Outcomes
With increasing demand for land restitution it is anticipated that there will be increased loss of natural habitats and, with it, potential loss of biodiversity. Land will certainly be more intensively utilized and hospitable environments outside formal conservation areas will come under increasing pressure for food production. Conservation and food production can, however, be successfully combined with community involvement. Abandonment of biased assistance schemes will facilitate this process. Reassessment and redirection of research and technology objectives will ensure more equitable availability of the rangeland research expertise in this country, and result in credible, improved management practices to help ensure sustainable utilisation. If a concerted effort is made at all levels to address the problems of land degradation, it can be anticipated that there will be a reduction in acidified, saline, polluted, eroded and otherwise degraded soils. If efforts to increase soil organic matter, such as conservation tillage are expanded, this will be accompanied by considerable chemical, physical and biological benefits. Effective land-use planning, with optimal resource allocation, would minimize habitat loss and maintain biodiversity.
The success of programmes such as Working for Water and LandCare will also have an extremely positive impact. With balanced attention to the needs of both the commercial and communal sectors, through research, extension and education, as well as a renewed focus on conservation in general, the sustainability of terrestrial ecosystems can be ensured. Continued efforts by nature conservation authorities to involve local communities in management and sharing of the benefits of conservation areas will reform the attitudes which resulted from the exclusionist policies of the past, and will contribute to greater understanding and ownership of natural resources.
Significant loss of species with potentially important medicinal and cultural value, and rare species endemic to South Africa can also be prevented if the responses above are implemented.
The plantation forest industry appears to have matured in South Africa, in several different ways. Expansion of plantation has slowed, and may not add more than 10% of the current area over the next decade or so. Adjustments are being made to its area, to meet environmental standards. More adjustments may arise to meet the requirements of the National Water Act, especially since all forests are to be licensed within the next year or so (Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, personal communication). The industry has moved into a phase of continuous environmental improvement within transparent environmental management systems. It is focusing on maximising the benefits derived from resources consumed, through productivity improvements among other things. In this it is supported by government policy, which is designed to guide development principally through stakeholder-driven agreement on strategies for improved sustainability in a competitive industry.
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There is also information about Terrestrial Ecosystems in the following reports:
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Metropolitan reports:
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Affairs and Tourism. All Rights Reserved.
Site maintained by the Directorate Environmental Information and Reporting
Last update: October 1999
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