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The Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society: an emergent community of practice

- Biggs, Reinette, Reyers, Belinda, Blanchard, Ryan, Clements, Hayley S, Cockburn, Jessica J, Cumming, Graeme S, Cundill, Georgina, de Vos, Alta, Dziba, Luthando E, Esler, Karen J, Fabricius, Christo, Hamann, Maike, Henriksson, Rebecka, Kotschy, Karen, Lindborg, Regina, Luvuno, Linda, Masterson, Vanessa A, Nel, Jeanne L, O'Farrell, Patrick, Palmer, Carolyn G, Pereira, Laura, Pollard, Sharon, Preiser, Rika, Roux, Dirk J, Scholes, Robert J, Selomane, Odirlwe, Shackleton, Charlie M, Shackleton, Sheona E, Sitas, Nadia, Slingsby, Jasper A, Spierenburg, Marja, Tengö, Maria

Social-ecological change: insights from the Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society

- Biggs, Reinette, Clements, Hayley S, Cumming, Graeme S, Cundill, Georgina, de Vos, Alta, Hamann, Maike, Luvuno, Linda, Roux, Dirk J, Selomane, Odirlwe, Blanchard, Ryan, Cockburn, Jessica J, Dziba, Luthando E, Esler, Karen J, Fabricius, Christo, Henriksson, Rebecka, Kotschy, Karen, Lindborg, Regina, Masterson, Vanessa A, Nel, Jeanne L, O'Farrell, Patrick, Palmer, Carolyn G, Pereira, Laura, Pollard, Sharon, Preiser, Rika, Scholes, Robert J, Shackleton, Charlie M, Shackleton, Sheona E, Sitas, Nadia, Slingsby, Jasper A, Spierenburg, Maria, Tengö, Maria, Reyers, Belinda

Interviews and surveys

- Shackleton, Sheona E, Bezerra, Joana C, Cockburn, Jessica J, Reed, Maureen G, Abu, Razak

  • Authors: Shackleton, Sheona E , Bezerra, Joana C , Cockburn, Jessica J , Reed, Maureen G , Abu, Razak
  • Date: 2021
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book chapter
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433914 , vital:73009 , ISBN 9781000401516 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/49560
  • Description: This chapter is closely related to the following approaches and methods in this handbook: systems scoping (Chapter 5), participatory data collection (Chapter 8), facilitated dialogues (Chapter 9), futures analysis (Chapter 10), qualitative content analysis (Chapter 19), comparative case study analysis (Chapter 20), institutional analysis (Chapter 22), network analysis (Chapter 23), spatial mapping and analysis (Chapter 24), historical assessment (Chapter 25), and livelihood and vulnerability analysis (Chapter 32).
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  • Date Issued: 2021

Livelihood and vulnerability analysis

- Shackleton, Charlie M, Schreckenberg, Kate, Shackleton, Sheona E, Luckert, Marty

  • Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Schreckenberg, Kate , Shackleton, Sheona E , Luckert, Marty
  • Date: 2021
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book chapter
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433811 , vital:73002 , ISBN 9781000401516 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/49560
  • Description: Livelihood analysis and vulnerability analysis are integrative approaches and consequently draw on a variety of methods to collect and analyse primary and secondary data covered in other chapters. Core ones include systems scoping (Chapter 5), ecological field data collection (Chapter 6), interviews and surveys (Chapter 7), participatory data collection (Chapter 8), action research (Chapter 15), statistical analysis (Chapter 18), qualitative content analysis (Chapter 19), comparative case study analysis (Chapter 20), institutional analysis (Chapter 22) and spatial mapping and analysis (Chapter 24).
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  • Date Issued: 2021

Relational hubs for collaborative landscape stewardship

- Cockburn, Jessica J, Cundill, Georgina, Shackleton, Sheona E, Cele, Ayanda, Cornelius, Susanna F, Koopman, Vaughan, Le Roux, Jean-Pierre, McLeod, Nicky, Rouget, Mathieu, Schroder, Samantha, Van den Broek, Dieter, Wright, Dale R, Zwinkelse, Marijn

  • Authors: Cockburn, Jessica J , Cundill, Georgina , Shackleton, Sheona E , Cele, Ayanda , Cornelius, Susanna F , Koopman, Vaughan , Le Roux, Jean-Pierre , McLeod, Nicky , Rouget, Mathieu , Schroder, Samantha , Van den Broek, Dieter , Wright, Dale R , Zwinkelse, Marijn
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/392748 , vital:68789 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2019.1658141"
  • Description: Landscape stewardship is considered an important place-based approach to addressing sustainability challenges. Working at landscape-level requires collaboration between diverse landscape stakeholders. In this study, we partnered with local stewardship practitioners across six cases in South Africa to investigate how they facilitate collaboration towards social-ecological sustainability outcomes. We found that practitioners facilitate collaboration among stakeholders by operating as relational hubs in the landscape. Through these hubs, they build new inter-personal relationships among stakeholders, creating social networks which enable stewardship practice. The hubs deepen human-nature relationships by creating enabling conditions for stewards to put stewardship ethics into action. Drawing on insights from these cases, we call for a relational approach to landscape stewardship which focuses on human-to-human and human-to-nature relationships. Moreover, we argue that landscape stewardship initiatives need to re-focus stewardship on stewards, recognizing them as key agents of change in addressing the conflict between agriculture and conservation inherent in many landscapes.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Changes in household use and sale of locally collected environmental resources over a 15-year period in a rural village, South Africa

- Falayi, Menelisi, Shackleton, Sheona E, Kemp, Georgina Cundill, Shackleton, Charlie M

  • Authors: Falayi, Menelisi , Shackleton, Sheona E , Kemp, Georgina Cundill , Shackleton, Charlie M
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/398196 , vital:69383 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14728028.2019.1568309"
  • Description: Many rural areas are experiencing rapid social-ecological changes, impacting livelihoods and creating less certain futures. Despite several decades of research on the use of locally collected environmental resources there have been few repeat studies, especially in South and Southern Africa, to consider how households may be altering such use alongside other changes. This paper explores changes in the use of environmental resources by communities in the Kat River Valley, South Africa over a fifteen-year period, between 2000 and 2015, using a repeat survey, key informant interviews and other data from a larger study relating to social-ecological change. The proportion of households collecting different environmental resources was similar between the two periods. However, the mean quantities used per household had declined for several resources . Consequently, the monetary contribution or worth of these to livelihoods also declined, except for fuelwood and river sand. These changes can be related to, amongst others, transformations in both the local landscape and socio-economic environment, such as increases in state social welfare, a decline in agricultural production, woody plant encroachment, generational preferences, and the expansion of supermarket retailers. Understanding such trends is important for considering the sustainable management of landscapes and livelihoods into the future.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Collaborative stewardship in multifunctional landscapes: toward relational, pluralistic approaches

- Cockburn, Jessica J, Cundell, Georgina, Shackleton, Sheona E, Rouget, Mathieu, Zwinkels, Marijn, Cornelius, Susanna A, Metcalf, Liz, Van den Broek, D

  • Authors: Cockburn, Jessica J , Cundell, Georgina , Shackleton, Sheona E , Rouget, Mathieu , Zwinkels, Marijn , Cornelius, Susanna A , Metcalf, Liz , Van den Broek, D
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/390297 , vital:68535 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11085-240432"
  • Description: Landscape stewardship offers a means to put social-ecological approaches to stewardship into practice. The growing interest in landscape stewardship has led to a focus on multistakeholder collaboration. Although there is a significant body of literature on collaborative management and governance of natural resources, the particular challenges posed by multifunctional landscapes, in which there are often contested interests, require closer attention. We present a case study from South Africa to investigate how collaborative stewardship can be fostered in contested multifunctional landscapes. We conducted this research through an engaged transdisciplinary research partnership in which we integrated social-ecological practitioner and academic knowledge to gain an in-depth understanding of the challenges of fostering collaboration. We identified five overarching factors that influence collaboration: contextual, institutional, social-relational, individual, and political-historical. Collaborative stewardship approaches focused on the development of formal governance institutions appear to be most successful if enabling individual and social-relational conditions are in place. Our case study, characterized by high social diversity, inequity, and contestation, suggests that consensus-driven approaches to collaboration are unlikely to result in equitable and sustainable landscape stewardship in such contexts. We therefore suggest an approach that focuses on enhancing individual and social-relational enablers. Moreover, we propose a bottom-up patchwork approach to collaborative stewardship premised on the notion of pluralism. This would focus on building new interpersonal relationships and collaborative capacity through small collective actions. Taking a relational, pluralistic approach to fostering collaborative stewardship is particularly important in contested, socially heterogeneous landscapes. Drawing on our study and the literature, we propose guiding principles for implementing relational, pluralistic approaches to collaborative stewardship and suggest future research directions for supporting such approaches.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

The meaning and practice of stewardship in South Africa

- Cockburn, Jessica J, Cundill, Georgina, Shackleton, Sheona E, Rouget, Mathieu

  • Authors: Cockburn, Jessica J , Cundill, Georgina , Shackleton, Sheona E , Rouget, Mathieu
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/390683 , vital:68574 , xlink:href="http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2019/5339"
  • Description: Stewardship offers a means of addressing social-ecological sustainability challenges, from the local to the global level. The concept of stewardship has had various meanings attached to it over time, and the links between the theory and practice of stewardship are not well understood. We sought to characterise the practice of stewardship in South Africa, to better understand the relationship between theory and practice. We found that practitioners’ understandings of stewardship coalesce around two core notions: the idea of stewardship as ‘responsible use and care’ of nature, and stewardship as a ‘balancing act’ between stewards’ use of natural resources for agricultural production and their responsibility to protect and manage the wider ecosystem. Stewardship practice in South Africa is strongly influenced by the biodiversity stewardship tool; however, many practitioners are integrating biodiversity stewardship with other approaches. These emerging social-ecological stewardship initiatives operate at landscape-level and work towards integrated social and ecological stewardship outcomes, by facilitating collaboration among diverse stakeholders. Further research is needed to better understand what is required to support these integrated, collaborative and cross-sectoral initiatives. Policy mechanisms that facilitate integrated place-based stewardship practice can contribute to expanding the practice of biodiversity stewardship in South Africa.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Towards place-based research to support social–ecological stewardship

- Cundill, Georgina, Cockburn, Jessica J, Shackleton, Sheona E

  • Authors: Cundill, Georgina , Cockburn, Jessica J , Shackleton, Sheona E
  • Date: 2018
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125053 , vital:35724 , https://doi.org/10.3390/su10051434
  • Description: Concerns about ecological degradation and social inequalities have prompted increasing calls for stewardship in the social–ecological systems and sustainability science literature. However, how can the ideals of stewardship be realised in practice? The links between the theory and practice of stewardship are under-developed, and research to support place-based stewardship practice is limited. We therefore bring together complementary perspectives to guide research on place-based stewardship practice in the context of multifunctional landscapes. We unpack and synthesise literature on stewardship, landscapes, and collaboration for natural resource management, and highlight the ways in which the pathways approach can deepen research on collaboration and stewardship practice. We propose landscapes as a suitable level of analysis and action for stewardship. Since all landscapes are multifunctional, we argue that collaboration among multiple stakeholders is a necessary focus of such research. Our analysis reveals that existing theory on collaboration could be deepened by further research into the agency of individual human actors, the complex social–relational dynamics among actors, and the situatedness of actors within the social–ecological context. These factors mediate collaborative processes, and a better understanding of them is needed to support place-based stewardship practice. To this end, the pathways approach offers a waymark to advance research on collaboration, particularly in the complex, contested social–ecological systems that tend to characterize multifunctional landscapes.
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  • Date Issued: 2018

Integrating Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) for greater local level resilience: lessons from a multi-stakeholder think-tank

- Pereira, Taryn, Shackleton, Sheona E, Donkor, Felix Kwabena

  • Authors: Pereira, Taryn , Shackleton, Sheona E , Donkor, Felix Kwabena
  • Date: 2017
  • Subjects: Climatic changes -- South Africa , Climatic changes -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62027 , vital:28097
  • Description: The last few years have seen one of the most severe droughts in recent times in the southern African region, and news headlines are increasingly full of warnings about heavy storms, fires and floods. There is no doubt that extreme hydro-meteorological events, and their multiple and potentially disastrous impacts, are at the forefront of the public consciousness at the present time and are one of the key concerns regarding the impacts of climate change in the region. While the links between extreme climate events, disaster risk reduction (DRR - see Box 1) and climate change adaptation (CCA - see Box 2) are recognised in the South African Climate Change White Paper, this is not the case for the whole region. Furthermore, even if there is national recognition of the need to synergise these two spheres of endeavour, this does not always trickle down to effective policy, planning and implementation at the local level.
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  • Date Issued: 2017

Cultural values of natural resources among the San people neighbouring Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa

- Thondhlana, Gladman, Shackleton, Sheona E

  • Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Shackleton, Sheona E
  • Date: 2015
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67699 , vital:29131 , https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2013.818950
  • Description: Publisher version , Globally, cultural values of natural resources are increasingly recognised as important for local natural resource management and conservation in and beyond parks. The tendency has been to focus on the direct-use rather than the cultural values and importance of natural resources. The cultural values underlying natural resources (directly or indirectly used) and various natural resource-based activities, and the implications for conservation, remain little explored. Drawing from household surveys, in-depth qualitative interviews, observations and secondary data, we explore the cultural significance of natural resources and different land-use practices among the San people bordering Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa. Our findings illustrate that though cultural values are inextricably linked to resource use, they are not recognised by all community members. Further, cultural values arise from a diverse and sometimes conflicting array of values that punctuate individuals' lifestyles. A better understanding of context-specific cultural settings and the linkages between the cultural and material dimensions of resource use can lead to the development of interventions that can ensure effective conservation of both natural resources and culture.
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  • Date Issued: 2015

Local institutions, actors, and natural resource governance in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and surrounds, South Africa

- Thondhlana, Gladman, Shackleton, Sheona E, Blignaut, James

  • Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Shackleton, Sheona E , Blignaut, James
  • Date: 2015
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67689 , vital:29130 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.03.013
  • Description: Publisher version , Crafting local institutions to allow more effective decision-making in the management of and access to natural resources in and beyond parks has long been considered key to collaborative governance. South Africa, in particular, has vigorously pursued collaborative governance as a desired approach to managing natural resources as evident in the new arrangements for previously restricted parks. However, though the discourse of collaborative governance has occupied conservation thinking and practice globally, few studies have looked at the interplay between local institutions, actors and collaborative governance involving indigenous hunter–gatherer communities in Southern Africa. In response, we assess the local actors and institutions that were put in place to facilitate collaborative governance of natural resources in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and its surrounds in South Africa. Our findings show that though collaborative governance has a practical appeal, it is hampered by lack of participation in decision-making, information dissemination, transparency, trust and accountability, power relations, divergent interests and unequal access to natural resources. The findings also draw our attention to issues of heterogeneity, even within indigenous communities assumed to be homogenous by local conservation authorities as reflected in land settlement agreements in co-managed parks. We argue that collaborative governance arrangements need to reflect and be understood within the broader background of complex local realities.
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  • Date Issued: 2015

Multiple benefits and values of trees in urban landscapes in two towns in northern South Africa

- Shackleton, Sheona E, Chinyimba, Abby, Hebinck, Paul, Shackleton, Charlie M, Kaoma, Humphrey

  • Authors: Shackleton, Sheona E , Chinyimba, Abby , Hebinck, Paul , Shackleton, Charlie M , Kaoma, Humphrey
  • Date: 2015
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/180874 , vital:43658 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2014.12.004"
  • Description: Cities and towns can be conceptualised as complex social-ecological systems or landscapes that are composed of different spatial elements. Trees in urban landscapes provide a variety of tangible and intangible benefits (ecosystem services) that may be valued differently across diverse households and individuals. Here, we consider how the benefits and values of trees to urban residents vary across public and private spaces in three low income neighbourhoods in two medium-sized towns in northern South Africa. We find that the most asset poor residents in informal settlements derive significant benefits from the provisioning services offered by trees in natural green spaces on the ‘urban periphery’; in particular they value supplies of wood for energy, whilst also recognising the importance of regulating services such as shade. Trees in such spaces help these immigrants cope with a lack of infrastructure, services and disposable income after their move to the city. In new, low-cost housing neighbourhoods, the importance of trees in providing shade and shelter in gardens is emphasised due to the hot and dusty nature of these settlements, while residents in older township neighbourhoods make more mention of the aesthetic value of trees in private spaces as well as the fruits they provide. In all neighbourhoods, attitudes towards trees in public spaces were mixed because of their perceived association with crime, although low income households did make extensive use of tree products from natural areas. The relevance of the results for urban planning and greening in low income areas is discussed.
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  • Date Issued: 2015

A reflection on the use of case studies as a methodology for social learning research in sub Saharan Africa

- Cundill, Georgina, Lotz-Sisitka, Heila, Mukute, Mutizwa, Belay, Million, Shackleton, Sheona E, Kulundu, Iinjairu

  • Authors: Cundill, Georgina , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Mukute, Mutizwa , Belay, Million , Shackleton, Sheona E , Kulundu, Iinjairu
  • Date: 2014
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book chapter
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436636 , vital:73288 , ISBN 1573-5214 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.njas.2013.04.001
  • Description: A recent review has highlighted that the methodology most commonly employed to research social learning has been the individual case study. We draw on four examples of social learning research in the environmental and sustainability sci-ences from sub-Saharan Africa to reflect on possible reasons behind the preponderance of case study research in this field, and to identify common elements that may be significant for social learning research more generally. We find that a com-mon interest in change oriented social learning, and therefore processes of change, makes case studies a necessary ap-proach because long term process analyses are required that are sensitive to social-ecological contexts. Common elements of the examples reflected upon included: a focus on initiating, tracking and/or understanding a process of change toward sustainability; long term research; an action research agenda that involves reflecting on data with research participants; and temporal, process based analysis of data coupled with in-depth theoretical analysis. This paper highlights that there is significant scope for exploratory research that compares case studies of social learning research to generate a deeper un-derstanding of social learning processes, and their relationship to human agency and societal change.
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  • Date Issued: 2014

A reflection on the use of case studies as a methodology for social learning research in sub Saharan Africa

- Cundill, Georgina, Lotz-Sisitka, Heila, 1965-, Mukute, Mutizwa, Ali, Million Belay, Shackleton, Sheona E, Kulundu-Bolus, Injairu M

  • Authors: Cundill, Georgina , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila, 1965- , Mukute, Mutizwa , Ali, Million Belay , Shackleton, Sheona E , Kulundu-Bolus, Injairu M
  • Date: 2014
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/182832 , vital:43884 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.njas.2013.04.001"
  • Description: A recent review has highlighted that the methodology most commonly employed to research social learning has been the individual case study. We draw on four examples of social learning research in the environmental and sustainability sciences from sub-Saharan Africa to reflect on possible reasons behind the preponderance of case study research in this field, and to identify common elements that may be significant for social learning research more generally. We find that a common interest in change oriented social learning, and therefore processes of change, makes case studies a necessary approach because long term process analyses are required that are sensitive to social-ecological contexts. Common elements of the examples reflected upon included: a focus on initiating, tracking and/or understanding a process of change toward sustainability; long term research; an action research agenda that involves reflecting on data with research participants; and temporal, process based analysis of data coupled with in-depth theoretical analysis. This paper highlights that there is significant scope for exploratory research that compares case studies of social learning research to generate a deeper understanding of social learning processes, and their relationship to human agency and societal change.
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  • Date Issued: 2014

Interaction of multiple stressors: vulnerability, coping and adaptation within the context of climate change and HIV/AIDS in South Africa: Investigating strategies to strengthen livelihoods and food security and build resilience

- Hamer, Nicholas G, Shackleton, Sheona E

  • Authors: Hamer, Nicholas G , Shackleton, Sheona E
  • Date: 2014
  • Subjects: Climatic changes -- Economic aspects -- Eastern Cape (South Africa) Climatic changes -- South Africa Climatic changes -- Social aspects -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/50065 , vital:25956
  • Description: Government policy development and implementation is often designed to address different sectors of society in isolation, so social, economic and environmental issues are considered as being distinct from one other. Recently it has been acknowledged that 'working in silos' is not conducive for good governance and so efforts have been made for better co-ordination between different government departments and different spheres of government. Our research findings show the knock on effects of one problem into other areas of people's lives, highlighting why it is vital for policies and programmes to be far better co-ordinated. The different challenges and stresses that people face in their lives interact with one another in complex ways, undermining their capacity to cope with and adapt to future changes, such as those expected under climate change.
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  • Date Issued: 2014

Low-cost housing developments in South Africa miss the opportunities for household level urban greening

- Shackleton, Charlie M, Hebinck, Paul, Kaoma, Humphrey, Chishaleshale, Mwale, Chinyimba, Abby, Shackleton, Sheona E, Gambiza, James, Gumbo, Davison

  • 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

Vulnerability, coping and adaptation within the context of climate change and HIV/AIDS in South Africa: Investigating strategies to strengthen livelihoods and food security and build resilience.

- Ndlovu, Patrick, Luckert, Martin K, Shackleton, Sheona E

  • Authors: Ndlovu, Patrick , Luckert, Martin K , Shackleton, Sheona E
  • Date: 2014
  • Language: English
  • Type: text
  • Identifier: vital:6622 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016230
  • Description: [From Introduction] In South Africa, social grants are a central component of government's efforts to alleviate poverty. The number of people receiving social grants has significantly increased in recent years (from about 10.9 million in 2005 to almost 15.7 million in 2013, and an anticipated 16.8 million recipients by 2015).With social grants playing an increasingly important role, a pressing policy issue is whether or not the current social grant schemes are an effective tool for alleviating poverty. Some studies have shown that social grants improve food security (Case and Deaton, 1998; Samson et al., 2008) and in the long run can promote employment through accumulation of human capital and enhancing productivity of poor households (Edmonds et al., 2006; Samson et al., 2008; Surender et al., 2007). However, other studies have reported that social grants have possible disincentive effects on labor market activity, for example, through the relaxing of household budget constraints which may lead to a reduction in labor supply (Bertrand et al., 2003; Ranchorhod, 2006; Klasen and Woolard, 2009). Our study provides new insights by highlighting two key household characteristics, gender and education, in catalyzing or diminishing the effects of grants on household livelihood outcomes. Our analysis mainly focuses on impacts of pensions on household food security and labor supply of household members.
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  • Date Issued: 2014

Deagrarianisation and forest revegetation in a biodiversity hotspot on the Wild Coast, South Africa

- Shackleton, Ross T, Shackleton, Charlie M, Shackleton, Sheona E, Gambiza, James

  • Authors: Shackleton, Ross T , Shackleton, Charlie M , Shackleton, Sheona E , Gambiza, James
  • Date: 2013
  • Language: English
  • Type: article , text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60984 , vital:27905 , doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0076939
  • Description: Deagraianisation is a worldwide phenomenon with widespread social, ecological and economic effects yet with little consensus on the local or higher level causes. There have been contested views on the causes and consequences of deagrarianisation on South Africa’s Wild Coast, which is an international biodiversity hotspot. Using GIS, household interviews and ecological sampling, we compared the perspectives of current and former cultivators as to why some have abandoned farming, whilst also tracking the uses and woody plant cover and composition of fields abandoned at different periods. The GIS analysis showed that field abandonment had been ongoing over several decades, with a decline from 12.5 % field cover in 1961 to 2.7 % in 2009. The area of forests and woodlands almost doubled in the corresponding period. There was a distinct peak in field abandonment during the time of political transition at the national level in the early 1990s. This political change led to a decrease in government support for livestock farming, which in turn resulted in reduced animal draught power at the household and community level, and hence reduced cropping. The study showed it is largely the wealthier households that have remained in arable agriculture and that the poorer households have abandoned farming. The abandoned fields show a distinct trend of increasing woody biomass and species richness with length of time since abandonment, with approximately three woody plant species added per decade. Most local respondents dislike the increases in forest and woodland extent and density because of anxiety about wild animals causing harm to crops and even humans, and the loss of an agricultural identity to livelihoods and the landscape.
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  • Date Issued: 2013

Land claims and the pursuit of co-management on four protected areas in South Africa

- Cundill, Georgina, Thondhlana, Gladman, Sisitka, Lawrence, Shackleton, Sheona E, Blorea, M

  • Authors: Cundill, Georgina , Thondhlana, Gladman , Sisitka, Lawrence , Shackleton, Sheona E , Blorea, M
  • Date: 2013
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391223 , vital:68632 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2013.05.016"
  • Description: Successful land claims on protected areas by previously disenfranchised communities often result in co-management agreements between claimant communities and state conservation agencies. South Africa, in particular, has pursued co-management as the desired outcome of land claims on its protected areas. We review four cases of co-management on protected areas in South Africa, and reflect on the appropriateness of the pursuit of co-management as the preferred outcome of land claims. Despite promises of pro-poor, democratically informed management, the practical experience of co-management has seen the continuation of the status quo in terms of conservation, with very few material benefits for claimant communities and limited sharing of responsibilities and decision-making functions. The findings underscore two deep challenges facing co-management in cases of land claims worldwide. First, during land claims negotiations in cases involving protected areas, the state cannot be expected to represent the best interests of its citizens (the land claimants), while simultaneously seeking to meet national and international obligations for protected area coverage. Second, the concept of democratic co-management may sit uncomfortably beside the realities of managing loss-making protected areas with ever-shrinking conservation budgets. Where co-management agreements have already been signed, ensuring that new landowners do indeed have a say in management should form the driving focus for co-management practice going forward.
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  • Date Issued: 2013
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