Developing sustainable landscapes in grasslands of South Africa
Full Solution
The EbA approach allows for improved rangelands and more productive cattle
Jacques van Rooyen
Conservation South Africa (CSA) conducted a vulnerability assessment for the Alfred Nzo District Municipality which includes EbA priority maps and a climate change response strategy. CSA is piloting EbA by working as an implementing partner with the Department of Environment Environmental Programmes to keep areas free of alien invasive species post clearing, using ecorangers, to assist with restoration and working with restoration and working with communal farmers on sustainable grazing management.
Last update: 21 Feb 2023
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Context
Challenges addressed
Some livestock owners do not comply with the village rotational grazing plans and therefore the sustainable land management practices.
The spread rate and infestation of the alien invasive species (wattle species) are higher than our current financial resources can support shortage of human resources to remove all the invasive species.
Insufficient budgets to maintain the cleared areas and to purchase vaccines which enhances livestock improvement.
Location
Alfred Nzo, Eastern Cape, South Africa
East and South Africa
Process
Building Blocks
National Climate change response policy enables local level implementation
Conservation SA has been actively involved in the development of national level vulnerability assessments and policy development related to climate change, this has enabled CSA to share lessons from their participatory processes with communities and from implementation at demonstration sites into national planning. This also guides the support we provide local government around mainstreaming of climate change. Through this national level policy development, we have seen how this policy can be an enabler for action on the ground and supports the Local Government to implement EbA.
Enabling factors
National level government willingness to learn from, engage with NGO sector and share lessons
National level stakeholder processes for policy development are adequate to allow for significant inputs from the local level to be provided
•Relationships between national government and NGO require trust and partnership building over time, where NGO can be seen as a trusted advisor
Lesson learned
Lessons from National policy:
•It is critical that national and local policy are aligned and that bottom up approaches allow for lessons from local communities and local government to guide the development of national policy which CSA (and other NGOs) are able to support.
•Providing platforms where communities and local government and national government can learn and share is critical
•National policy provides the mandate in which local government can work which enables us to be able to support implementation of EbA at a Local government level, although this mandate needs to be strengthened and resources provided to support it.
Vulnerability assessments and EbA priority maps integrated into local policy and planning that include an index for monitoring
CSA used the Lets Respond Toolkit and a facilitation resource they have developed to assist with the implementation of the toolkit in order to assist the Alfred Nzo District Municipality in mainstreaming climate change into their district and support the development of an enabling environment for EbA. CSA developed a Vulnerability assessment with the Alfred Nzo District Municipality which included ecological, social and institutional vulnerability to climate change. In the process the layers of vulnerability were translated into GIS and an overarching EbA priority map was developed which guides decision-making within the district. The VA also contains an index which is used to monitor the vulnerability over time.
CSA then also assisted the ANDM to develop a Climate Change Response Strategy guided by the VA and the maps in order to develop key adaptation (and mitigation) priorities of which EbA was part. It was critical to then integrate this plan within ANDM and the use of the ANDM climate change committee was integral to this as well as for the monitoring of vulnerability.
Enabling factors
Traditional leadership and municipality for planning; existent community of practice around NGO and restoration/conservation work at a catchment level such as the UCP-Programme: district level climate change committee which can assist in mainstreaming climate Change; National level 'Lets respond toolkit' for mainstreaming climate change at LG level support by by SA Local government association; tools and expertise to do VA, GIS EbA maps/ develop an index for monitoring
Lesson learned
Lessons from working with lets respond and mainstreaming into local policy and planning:
•Raising awareness about climate change and its likely impacts amongst local government decision-makers is really important – so they can see the relevance for their service delivery. It is difficult to address the unknown and usually much easier to address immediate needs and concerns (basic services), so linking climate change to existing activities, priorities, and budgets, and looking at what climate impacts might mean for these things, is really important and really possible. Another thing that helps is linking climate change to areas of responsibility in municipal planning and implementation that are already well understood. We need to mainstream climate change in a very strategic and targeted way into the key planning documents and management tools of the municipality, such as the IDP, and the various sector master plans.
Resources
Ecoranger programme and DEA land user incentive programme
The DEA NRM land user incentive programme, along with co finance from CSA donors, allows CSA to fund alien clearing in priority catchments. Eco rangers then employed to work with farmers, on rotation grazing, they control grazing of livestock and ensure rotational grazing is enforced. They keep areas alien free, they help protect cattle through mobile kraaling and also gather data on cattle and biodiversity and monitor veld condition and determine when an area needs to be closed from grazing. They also ensure compliance with rested areas and report those not compliant. They also ensure protection of biodiversity against poaching. Also ecorangers play a crucial role in ensuring that alien invasive plants do not come back and are responsible for pulling out seedlings that grow back. It is their responsibility as well to rehabilitate degraded areas where erosion dongas are beginning to appear. Incentives for land owners include not only ecorangers but also vaccinations and access to markets through auctions. Springs and streams that have dried started flowing again after these approaches have been implemented.
Enabling factors
•Traditional leadership as well municipality played a crucial role during implementation, without their support this would not have been successful
•A process of community mobilization around the importance of sustainable land management and catchment management
•Funding from DEA NRM for wattle clearing allowed rangelands to be made available
•Funding by DEA NRM and donor funding for rangelands management by ecorangers ensured non return of wattle as well as ensuring sustainable and product
Lesson learned
•Livestock condition improves within one year of this approach.
•Market access for rural communities makes a huge difference to livelihoods and their engagement in the programme.
•Wattle cleared areas have to be constantly monitored to ensure regrowth is combated.
•Community engagement has to be ongoing.
•Financial resources are very critical for the implementation of this EbA initiative due to poverty levels in these communities.
•Implementation work should be based on indigenus knowledge systems (assisted in the design of the rotational grazing patterns)
•The focus on rangelands for the benefit of rural livestock was critical.
•Improving benefit of broader community through redmeat market access was key in order to get buyin from the broader community.
Resources
Impacts
1) Communities have more access to water due to the removal of alien invasive species, and wetland and spring restoration/conservation. Women are travelling much shorter distances to fetch water compared to before. This reduced the number of incidents where women and children were being attacked and raped while walking through wattle jungle.
2) Farmers are more resilient as they have access to rangeland that can be grazed which was previously under alien vegetation, as well as by engaging in sustainable land management practices their livestock are more productive with better grazing lands.
3) Community engagements created a platform for elderly people to share indigenous knowledge with the younger people.
4) Farmers livelihoods are enhanced as their livestock are more productive and they have better access to markets.
5) Carbon sequestration below soils is a benefit of the approach but not being measured at present.
6) The river system is less susceptible to soil erosion and siltation of dams. There is a great sense of community engagement and ownership due to the direct benefits.
7) Health of the livestock has improved, diseases are being combatted and abattoirs are happier to buy cattle from communal areas due to vaccination interventions.
8) Enhanced biodiversity protection through removal of alien invasive and introduction of rotational grazing and resting.
Beneficiaries
employment for wattle removal and keeping areas free from infestation; ecorangers to help communities manage their stock; livestock owners who benefit from good grazing in wattle cleared areas; broader community through water resources protection
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 6 – Clean water and sanitation
SDG 13 – Climate action
Story
Head woman for one of the villages able to allocate land
The EbA approach involves alien invasive wattle removal to assist in improving water quantity and quality in the area as well as improving access to rangeland whilst preventing erosion and siltation of dams. The approach also includes employment of ecorangers who assist in supporting farmers with protection of cattle, rotational grazing practices etc This process ensures sustainable water supply as well as more sustainable rangelands and enhanced livestock production. Conservation SA engagement also provides for improved access to markets through auctions for cattle sales.
At Mabheleni village, which is one of the sites where Conservation SA is working in Mvenyane in the Eastern Cape, families such Mr Bongani Maqashalala had lost finding graves of their loved ones that had been swallowed up by wattle species. Through this clearing, they now have access and can visit these graves once more.
Other benefits to the Mvenyane communities is for those such as Mr Arthur Leisa Sello of Motseng who was not making income from their livestock is now along with others having access to livestock auctions through our intervention. Traditional authorities such as that of Mvenyane at Nkawulweni and Mabheleni are now able to allocate site for new homesteads in areas that were previously infested and impossible to demarcate for settlement.
