The effectiveness of biosphere reserve as a tool for sustainable natural resource management in Vhembe District Municipality, Limpopo Province, South Africa

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.