534 research outputs found
Shackleton, Charles Michael (Distinguished Prof)
No full textDepartment of Environmental Science (2000-present) Charles Michael Shackleton ORCID 0000-0002-8489-61361 DST/NRF SARChI Chair for Interdisciplinary Science in land and Natural Resource Use for Sustainable Livelihoods (2013-present) Interdisciplinary Science in land and Natural Resource Use for Sustainable Livelihoods Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Senior Research Award 2014. Professor Charlie Shackleton Top 30 Researchers 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 </a
Agroforestry tree products (AFTPs): targeting poverty reduction and enhanced livelihoods
No full textAgroforestry tree domestication emerged as a farmer-driven, market-led process in the early 1990s and became an international initiative. A participatory approach now supplements the more traditional aspects of tree improvement, and is seen as an important strategy towards the Millennium Development Goals of eradicating poverty and hunger, promoting social equity and environmental sustainability. Considerable progress has been made towards the domestication of indigenous fruits and nuts in many villages in Cameroon and Nigeria. Vegetatively-propagated cultivars based on a sound knowledge of 'ideotypes' derived from an understanding of the tree-to-tree variation in many commercially important traits are being developed by farmers. These are being integrated into polycultural farming systems, especially the cocoa agroforests. Markets for Agroforestry Tree Products (AFTPs) are crucial for the adoption of agroforestry on a scale to have meaningful economic, social and environmental impacts. Important lessons have been learned in southern Africa from detailed studies of the commercialisation of AFTPs. These provide support for the wider acceptance of the role of domesticating indigenous trees in the promotion of enhanced livelihoods for poor farmers in the tropics. Policy guidelines have been developed in support of this sustainable rural development as an alternative strategy to those proposed in many other major development and conservation fora. <br/
Ruwanza & Shackleton Raw data
No full textExcel file with two folders. the first folder reports on the soil nutrients characteristics at each sample. The second folder reports on the plant dimensions per sample site. Each column has a descriptive header and the units are displayed
Timber and Non-timber Forest Product Extraction and Management in the Tropics: Towards Compatibility?
No full textTropical forests have the potential to satisfy multiple demands for goods and services. Yet integrated management approaches across multiple goods remain elusive. Here we consider selective harvesting of timber and non-timber forest product (NTFP) extraction. We analyze the current status of this combination and speculate on prospects and challenges regarding (1) resource inventory, (2) ecology and silviculture, (3) conflict in the use of multipurpose tree species, (4) wildlife conservation and use, (5) tenure, and (6) product certification. Convincing conclusions are hampered by the relative paucity of comprehensive studies and lessons learned on what has worked and what has not in the context of integrated management for timber and NTFPs. Interventions for enhancing the compatibility of timber and NTFP extraction must be scaled in relation to the size of the area being managed, applied timber harvesting intensities, and the dynamics of multiactor, forest partnerships (e.g., between the private sector and local communities). In addition, training and education issues may have to be recrafted with multiple-use management approaches inserted into tropical forestry curricula.Depto. de Biodiversidad, Ecología y EvoluciónFac. de Ciencias BiológicasTRUEpu
Invasion of Lantana into India : analysing introduction, spread, human adaptations and management
No full textObjectives and Research Questions
1. To reconstruct the history of invasion of Lantana in India
• from where, by who, and when was Lantana species introduced into India?
• given its long history in the country, is it still spreading or has it become more or less stable?
2. To study the human adaptation to Lantana invasion: socioeconomic causes and consequences of the use of Lantana as an alternative source of livelihood for forest dependent communities in southern India.
• how have local communities adapted to the invasion?
• what are the key determinants that may have driven communities to use Lantana?
• what are the economic consequences of the use of Lantana by local
communities?
3. To critically review local practices and forest policy for the management of Lantana in southern India.
• how has the use of Lantana by local communities impacted its local regeneration?
• does the use of Lantana in local context have implications for its management?
• what has been the role of the Forest Department and its policies in managing Lantana
Woody species composition and congregant appreciation of the cultural and spiritual services provided by cemeteries and church gardens in Grahamstown, South Africa
No full textUrbanization has increased rapidly throughout the world. The densification of urban areas has greatly reduced the number of natural areas occurring within the urban environment as well as impacting the ecosystem services that these areas provide. Urban greening and sustainable practices have been advocated as a means to once again provide the urban population with ecosystem services. Sacred natural areas that occur in surrounding forest, temple and cemetery sites have been known harbour a variety of biological diversity, as well as provide people with a number of cultural and spiritual benefits. Much of the literature on sacred natural sites comes from rural or eastern countries, leaving a large gap in the knowledge pertaining to information on these sites in both developed nations as well as urban areas. The aim of this study was to determine the abundance and composition of woody species, as well as the spiritual and cultural significance of sacred natural sites in Grahamstown. This study defined a sacred urban area as any form of garden surrounding a church, temple or mosque, as well as cemeteries. It looked at a total of 28 church gardens, one Hindu garden, one Mosque garden and five cemeteries in Grahamstown, South Africa. For each site the area was calculated and a tree and shrub inventory was done for all individuals above 1.5 m tall. Church/cemetery age, denomination and appearance were recorded as well as soil samples collected. An ordination of the data was done to summarize the community data, relating the community variation to environmental gradients. Questionnaires were completed by congregants who attended a religious building with a garden, as well as those that were not surrounded by a garden. These questionnaires were used to determine the cultural, spiritual and aesthetic value of trees and the sacred area, as well as the perceived and felt benefits that these areas provide. Those that were completed by congregants without gardens looked to find out whether or not it was believed that these areas would improve their experiences. There was an average plant density of 106.1 woody plants per hectare, with a total of 139 different species encountered. Of these, 56 percent were exotic species. This is slightly lower than that of studies done elsewhere in the world, but may be due to the omission of non-woody ornamentals and lawn species in this study. Of the top 11 most frequently occurring species, only two were indigenous. There was generally low similarity between plant assemblages found at the different sites. A significantly positive
relationship was found between site size and woody plant basal area as well as the total number of woody plants. Site age and religious denomination had little influence on woody plant density, basal area, species richness or woody plant abundance. Congregants stated that a garden surrounding a religious building improved both their spiritual and aesthetic experiences. Stated spiritual and aesthetic experience was significantly influenced by basal area, while abundance significantly influenced stated aesthetic experience. Greenery was therefore important to many of the congregants, however, the species that were present were less influential. A greater sample size from a variety of religions and sacred areas within urban environments throughout the world would prove to be an interesting comparison for future research
The relative contribution of non-timber forest products, agriculture and off-farm sources of income to rural households in Koloni and Guquka, Eastern Cape
No full text[Partial abstract]: This study was carried out to determine the contribution of non-timber forest products
(NTFPs) to household total income, other livelihood sectors were also examined
simultaneously. The contribution of agriculture involved livestock and crop production. Wages
and government grants were other livelihood sectors that were looked into. This study was
important in determining the change in livelihood strategies in the last decade and to quantify
the NTFPs used at the two sites. It was carried out in Guquka and Koloni, both part of the
central Eastern Cape. Information on direct use value of the NTFPs used, the quantities and
local price; crop production outputs and inputs and the costs. Data were collected via a
questionnaire
Natural resource use as a coping and adaptation strategy to floods of vulnerable populations in the Eastern Cape
No full textMany of the anticipated increased occurances of natural hazards are not only a consequence of climate change, but rather of rapid and widespread land cover change and the subsequent loss of the buffering capacity provided by healthy ecosystems against natural hazards. Unplanned and unmanaged developments in informal settlements limit government’s ability to mitigate and manage, pointing towards natural resources as being integral for vulnerable communities in developing countries to cope with and mitigate flood disasters. There is a lack of understanding on how natural resources contribute to resilience of vulnerable populations in the Eastern Cape and how they are impacted by these populations before, during and after a flood shock. There also exists a gap in knowledge on how natural resources can mitigate the physical impacts of flooding in South Africa, more so in the Eastern Cape province.
Using household questionnaires and GIS techniques, the strategies that households used to recover from the October 2012-February 2013 flood shocks were investigated in informal settlements of three towns (Grahamstown, Port Alfred and Port St Johns). Within the vulnerability paradigm and the sustainable livelihood framework, the study also quantified and evaluated the relative contribution of natural resources to recovery strategies, and lastly, the study investigated how patterns of land use, state of natural vegetation and household topographical location exacerbated or diminished the physical impacts of flooding.
This study found that natural resources contributed up to 70 percent to recovery of households from the flood shock, most of this being to reconstruction of housing structures after the flood, less so to economic recovery. It was also found that at a settlement scale the buffering effect of vegetation, although variable amongst settlements, was significant. Settlements that were dominated by dense bush and small trees experienced up to 46 percent less impacts on their property than those surrounded by bare gravel and impervious roofs with degraded environments. The main findings of the research show that natural resources reduce the vulnerability of households in informal settlements to flooding in two significant ways; by physically mitigating against damage to shelters and by also providing an emergency-net function that substitutes financial capital in households. Their inclusion in disaster management has the potential to encourage the sustainable livelihoods of the urban poor in the Eastern Cap
From the forest to the stomach: bushmeat consumption from rural to urban settings in Central Africa
No full textLivelihoods and natural resource use along the rural-urban continuum
No full textOver the last century, developing countries have undergone rapid urbanisation resulting in marked social, economic and environmental changes. Africa is the least urbanised continent in the world but trends indicate that it is also the most rapidly urbanising region, accompanied by rising urban poverty. Urbanisation processes are often most pronounced in smaller urban centres since they experience the most severe pressures of population growth. Little is known about the role natural resources play along the rural-urban continuum and even less is known about the contribution of these resources within an urban context, particularly in small urban centres. In many sub-Saharan African cities, urban agriculture (the informal production of food in urban areas) has been used as a strategy to cope with increasing poverty levels but its role remains widely debated and uncertain. This thesis seeks to analyse the impacts of urbanisation on livelihoods and natural resource use, including home gardening and the collection of wild resources, in two South African towns and data was collected along the rural-urban continuum in Queenstown (Eastern Cape province) and Phalaborwa (Limpopo Province). Practices and contributions associated with agriculture and wild resource use were found to be significantly higher in Phalaborwa and this could be attributed to favourable environmental conditions
and accessibility to wild resources due to the surrounding Mopani Bushveld. Rural households in Queenstown and Phalaborwa were more reliant on natural resources than their urban counterparts, but still diverse and incorporated a number of land-based and cash income generating strategies. Urban households tended to rely on one primary cash income strategy such as wage employment or state grants. However, natural resources did appear to play a subtle role in urban settings and particularly in the townships, where exclusion of natural resource contributions saw poverty levels increase up to 5%. Home gardening was practised by a wide range of people and not restricted to any one income group and, not surprisingly, wealthy cultivators who had access to resources such as land, water and fertilizer enjoyed increased benefits such as high produce yields. The results obtained suggest that rural-urban dynamics are complex and natural resource use in local livelihoods is contextualised within environmental settings, social preferences and historical contexts. Increasing pressures from the influx of people into small urban centres calls for a better understanding to how these processes are affecting livelihoods and natural resources to ensure sustainable management in the future
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