community buy-in) to redress the chronic livestock holding system on communal communal land. High communal land. High land and overcome stock mortality with stock mortality with mortality. reduced rainfall. reduced rainfall. Commercial farm Commercial farm Commercial farm livestock would be livestock (inc. game) livestock (inc. game) under less pressure if under strong pressure. under strong pressure. Govt. could advise farmers on stocking rate monitor and control stocking. Conclusions and Recommendations This paper has reviewed major land cover transformation in Limpopo; has attempted to identify major pressure elements within transformation categories; and has evaluated trends. At the same time various scenarios covering degrees of Limpopo Government support have been suggested. A lot of the information in this paper refers to the agricultural sector and the reason for this is that – not only does farming account for 90% of land coverage, but it is the land use category that reveals the biggest changes over a 24 year time span reviewed. Within this category, specific land use pressure points that would particularly be exacerbated by climate change have been identified. These priority aspects and recommendations for their mitigation are summarised in the following table: Table 7: Recommended key action areas to minimise land transformation identified Discussion Action required for priority action General grazing a) Ascertain veld type areas and Although difficult to calculate because establish carrying capacities by type of the absence of spatial livestock nos. and state of veld. within spatial veld types, indications are that average carrying rate is a high (b) Implement a control mechanism to 8.7ha/lsu. This excludes game counts balance stock with sustainable grazing which would intensify carrying rates. resource. Communal grazing Communal grazing, supporting a Overgrazing and grazing c) Communal grazing pressure just has livestock holding system, indicates an capacity to be alleviated as it is totally even higher carrying capacity of inadequate. That would take political 4.7ha/lsu. This reflects the totally courage, community participation and inadequate area for communal technical skill. But an answer has to be livestock resulting in severe found environmental degradation. Diminishing Grasslands . Because of apparent overstocking, 40000ha of Grasslands are transforming every year.
communal land. High stock mortality with reduced rainfall. Commercial farm livestock (inc. game) under strong pressure. communal land. High stock mortality with reduced rainfall. Commercial farm livestock (inc. game) under strong pressure. community buy-in) to redress the chronic livestock holding system on communal land and overcome mortality. Commercial farm livestock would be under less pressure if Govt. could advise farmers on stocking rate monitor and control stocking. Conclusions and Recommendations This paper has reviewed major land cover transformation in Limpopo; has attempted to identify major pressure elements within transformation categories; and has evaluated trends. At the same time various scenarios covering degrees of Limpopo Government support have been suggested. A lot of the information in this paper refers to the agricultural sector – and the reason for this is that not only does farming account for 90% of land coverage, but it is the land use category that reveals the biggest changes over a 24 year time span reviewed. Within this category, specific land use pressure points that would particularly be exacerbated by climate change have been identified. These priority aspects and recommendations for their mitigation are summarised in the following table: Table 7: Recommended key action areas to minimise land transformation identified for priority action Discussion Action required Overgrazing and grazing capacity General grazing Although difficult to calculate because of the absence of spatial livestock nos. within spatial veld types, indications are that average carrying rate is a high 8.7ha/lsu. This excludes game counts which would intensify carrying rates. Communal grazing Communal grazing, supporting a livestock holding system, indicates an even higher carrying capacity of 4.7ha/lsu. This reflects the totally inadequate area for communal livestock resulting in severe environmental degradation. Diminishing Grasslands Because of apparent overstocking, 40000ha of Grasslands are transforming every year. a) Ascertain veld type areas and establish carrying capacities by type and state of veld. (b) Implement a control mechanism to balance stock with sustainable grazing resource. c) Communal grazing pressure just has to be alleviated as it is totally inadequate. That would take political courage, community participation and technical skill. But an answer has to be found .
2%20LEO%201st%20DRAFT%20Chapter%202%20Land%20and%20Transformation%2020151209_0.docx