Collection of urban tree products by households in poorer residential areas of three South African towns
- Authors: Kaoma, Humphrey , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/180980 , vital:43678 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2014.02.002"
- Description: The high rates of urban in-migration and poverty common in many developing country towns potentially increases the reliance of urban populations on the direct benefits provided by trees. Yet understanding of the extent of such use and the sources of these tree products is limited. Here we report on the extent of use of urban tree products by 450 households in the poorer areas of three towns along a rainfall gradient based on household questionnaires. We considered the proportion of households making use of each of several tree products and the collection or purchasing frequency which we disaggregated by source of the product, including trees in homesteads, urban spaces, edges of towns and via purchase from traders. Most households (91%) used firewood, which was most frequently collected from the urban fringe or purchased, although one-third at times also collected firewood from trees on their home plot. All households used fruits, most commonly sourced through purchase (98%), but nearly half of whom also supplemented by harvesting fruits from their home plot. Other products used included wood for building, fencing and utensils, herbal medicines, planting material and mulch. Collection of products from urban homestead trees was highest amongst households in the informal settlements and least in the more established townships. Residents of new low-cost housing areas made extensive use of urban tree products harvested in urban spaces because they had fewer homestead trees than residents of informal areas or townships. Overall, urban residents made use of a wide array of tangible products from trees which they sourced from a variety of places, including their homestead plot. This urges that planning agencies ensure that homestead plot sizes or other urban spaces that provide tree products are large enough to support the direct needs of poorer urban residents.
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- Date Issued: 2014
Homestead greening is widespread amongst the urban poor in three medium-sized South African towns
- Authors: Kaoma, Humphrey , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/398291 , vital:69398 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-014-0362-3"
- Description: Trees in urban areas are important sources of ecosystem services and benefits. In most towns the bulk of urban biodiversity, and trees specifically, are found in homestead gardens. But there is only limited understanding of the tree holdings in such gardens, and how they vary within and between towns, especially for developing countries where rapid urbanisation and high poverty influence the use of and reliance on land and local resources. We report on the nature of tree holdings in private gardens of poorer suburbs in three medium-sized towns along a gradient of decreasing mean annual rainfall in northern South Africa. A total of 3 217 trees were enumerated across 450 randomly selected homesteads. Most (90 %) households had at least one tree on their homestead, with an average of 7.7 ± 6.1 trees. Most householders had planted the trees themselves. The density of trees declined along the moisture gradient. Within towns, tree density was positively related to garden size, which in turn was related to relative affluence and age of the suburb. Newer and poorer suburbs had the fewest trees per household. Sixty-two tree species were recorded, which were dominated by alien species, especially fruit trees. There was no relationship between the moisture gradient and tree species richness per household, but within towns there was a difference between suburbs, being lowest in the newest suburbs. Numbers of trees and species per household was positively related to age of the household head.
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- Date Issued: 2014
Low-cost housing developments in South Africa miss the opportunities for household level urban greening
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Hebinck, Paul , Kaoma, Humphrey , Chishaleshale, Mwale , Chinyimba, Abby , Shackleton, Sheona E , Gambiza, James , Gumbo, Davison
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/180967 , vital:43677 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2013.10.002"
- Description: Most developing countries of the world are experiencing large-scale migration from rural to urban areas. Many new migrants end up in low-cost or informal areas and slums with attendant environmental concerns. One dimension of improved urban sustainability is the provision of green spaces and trees. Whilst many countries have urban greening programmes for public spaces and streets, few have considered the status and potential contribution of trees from resident's own gardens. This paper reports firstly on the policy environment for urban forestry and greening in South Africa and secondly on the maintenance, use and appreciation of trees on private homesteads of residents of new and older low-income suburbs as well as informal housing areas from three small towns in South Africa. In particular we examine if the most recent centrally planned and built low-income housing schemes (called RDP suburbs in South Africa) have considered and incorporated plans or spaces for urban greenery in peoples’ homesteads. We found that broad environmental and sustainability concerns and statements are common in urban development and housing policies, but specific guidelines for implementation are generally absent. More specifically, urban forestry and tree planting are rarely mentioned in the broader land use and environmental policies other than the national forest act and subsequent regulations, but even there it is relatively superficial. In the study towns the prevalence, density and number of species of trees was lowest in the new RDP suburbs relative to the township and informal areas. Consequently, the contribution of tree products to local livelihoods was also lower in the RDP areas. Yet there were no differences in the level of appreciation of the value and intangible benefits of trees between residents from the three different suburbs. This shows that the failure to plan for and accommodate trees in new low-cost housing developments is missing an opportunity to improve overall urban sustainability and liveability and constraining the potential flows of tangible and intangible benefits to urban residents. Making opportunities for such in older suburbs is challenging because of space limitations and cost implications of retrospective provisions, but incorporation into plans for new low-cost housing development should be possible.
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- Date Issued: 2014