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Communal Lands (communal + land)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Life Sciences	54%
Humanities and Social Sciences	36%

Selected Abstracts

Diet of free-ranging domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) in rural Zimbabwe: implications for wild scavengers on the periphery of wildlife reserves

ANIMAL CONSERVATION, Issue 1 2002
J. R. A. Butler
Numbers of free-ranging dogs (Canis familiaris) have reached unprecedented levels in Zimbabwean communal lands (agropastoralist rural areas). This study examined the potential competitive interactions between dogs and wild scavengers on the boundary of Gokwe Communal Land (GCL) and the Sengwa Wildlife Research Area (SWRA) in 1995,96. Dietary studies showed that dogs were primarily scavengers of human waste and animal carcasses. Twelve experimental carcasses indicated that dogs were the most successful species in the vertebrate scavenger guild, consuming 60% of available biomass and finding 66.7% of carcasses. Dogs monopolized the supply of domestic animal carrion within GCL, but also consumed wild carrion up to 1 km within the SWRA, and were seen 3 km inside the reserve. Their principal competitors for carcasses were vultures, and to a lesser degree lions (Panthera leo), leopards (P. pardus) and spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta). Dogs outcompete vultures on wildlife reserve boundaries owing to their high densities, nocturnal and diurnal activity, physical dominance and greater tolerance of human disturbance. With a population growth rate of 6.5% per annum the influence of dogs will intensify on the peripheries of reserves, exacerbating their existing threat to wild scavengers. This scenario is probably occurring in many other African countries. [source]

Gender, Traditional Authority, and the Politics of Rural Reform in South Africa

DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 4 2002
Haripriya Rangan
The new South African Constitution, together with later policies and legislation, affirm a commitment to gender rights that is incompatible with the formal recognition afforded to unelected traditional authorities. This contradiction is particularly evident in the case of land reform in many rural areas, where women's right of access to land is denied through the practice of customary law. This article illustrates the ways in which these constitutional contradictions play out with particular intensity in the ,former homelands' through the example of a conflict over land use in Buffelspruit, Mpumalanga province. There, a number of women who had been granted informal access to communal land for the purposes of subsistence cultivation had their rights revoked by the traditional authority. Despite desperate protests, they continue to be marginalized in terms of access to land, while their male counterparts appropriate communal land for commercial farming and cattle grazing. Drawing on this protest, we argue that current South African practice in relation to the pressing issue of gender equity in land reform represents a politics of accommodation and evasion that tends to reinforce gender biases in rural development, and in so doing, undermines the prospects for genuinely radical transformation of the instituted geographies and institutionalized practices bequeathed by the apartheid regime. [source]

Liberation regimes and land reform in Africa.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2007
Land politics transcending enmity in South Africa
Abstract Truthfulness, the norm of science, is etymologically related to trust. Both concepts are related to ,tree', as a symbol for grounded knowledge, for differentiation (the tree of knowledge), for uprightness and reliability (Searle, 1995). Truthfulness generates trust. Trust generates community. The land politics and trust project in South Africa (Askvik and Bak, 2005) investigated how trust relations intervened within and between government institutions engaged in redistribution and management of land. It enquired into trust relations between the land state and stakeholders in land. It assessed how the new ANC-controlled state intervened into the relation between market-oriented urban industry and subsistence-oriented livelihoods on communal land. Could that intervention explain the slow pace of land redistribution? The field work was done in the Northern and the Western Cape provinces. A hypothesis is that unconditional personal trust across institutional boundaries is a condition for post-colonial, post-liberation community building. In 2001, aspects of political democracy were in place. Trust relations between government institutions and to stakeholders in land varied, but were limited. Trusted mediators between the institutions, across cultures, were few and far apart. Subsistence-oriented livelihoods on communal land were there to be transformed to commercial farming. The three-step Government strategy, growth in the urban economy, commercialisation of rural subsistence production and rural welfare from the urban surplus, augmented separation, disbelief and distrust. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Changes in population biology of two succulent shrubs along a grazing gradient

JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2003
Corinna Riginos
Summary 1Heavy livestock grazing in Namaqualand, South Africa, is threatening the region's unique diversity of succulent shrubs. This is especially true in the communally managed lands, where grazing is centred around fixed enclosures (stockposts) in which animals stay overnight. In this study we set out to determine the effects of a semi-permanent stockpost on the composition of the surrounding vegetation and the mechanisms by which grazing limits the persistence of leaf-succulent shrub populations. 2We used the grazing gradient created by a stockpost to examine the impacts of grazing on vegetation composition and changes in mortality, reproductive output and seedling establishment for the leaf-succulent species Ruschia robusta and Cheiridopsis denticulata. 3Vegetation composition was found to change from a community dominated by the unpalatable shrub Galenia africana at high grazing intensities to a community dominated by the palatable leaf-succulent shrub R. robusta at lower grazing intensities. 4Mortality of the leaf-succulents R. robusta and C. denticulata was high at the sites closest to the stockpost, while fruit production and seedling germination were substantially reduced over distances of 800 m and 2 km for the two species, respectively. Seedling establishment was not limited by either grazing or microsite availability. Thus reduction in reproductive output is the greatest impact of heavy grazing on these two species. 5Synthesis and applications. This study demonstrates that marked zonation in vegetation composition and population biology can develop around a fixed stockpost and that the greatest impact of grazing on the two leaf-succulent species studied is the suppression of flower and fruit production. Consistent suppression of reproductive output could have long-term consequences for the persistence of succulent shrub populations in the heavily grazed communal lands of Namaqualand. We recommend that (i) herders should be encouraged to relocate their stockposts regularly to prevent the development of centres of degradation, and (ii) areas should be relieved periodically of all grazing pressure to allow for successful seed set of native shrubs. [source]

Participatory wildlife surveys in communal lands: a case study from Simanjiro, Tanzania

AFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2010
Fortunata U. Msoffe
Abstract It is widely accepted that protected areas alone are not sufficient to conserve wildlife populations particularly for migratory or wide-ranging species. In this study, we assess the population density of migratory species in the Tarangire,Simanjiro Ecosystem by conducting a ground census using DISTANCE sampling. We focus on the Simanjiro Plains which are used as a dispersal area by wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) and zebra (Equus burchellii). We demonstrate that DISTANCE sampling can provide precise estimates of population density and is an affordable method for monitoring wildlife populations over time. We stress the importance of involving local communities in monitoring programmes across landscapes that incorporate communal lands as well as protected areas. Résumé On reconnaît généralement que les aires protégées ne suffisent pas, seules, à préserver les populations de faune sauvage, particulièrement celles d'espèces migratrices ou très largement distribuées. Dans cette étude, nous évaluons la densité de population d'espèces migratrices de l'Ecosystème Tarangire-Simanjiro en réalisant un recensement au sol recourant à l'échantillonnage par distance. Nous nous concentrons sur les plaines de Simanjiro qui sont utilisées comme aire de dispersion des gnous Connochaetes taurinus et des zèbres Equus burchellii. Nous montrons que l'échantillonnage par distance peut donner des estimations précises de la densité d'une population et que c'est une méthode accessible pour suivre des populations sauvages dans le temps. Nous soulignons l'importance d'impliquer les communautés locales dans les programmes de suivi, dans des paysages qui intègrent des terres publiques aussi bien que des aires protégées. [source]

Evaluation of the effectiveness of an early peripheral burning strategy in controlling wild fires in north-western Zimbabwe

AFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2009
Isaac Mapaure
Abstract A review of the occurrence of wild fires in Sengwa Wildlife Research Area (SWRA), Zimbabwe, is presented for the period 1965,1993. The effectiveness and desirability of early burning of peripheral areas introduced in 1979 are evaluated. More than 75% of wild fires occurred between July and October, 48.6% of which originated from communal lands. Early burning of peripheral areas led to significant reductions in extent of areas burnt, from annual mean areas of 115 km2 (1965,1978) to 11 km2 (1979,1993) because of effective control of fires, which originated from communal lands. Some areas did not burn at all after 1979, and the overall probability of burning dropped from 0.484 to 0.187. Whilst it may be desirable to keep fires out of SWRA in the short term, fuel build-ups increase the fire hazard resulting in negative consequences on biodiversity in the long term. Consideration should be given to combine peripheral burning with low-intensity prescribed burning of selected blocks to keep a semblance of natural fire regimes to ensure the maintenance of biodiversity while simultaneously reducing the fire-hazard. An integrated fire management plan should be put in place for SWRA. Résumé Ici est passée en revue l'occurrence de feux sauvages dans l'Aire de recherche sur la faune sauvage de Sengwa (SWRA), au Zimbabwe, pour la période 1965,1993. L'efficacité et l'opportunité des feux précoces des zones périphériques, introduits en 1979, sont aussi évaluées. Plus de 75% des feux sauvages avaient lieu entre juillet et octobre, dont 48,6% trouvaient leur origine dans des terres communales. Le brûlage précoce des zones périphériques a conduit à des réductions significatives des superficies brûlées, qui sont passées d'une moyenne annuelle de 115 km2 (1965,1978) à 11 km2 (1979,1993) grâce au contrôle efficace des feux qui commençaient dans les terres communales. Certaines zones n'avaient pas brûlé du tout depuis 1979, et la probabilité globale de brûler a chuté de 0,484 à 0,187. S'il est, à court terme, souhaitable de préserver la SWRA contre les feux, l'accumulation de matières combustibles augmente les risques de feux qui pourraient avoir, à long terme, des conséquences négatives sur la biodiversité. Il faudrait envisager de combiner les feux en périphérie avec des feux programmés, de faible intensité, de certains blocs sélectionnés, pour conserver un semblant de régime naturel de feux et ainsi garantir le maintien de la biodiversité tout en réduisant les risques de feux. Il faudrait instaurer un plan de gestion des feux pour la SWRA. [source]

Diet of free-ranging domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) in rural Zimbabwe: implications for wild scavengers on the periphery of wildlife reserves

Bounding the Commons: Land Demarcation in Northeastern Nicaragua

BULLETIN OF LATIN AMERICAN RESEARCH, Issue 3 2009
MARY FINLEY-BROOK
In north-eastern Nicaragua, territorial titling of communal lands conflates particular notions of ethnicity with proprietary conceptions of space to generate new forms of conflict within and between indigenous and black communities, and with mestizo migrants. Notions of rights between competing groups, or within conflicting normative frameworks, become increasingly polemic during demarcation. While analysis of three land titling case studies demonstrates that results are socially contingent and place based, trends include: (a) power disparities; (b) tension between ,traditional' and ,modern' patterns of land tenure and resource rights; and (c) contradictions fed by international conservation agendas and neoliberal economic reforms. Combining critical actor-based analysis with practical policy critique our work illuminates how contestations over the bounding of communal territories contribute to social injustice. [source]

Land-use and cover changes (1988,2002) around budongo forest reserve, NW Uganda: implications for forest and woodland sustainability

LAND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2008
E. N. Mwavu
Abstract Land-use and cover changes around Budongo Forest Reserve (BFR) were analysed from multi-temporal LandSat images (1988 and 2002) and associated field-based studies in 2003,2004. Three major land-use and cover classes: forest/woodland, sugarcane plantations and grassland/shifting-cultivation/settlements were clearly discriminated. The area under sugarcane cultivation increased over 17-fold, from 690,ha in 1988 to 12729,ha in 2002, with a concomitant loss of about 4680,ha (8·2 per cent) of forest/woodland, mainly on the southern boundary of BFR. Land-use and cover changes were a result of (a) agricultural expansion, (b) increasing human population, exacerbated by large influxes of refugees, (c) conflicts of interest and political interference in the management of BFR and (d) unclear land tenure. Agriculture is the main land-use practice and source of income to local people, with commercial sugarcane and tobacco as the primary cash crops. Individual smallholder sugarcane plantations covered distances ranging from 30 to 1440,m along the BFR edge, with no buffer zone, resulting in direct conflicts between farmers and forest wild animals. There is an ever-increasing need for more land for agricultural expansion, resulting in continued loss of forest/woodland on private/communal lands and encroachment into BFR. This unsustainable agricultural expansion and the local people's perception of BFR as an obstacle to agriculture, threatens the conservation of its threatened wild plants (e.g. Raphia farinifera) and the endangered chimpanzees. Therefore, their sustainable management for both development and conservation will require strong and incorruptible institutions that will seek a balance between resource exploitation and conservation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]