Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to contribute towards a better understanding of the
effectiveness of Biosphere Reserve as a tool in managing natural resources in the Vhembe
District Municipality (VDM), Limpopo Province of South Africa. There are limited
documented materials for a better understanding of the effectiveness of Biosphere
Reserve (BR) as a tool in managing natural resources in the Vhembe District Municipality
(VDM). As a result, this study was undertaken to bridge this gap and to discover new
insights to assist in understanding the effectiveness of BR as a tool in managing natural
resources.
This study adopted a pragmatic research approach, which is a mixture of the qualitative
and quantitative research approaches, wherein data were collected using primary and
secondary sources. Both primary and secondary data were used, in order to obtain
information concerning the effectiveness of biosphere reserve in the study area. Primary
data were obtained using a combination of methods, including participatory rural appraisal
(PRA) tools and techniques, and informal and formal surveys. The secondary data was
collected from desk-based examination of relevant documentation relating to conservation
of the Biosphere Reserves areas. The documents included previous reports from Greenest
Municipality Competition (GMC) results for all local municipalities from 2012 to 2017,
Management Effective Tracking Tool (METT-SA) from 2016 to 2018, and previous research
data on conservation.
The results obtained revealed that Biosphere Reserve (BR) is an effective tool for the
conservation of natural resources within Vhembe District, South Africa. This is because
natural resources are taken into consideration when there are developments and projects
being undertaken. Furthermore, the communities in Vhembe District Municipality benefit
from the programmes and projects aimed at conserving natural resources within the VBR.
The study also revealed that there are environmental challenges within the Vhembe
Biosphere Reserve due to mining activities, climate change, developments in natural
resources and deforestation, which require the enforcement of by-laws and programmes
and projects aimed at conserving natural resources.
