Environmental change in Riemvasmaak, Northern Cape, South Africa

The equilibrium model of rangeland management, stressing the importance of biotic feedbacks such as livestock density on vegetation composition, has recently been challenged by the concept of ‘systems at disequilibrium’.... [ view full abstract ]

The equilibrium model of rangeland management, stressing the importance of biotic feedbacks such as livestock density on vegetation composition, has recently been challenged by the concept of ‘systems at disequilibrium’. These systems at disequilibrium are thought to be driven mainly by stochastic abiotic factors such as variable rainfall, with numbers-suppressed livestock under unpredictable conditions having negligible feedback on vegetation. The 75,000 ha area of Riemvasmaak, located north of the Orange River within the Northern Cape Province represents an important case study in regards to livestock impacts upon arid rangelands at disequilibrium. As part of a ‘black spot’ removal program during apartheid, 1,500 Riemvasmaakers were moved off their land in 1974, and the area was left for twenty-one years without grazing pressure. In 1995, Riemvasmaak represented one of the first land restitution cases in post apartheid South Africa, marking the formal return of many Riemvasmaakers to the area.

This study follows upon an long-term environmental monitoring project set up in 1995 and revisited in 2005 and early 2015 to determine the impact of the returnees on the vegetation and ecology of the region. Hoffman and Todd (2010) in 2005 utilized a novel analysis of repeat photography in an ArcGIS environment in conjunction with detailed ecological surveys to provide a more robust and accessible qualitative and quantitative measure of environmental change. This current study built upon the methodology employed by Hoffman and Todd for ecological surveys and repeat photography analysis in an effort to further detail environmental change through additional survey methods and additional quantification of repeat photography results through the use of alternate techniques. This project also provided more refined understanding, through face-to-face qualitative interviews with farmers, of the socio-cultural-economic context of livestock production to assist in teasing apart causative factors of environmental change within the region.