Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences
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Browsing Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences by Subject "333.73130968257"
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Item Open Access An assessment of the impacts of land use changes on the Duthuni wetland stream using remote sensing, GIS and social surveying: a case study in Limpopo Province, South Africa(2017-09-18) Nephawe, Mbavhalelo; Nethengwe, N. S.; Sinthumule, N. I.This is a case study research that focuses on the assessment of the impacts of land use changes on the Duthuni wetland ecosystem in Limpopo Province using geospatial techniques and Social Survey. SPOT 4 satellite images which covered the time frame between 1999, 2005 to 2012, were used. The unit of analysis included different institutions such as the local municipality, farmers, the heads of the households and Chief of the Village. In this study, different methods of sampling were used in different context for selecting participants and for sample size determination. The different instruments for data collection included the questionnaires, interviews, focus group interviews and documents review. Socio-economic survey and review of documents were carried out to understand historical trends, collect ground truth and other secondary information required. Data collected from the survey were captured and analysed using the Statistical Package for Scientific Solutions (SPSS). For quantitative analysis, Chi-Square and cross tabulation were employed in SPSS. Analysis of satellite imagery was accomplished through integrated use of ERDAS Imagine (version 2015) and ArcGIS (version 10.1) software package. The themes were identified and analysed using the content analysis based on the main research topics. The results show that the land use/ cover changes have occurred at an unprecedented rate over the years 1999 to 2012. From the year 1999 to the year 2012, the total land use/ cover conversions equal to 299.984 ha of land. The trend and spatial extent of land use/ cover changes had undergone considerable changes over the years in the study period. The major contributing factors included population increase, expansion of agriculture and lack of space to settle. The residential area was found to be the major factor contributing to land use change over the years with an increase of (102.87ha.). People residing in Duthuni village especially along the wetland ecosystem consist of the majority of female-headed households. There is no proper facilitation and mentoring in the village by the government in order to resolve social problems when it comes to land use change. Water pollution and soil erosion were found to be the major concern by wetland users such as farmers and residents. Lack of knowledge has also been identified as one of the driving factors of environmental impacts of land use change in the area. Food was the most resources with 41% which the community gets from the wetland.Item Open Access Impacts of Land Management on Water Resources in the Crocodile River Catchment, Mpumalanga(2022-07-15) Nkosi, Mary; Mathivha, F. I.; Odiyo, J. O.Land use/land cover (LULC) have a “cause and effect” relationship with the hydrology of catchment areas. The Crocodile River Catchment (CRC) has been reported to be fully utilised and at its limit. Due to its ecological and socio-economic importance, it is therefore imperative to quantify the changes in the river’s water resources. Using remote sensing (RS), QSWAT and Quantum GIS (QGIS) this study analysed and evaluated the long-term effects of LULC changes on the hydrology of the CRC between 1981 and 2020. LULC was classified into 8 major classes (cultivation land, forest plantation, water, grassland, built-up areas, bush/savannah and natural forest) for 1980/81, 2000/01 and 2020 to demonstrate the changes in land-use for the past 40 years. The study found that natural forests and grassland decreased by 12.8% and 1%, respectively. There was an increase in cultivated lands, forest plantations and built-up by 2.5%, 3.1% and 2.3%, respectively. Built-up areas, cultivated lands and forest plantations were identified as the major land-use activities and the hotspots for these were further mapped and analysed per quaternary catchment. The overall NDVI value for all LULC ranged between -0.3 and 0.9. The LULC maps were used as input data to the QSWAT model to evaluate LULC impacts on water resources. The model performance evaluation showed an NSE value between 0.41 to 0.79, PBIAS -4.44 to 44.7 and RSR 0.54 to 0.75 between simulated and the observed streamflow. For this study, these findings on model performance showed acceptable results. The results further showed a decreasing trend in streamflow from1981-2020. The decreasing trends were attributed to the increase in forest plantation and cultivation with built-up areas found to have minimum impacts on the catchment’s hydrological response because they occupied a small percentage of the catchment. The distribution of ET and surface runoff also varied with the LULC, however, climate was shown to have an influence on streamflow and the distribution of LULC in the catchment area, thus affecting the hydrological regime.Item Open Access A study of land use conflicts in Mapungubwe area(2018-09-21) Ratshivhadelo, Tshimangadzo; Sinthumule, N. I.; Nelwamondo, T.This study uses lens to understand conflict over the use of land and its resources in the Mapungubwe area. The main underlying assumption of the study is that various land use activities that are not compatible with each other lead to land use conflict. The aim of the study is to assess land use conflict in the Mapungubwe area. In particular, the study intends to find out the historical and contemporary land-use conflict, compare and contrast the historical conservation objectives with the current conservation objectives in the Mapungubwe area, find out the reasons that made farmers to oppose conservation objectives now and in the 1940s and to investigate the effects of historical and contemporary land use conflict in the Mapungubwe area. In order to achieve these objectives, primary and secondary data were collected. Secondary data that was used included historical documents about Mapungubwe, Hansards or House of Assembly debates of South Africa from 1940 to 1948, newspapers articles, books and journal articles. Secondary data were used to find out the historical land use conflict that took place in the Mapungubwe area. Primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews with private game farmers, commercial irrigation farmers, farm workers (former and current), Mapungubwe National Park officials and land claimants. Field observations were used to corroborate information collected through interviews. Primary data were collected in order to find out the contemporary land use conflict taking place in the Mapungubwe area. The main findings of this study are that land use conflict in Mapungubwe area is not new; rather it started in the 1940s when the United Party government intended to establish the Dongola Wildlife Sanctuary. However, the idea of a wildlife sanctuary led to land use conflict, particularly between farmers and the ruling United Party government. In other words, land use conflict was mainly among conservationists (who were members of United Party) and farmers. Unfortunately, the idea of a wildlife sanctuary in the Mapungubwe area was caught up in political battles between the governing United Party and the opposition National Party that eventually led to its abandonment following the electoral victory of the National Party in the general elections of 1948. The study also found that the contemporary Mapungubwe is also affected by land use conflict. The conflict is mainly because of various land use activities including irrigation farming, game farming, mining, settlement, and land claims that are not compatible with conservation. Land use activities including irrigation and ii game farming, settlement and mining are happening within and around Mapungubwe National Park. This has made it difficult to consolidate the core area of Mapungubwe National Park. As a result, although Mapungubwe National Park has been established in 1995, the park remains fragmented. This study has used Mapungubwe as a case study to demonstrate that the interest over land and its resources in an area by various stakeholders create land use conflict.