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Assessment of potential and impacts of afforestation in the Letaba catchment, Limpopo Province, South Africa

The plantation forestry is economically a very important industry in South Africa because it
promotes the upliftment of many rural South African communities. However, afforestation
has significant impacts on water use and biodiversity in a catchment. Thus, understanding
the effects of afforestation on water resources at the catchment level is fundamental for
optimal water resource allocation, long-term sustainable use, development and
conservation. Much of the Limpopo Province is climatically and physiographically suitable for
plantation forestry but it only contains approximately 4.7 % of the total existing plantation
area in South Africa. For example, the size of the Letaba Catchment of the Limpopo
Province is 13 669 km² but only approximately 484 km² of it is currently afforested. This
study aims to identify potential areas for further afforestation in the Letaba Catchment using
the Water Resources Modelling Platform (WReMP) model to determine if afforestation can
be expanded here to promote development in South Africa‟s poorest Province. / Geography / M. Sc. (Geography)

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/5622
Date07 1900
CreatorsMkwalo, Andile Churchill
ContributorsHedding, David William
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeDissertation
Format1 online resource (viii, 116 leaves) : ill. (chiefly col.), col. maps

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