Linking Farmer Knowledge and Biophysical Data to Evaluate Actions for Land Degradation Mitigation in Savanna Rangelands of the Molopo, South Africa

Linking Farmer Knowledge and Biophysical Data to Evaluate Actions for Land Degradation Mitigation in Savanna Rangelands of the Molopo, South Africa

The over-utilization of semi-arid savanna rangelands in the North-West Province of South Africa has resulted in profound habitat transformations. A common regional indicator of rangeland deterioration is the imbalance in the grass:woody ratio characterized by a loss of grass cover with increased shrub or tree density. This can result in profound reductions of rangeland productivity forcing farmers to apply active or passive actions to improve rangeland condition to mitigate economic losses. This study forms part of the multinational EU-project PRACTICE (Prevention and Restoration Actions to Combat Desertification: An Integrated Assessment) and aims to evaluate locally applied restoration and management actions using a participatory approach. Actions included rotational grazing, chemical control of woody species and re-vegetation with grasses, and were evaluated by common and site-specific indicators suggested by the farming community. Members of an identified multi-stakeholder platform ranked these indicators according to their relative importance, and results were combined with biophysical measurements for each indicator in a multi-criteria decision analysis. Preliminary results showed rotational grazing management and re-vegetation actions perform equally well in maintaining and restoring an open savanna with a high forage production, followed by selective shrub control. This type of participatory assessment helps to identify best practices, but there is still an urgent need to create legal policy frameworks and institution-building to support local-level implementation in all socio-ecological and economic settings, particularly in communal areas.