) intrinsic variables that influence genetic structure at a local scale (e.g. through
resource dependencies and social behaviour). The KAZA elephant population has a genetic
diversity (mtDNA diversity as the pairwise number of differences (π) = 2.59; nDNA diversity as
the mean alleles/locus and He = 7.5, 0.71) higher than other southern African populations, and
inter-population movements may be responsible for maintaining this genetic diversity.
I recommend continued support for conservation initiatives that aim at maintaining and restoring
connectivity between populations through landscape linkages, which in so doing may ensure
inter-population gene flow and uphold the current genetic state of the KAZA-TFCA elephant population. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted
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Elephant movements and human-elephant conflict in a transfrontier conservation areaVon Gerhardt-Weber, Katharina E. M. 03 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MScConEcol)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis I explore how elephant movements are impacted by human activity within
the context of the proposed Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA
TFCA) in southern Africa. Being a wide-ranging species, the movements of elephants
could be an excellent indicator as to the success of TFCAs in supporting species
persistence in an anthropogenic matrix. Understanding which areas beyond protected area
boundaries are of heightened conservation importance can provide managers and
governments with insights for the management of the elephant population of KAZA
TFCA, and assist managers and governments in prioritising conservation efforts.
Satellite radio collar data were used to model long-range elephant movement within
KAZA TFCA. Movement was compared between land use types (protected and nonprotected
areas). Home ranges, core areas and seasonal ranges were calculated from
collar data. Core and non-core areas were tested for significant differences in distance to
settlements, rivers, protected area, AFRI and elevation as these spatial and ecological
variables are believed to play a role in elephant habitat selection. Short-range elephant
movements were examined in a heterogeneous, patchy landscape mosaic of settlements
and agricultural fields, remnant forest patches, and secondary forests which were
surrounded on three sides by protected areas. Elephant penetration of the anthropogenic
matrix through the use of pathways was explored through ground-based surveys, and the
impact of pathways use on human-elephant conflict calculated.
I found that elephant behavioural plasticity allows for their persistence in a spatially
heterogeneous landscape. Elephants, especially bulls, penetrated the landscape matrix
beyond protected area boundaries. Land use planning initiatives are needed to identify
and protect reachable core zones/stepping stones of quality habitat outside of protected
areas, particularly in riparian zones. Differing male and female ranging behaviour within
the landscape matrix may require separate land use management strategies: bulls travelled
at night in non-protected areas at speeds that were four times faster than in protected
areas, and made use of core zones necessary for species persistence in a fragmented
landscape. A habitat corridor in the Zambian West Zambezi Game Management Area
was identified.
I found that during short range movements in heterogeneous environments, elephants
made use of pathways. Pathways may facilitate penetration of the anthropogenic matrix
and optimize foraging strategies by connecting predictable resources, such as crop fields,
with landscape features such as preferred shelter/ resting areas, crossing points at roads
and preferred drinking spots. Pathways were found to be the only significant spatial
variable in crop-raiding. Elephants foraged randomly while in homogenous crop patches,
but when travelling through a heterogeneous environment (entering or leaving
agricultural locales), movement was directional and non-random.
Lastly I suggest that crop attractiveness may be enhanced by water availability. Results
indicated that at both the landscape and the regional scale, repeat elephant movements to
core zones and along elephant pathways provided landscape ecological variables that
need to be considered by conservation managers in land use planning. In addition,
research on spatial awareness and navigational capabilities with regards to pathway use by elephants should be encouraged, as this research topic has been largely unexplored in
the scientific literature. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie tesis verken ek die moontlike impak van menslike aktiwiteite op olifant
beweging binne die beoogde Kavango-Zambezi Oorgrens Bewaringsarea (KAZA TFCA)
in suider-Afrika. Olifante is wydlopende spesies, en dus kan hul ruimtelike strekking ‘n
uitstekende indikator wees van die sukses van oorgrens bewaringsareas in terme van die
ondersteuning wat dié programme bied om spesies se volharding in ‘n antropogeniese
matriks te verseker. Besturrders en regerings kan insig verkry deur te besef watter areas
buiten die in beskermde gebiede, van verhoogde bewarings belang in KAZA TFCA is.
Hierdie insig verleen ook bystand aan bestuurders en regerings met die prioritisering van
bewarings inisiatiewe. Satelliet-radio nekband data was gebruik om olifante se
langtermyn ruimtelike beweging binne die KAZA TFCA te modelleer. Olifant beweging
was vergelyk tussen verskillende grondgebruik tipes (beskermde en onbeskermde areas).
Tuistestrekking, kern areas asook seisoenale strekking was bereken vanaf nekband data.
Kern en nie-kern areas was getoets vir betekenisvolle verskille in afstand vanaf
nedersettings, riviere, berskermde gebiede, AFRI, en hoogte bo seevlak, omdat hierdie
ruimtelike en ekologiese veranderlikes ‘n belangrike rol mag speel in olifant habitat
seleksie. Kortafstand olifant bewegings was bestudeer in ‘n heterogene, gelapte landskap
mosaïek van nedersettings en landbougrond, oorblywende woudareas, en sekondêre
woude waarvan drie sye grens aan bekermde areas. Olifant indringing binne die
antropogeniese matriks deur die gebruik van weë/toegangsweë was verken deur middel
van landgebaseerde opnames, waarvolgens die impak van olifante se gebruik van hierdie
paaie op mens-olifant konflik bereken kon word.
My bevindinge wys dat plastisiteit in olifant gedrag dra by tot hul voortbestaan in ‘n
ruimtelik heterogene landskap. Olifante, maar meer spesifiek olifantbulle, penetreer wel
die landskap matriks buite beskermde area grense. Grondgebruik beplannings inisiatiewe
word dus benodig om bereikbare kern areas van kwaliteit habitat buite beskermde areas te
identifiseer en te beskerm – veral in rivieroewer sones. Verskille in bul en koei ruimtelike
strekking gedrag binne die landskap matriks, mag afsonderlike bestuur stratgieë vereis:
bv. bulle beweeg vier keer vinniger in die aand in onbeskermde areas teenoor in
beskermde gebiede, daarby maak hulle ook gebruik van kern areas wat kardinaal is vir
die voortbestaan van spesies in gefragmenteerde landskappe. ‘n Habitat deurgang was
geïdentifiseer in die Zambiese Wes-Zambesie Wildbestuurarea. Die studie het gevind dat
olifante gedurende kortafstand bewegings in heterogene omgewings gebruik maak
toegangsweë. Toegangsweë mag penetrasie van die antropogeniese matriks fasiliteer, en
verleen ook dat olifant weidingstrategieë die optimum bereik deur voorspelbare
hulpbronne soos gewaslanderye te konnekteer met landskap eienskappe soos voorrang
skuiling/rusareas, kruisingspunte by paaie, asook voorrang drinkplekke. Toegangsweë
was gevind om die enigste betekenisvolle ruimtelike veranderlike in gewasstrooptogte te
wees. Olifante wei lukraak in homogene gewaslanderye, maar in teenstelling, wanneer
hulle deur ‘n heterogene omgewing beweeg het (binnegang of uittog uit landbou
lokaliteite) was die beweging gerig. Laastens, die studie stelvoor dat gewas aantreklikheid verhoog kan word deur water beskikbaarheid. Resultate dui aan dat by
beide die landskap- en streekskaal verskaf herhaalde olifant beweging na kern areas en
langs olifants togangsweë, landskap ekologiese veranderlikes wat in ag geneem moet
word deur bewaringsbestuurders tydens grondgebruik beplanning. Bykomend, navorsing
op die ruimtelike bewustheid en navigasie vermoëns van savannah olifante met
betrekking tot die gebruik van toegangsweë, moet aangemoedig word aangesien hierdie
onderwerp grootliks onverken is in wetenskaplike literatuur.
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Mapping spatial requirements of ecological processes to aid in the implementation of corridorsMugwena, Thendo 04 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The ultimate goal of conservation planning is to ensure persistence of biodiversity. Biodiversity patterns and ecological processes are important aspects in conserving biodiversity. Although most researchers in conservation planning have focused on targeting biodiversity patterns, ecological and evolutionary processes can ensure persistence of biodiversity if incorporated into conservation planning. Ecological processes are the main drivers or sustainers of biodiversity. The aim of this research was to identify and map the spatial components of ecological processes in a portion of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area to aid in the implementation of biota movement corridors. Different methods have been used to identify suitable corridors but not much has been done on defining and mapping ecological processes that will ensure that the corridors maintain and generate biodiversity.
A thorough literature survey was done to make a list of ecological processes that are important in maintaining the biodiversity in the area. Spatial components of ecological processes were mapped as surface elements aligned along linear environmental interfaces or gradients. The last part of the research was to suggest suitable movement corridors based on ecological processes.
The results include five spatial components: riverine corridors, areas of high carbon sequestration, edaphic interfaces, upland-lowland interfaces and ecotones. Riverine corridors were mapped using a 1000 m buffer on either side of low lying rivers and 500 m buffer around rivers in the uplands. A map showing the carbon sequestration potential of vegetation in the study area was made using Moderate-Resolution Image Spectroradiometer (MODIS) derived NDVI data and the National Level Carbon Stock dataset done by the Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC) Pantropical. Edaphic interfaces were idenfied using by a 250 m buffer around contrasting soil types. Upland-lowland interfaces identified by a 250 m buffer along upland and lowland habitats. Classification of Landsat 8 was used to identify ecotones in the study area. The results of the spatial components were then compared with the habitat transformation map which shows populated areas. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die uiteindelike doel van bewaringsbeplanning is om voortbestaan van biodiversiteit te verseker. Biodiversiteitspatrone en ekologiese prosesse is belangrike aspekte in die bewaring van biodiversiteit. Alhoewel die meeste navorsers in bewaringsbeplanning fokus op teiken biodiversiteitspatrone, kan die voortbestaan van ekologiese en evolusionêre prosesse van biodiversiteit verseker word deur insluiting in bewaringsbeplanning. Ekologiese prosesse is die belangrikste drywers, of onderhouers, van biodiversiteit. Die doel van hierdie navorsing was dus om die ruimtelike komponente van ekologiese prosesse in 'n gedeelte van die Kavango Zambezi oorgrensbewaringsgebied te identifiseer en te karteer om te help met implementering van biota bewegingsdeurlope. Verskillende metodes is al gebruik om gepaste deurlope te identifiseer, maar min navorsing is gedoen oor definisie en kartering van ekologiese prosesse om te verseker dat die deurlope biodiversiteit sal onderhou en genereer.
'n Deeglike literatuurstudie is gedoen om 'n lys op te stel van ekologiese prosesse wat belangrik is in die handhawing van biodiversiteit in die gebied. Ruimtelike komponente van ekologiese prosesse is gekarteer as oppervlak elemente gebonde aan lineêre omgewingskoppelvlakke of gradiënte. Die laaste deel van die navorsing was om geskikte bewegingsdeurlope, gebaseer op ekologiese prosesse, voor te stel. Die resultate sluit vyf ruimtelike komponente in: rivierdeurlope, gebiede van hoë koolstofsekwestrasie, edafiese koppelvlakke, hoogland-Laeveld koppelvlakke en grensekotone. Rivierdeurlope is gekarteer met behulp van 'n 1000 meter buffer aan weerskante van laagliggende riviere en 500 meter buffer rondom riviere in die hooglande. ‘n Kaart wat die koolstofsekwestrasiepotensiaal van plantegroei in die studie area toon is gemaak met behulp van Moderate-Resolution Image Spectroradiometer (MODIS) afgeleide NDVI data en ʼn koolstofvoorraaddatastel (National Level Carbon Stock dataset) voorsien deur die Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC). Pantropiese edafiese koppelvlakke is geïdentifiseer met behulp van 'n 250 meter buffer rondom kontrasterende grondtipes. Hoogland-Laeveld koppelvlakke is geïdentifiseer deur 'n 250 meter buffer langs die berg en laagland habitatte. Klassifikasie van Landsat 8 data is gebruik om ekotone in die studie area te identifiseer. Die resultate van die ruimtelike komponente is vergelyk met die habitattransformasiekaart wat bevolkte gebiede toon.
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