A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2016. / This report examines the potential for private in commercial land-use activities to yield a positive return to capital as well as ecosystem infrastructure in South Africa. Intact ecosystem infrastructure in South Africa is concentrated in the Eastern Cape, Kwa-Zulu Natal and Mpumalanga, all of which have a high prevalence of communal land-ownership and small-scale farmers. These areas are under threat of rapid degradation from poor land-use practices including over-grazing, over-harvesting of forestry products, alien encroachment and over-frequent burning resulting in soil erosion and degradation, decreased water retention and quality as well as denudation and biodiversity loss. As such developing effective strategies to respond to the drivers of land degradation is a critical task for ecosystem goods and services preservation.
While the majority of existing state led strategies around sustainable land-use, land-reform and rural development in these areas have proven ineffective there are notable exceptions emanating from the state, NGOs and the private sector. This report analyses these examples in case study format, pointing out the key features of each case with regards to the enabling environment and primary outcomes from both a financial and ecosystem infrastructure returns perspective. Specific attention is also given to the development of effective social processes that have a proven track-record improving the social base that underlies effective socio-ecological systems. The end goal of the report is to provide a theoretical model designed for real-world application / LG2017
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/21708 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Maguire, Gray Garth Meriadec |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | Online resource (82 leaves), application/pdf |
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