Browsing by Author "Ntshotsho, Phumza"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    Enhancing the resilience of rural communities to climate change through comprehensive catchment management: A case study of groundwater-dependent communities in two catchment areas in South Africa
    (2024-03) Loza, J; Chueu, K; Cindi, DD; Gola, NP; Mubangizi, BC; Ntshotsho, Phumza
    With its significant rural population, South Africa faces pressing water challenges, including shortages, ecological degradation, and pollution. These challenges are particularly problematic in rural areas due to infrastructure deficits, weak municipal finances, and low-density settlement patterns. In this context, springs are a crucial water resource for communities. This paper reports on a study to identify existing governance structures and processes for groundwater management. The study also investigated the vulnerabilities of communities dependent on groundwater for their water supply. It explored rural communities’ adaptation strategies to ensure equitable, inclusive, and sustainable groundwater availability and management outcomes. The study focused on the Okhahlamba Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal and the Matatiele Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape. A pragmatic paradigm, which incorporates both qualitative and quantitative approaches to yield robust insights, was employed in the research. The study highlighted the role of land practices, invasive alien plant species, and waste disposal practices in determining water quality. The study found that the municipalities in the study area lack adequate spring protection strategies. Traditional leaders were found to play a crucial role in rural landscape governance. Springs hold socio-cultural significance beyond water provision, emphasising the need for holistic approaches to spring protection. Innovative strategies are needed to address the evolving challenges to groundwater supply while ensuring cultural sensitivity, improved governance, and sustainable groundwater management practices. A multifaceted approach is recommended to enhance groundwater management and spring protection in rural areas, such as integrating spring protection plans into municipal Integrated Development Plans (IDPs). It is vital that continuous coordination and collaboration with all stakeholders, including traditional leaders and NGOs, be established to accommodate the cultural dimensions of community use of local springs.
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    Flood hazards in a changing world: Challenges and opportunities in the Garden Route
    (2022-07) Smith-Adao, Lindie B; Blanchard, R; Kotzee, Ilse M; Le Maitre, D; Ntshotsho, Phumza; Audouin, Michelle A; Forsyth, G; Walters, M
    In its 2022 Global Risks Report, the World Economic Forum states that environmental concerns dominate the top five long-term risks (in terms of likelihood) with three of them also being among the top five in terms of impact. Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, as well as climate action and adaptation failure and extreme weather are highlighted as the top three environmental risks over the next ten years. Anthropogenic environmental disasters, natural disasters and water crises are expected to have significant impacts on economic stability and social cohesion over the next decade (World Economic Forum (WEF), 2022).
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    A framework to evaluate land degradation and restoration responses for improved planning and decision-making
    (Taylor & Francis Online, 2019-12) Pandit, R; Parrotta, JA; Chaudhary, AK; Karlen, DL; Vieira, DLM; Anker, Y; Chen, R; Morris, J; Harris, J; Ntshotsho, Phumza
    Avoiding, reducing or reversing land degradation will require increased restoration investments, carefully targeted and implemented to maximize environmental, economic and social benefits. Our objective was to develop a multi-criteria framework to assess effectiveness of land degradation responses for enhanced land use planning and restoration by evaluating both direct biophysical and socio-economic responses and indirect effects of various restoration strategies. The effectiveness of restoration responses is demonstrated for degraded forestland using a comprehensive literature review and case study in Nepal. The results show that most forestland restoration responses have an ecological focus with tree planting being the dominant direct response and economic and financial instruments the indirect responses. The results confirmed that environmental desirability was the dominant factor and economic feasibility was secondary for assessing restoration responses. Cultural acceptability was given the least consideration. Among sub-criteria, improved vegetative structure was the dominant restoration response. This study, originating from the Land Degradation and Restoration Assessment of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, supports the view that the scientific community and decision-makers must give greater attention to cultural, social, technical, and political dimensions that influence the outcomes of restoration responses to solve the pervasive problem of land degradation.
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    Identifying Challenges to Building an Evidence Base for Restoration Practice
    (MDPI, 2015-11) Ntshotsho, Phumza; Esler, KJ; Reyers, B
    Global acknowledgement of ecological restoration, as an important tool to complement conservation efforts, requires an effort to increase the effectiveness of restoration interventions. Evidence-based practice is purported to promote effectiveness. A central tenet of this approach is decision making that is based on evidence, not intuition. Evidence can be generated experimentally and in practice but needs to be linked to baseline information collection, clear goals and monitoring of impact. In this paper, we report on a survey conducted to assess practitioners’ perceptions of the evidence generated in restoration practice in South Africa, as well as challenges encountered in building this evidence base. Contrary to a recent assessment of this evidence base which found weaknesses, respondents viewed it as adequate and cited few obstacles to its development. Obstacles cited were mostly associated with planning and resource availability. We suggest that the disparity between practitioners’ perceptions and observed weaknesses in the evidence base could be a challenge in advancing evidence-based restoration. We explore opportunities to overcome this disparity as well as the obstacles listed by practitioners. These opportunities involve a shift from practitioners as users of scientific knowledge and evidence, to practitioners involved in the co-production of evidence needed to increase the effectiveness of restoration interventions.
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    Making the most of South Africa’s natural capital
    (2008-11) Reyers, B; Van Wilgen, BW; Nel, JL; Le Maitre, David C; O'Farrell, Patrick J; Wise, R; Forsyth, GG; Smith-Adao, Lindie B; Ntshotsho, Phumza; Egoh, Benis N
    Human actions have fundamentally changed the way the world’s ecosystems look and function. Our efforts to produce more food, fibre, and fuel, control our water supplies and protect ourselves from the elements (e.g. storms or predators) have resulted in significant improvements in the global aggregate of human wellbeing (e.g. income, life expectancies, food supplied). On the flip side, these efforts to “domesticate” ecosystems have resulted in significant declines in the diversity of life on earth, otherwise known as biodiversity. In fact the last 50 years have witnessed the most rapid changes in biodiversity in human history (MA 2005a), including: large-scale conversion of natural habitat (e.g. forests) to other land uses (e.g. cropland), declines in species populations across the world, and species extinction rates 1000 times the typical rate over Earth’s history. While these declines were traditionally only the concern of the conservation community and the wealthy elite, it is now evident that biodiversity is not just a nicety to be admired in national parks and television documentaries. It underpins the wellbeing of all humans (rich, poor, urban or rural) by supporting what are called ecosystem services: the benefits that humans get from nature (Daily 1997). These benefits include products like food and water, as well as services like flood and disease control, climate regulation, and cultural, spiritual and recreational benefits (Figure 1). They are linked in a variety of ways to components of human wellbeing, ranging from basic material for a good life, through to freedoms and choices (MA 2003; Figure 1)
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    Nature-based Solutions for Climate Adaptation
    (2024) Davies, Sarah J; Ntshotsho, Phumza
    Nature-based solutions include ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change. True ecosystem-based adaptation encompasses the following: Helps people adapt to climate change; Uses biodiversity and ecosystems as part of the solution and is part of a broader adaptation strategy.
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    No evidence-based restoration without a sound evidence base: a reply to Guldemond et al.
    (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012-03) Ntshotsho, Phumza; Reyers, B; Esler, KJ
    Evidence-based practice is not possible without an evidence base. Guldemond et al. confuse our attempt at assessing the status of the evidence base of restoration programs in South Africa with attempting to assess whether restoration is evidence-based. While we fully agree with them that there is a need to assess whether practitioners use evidence in their decision-making, we assert that use of evidence is the last step in the evidence-based approach. It is preceded by the generation (and documentation) of evidence through baseline condition assessment, proper goal setting, sound monitoring of the impacts of the chosen intervention as well as effective dissemination of resulting evidence. To answer the question whether restoration is evidence-based would require the assessment of all stages from generation to use. We chose to start at the beginning, a logical place to start.
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    Responses to halt land degradation and to restore degraded land
    (IPBES, 2018-03) Pandit, R; Parrota, J; Anker, Y; Coudel, E; Diaz Morejón, CF; Harris, J; Karlen, DL; Kertész, A; Mariño De Posada, JL; Ntshotsho, Phumza
    The most cost-effective approach to reduce land degradation in the long run is to follow the adage “prevention is better than cure” (well established) {6.3.1, 6.3.2, 6.4.2}. The economic consequences of land degradation are significant. For example, a study of fourteen Latin American countries estimated annual losses due to desertification at 8-14% of agricultural gross domestic products (AGDP), while another study estimated the global cost of desertification at 1-10% of annual AGDP. Across all biomes, estimates of the ecosystem service values lost due to land degradation and conversion range from $4.3 to $20.2 trillion per year. In a global study that considered values of forests for wood, non-wood products, carbon sequestration, recreation and passive uses, it was estimated that the projected degradation and land-use change would reduce the value of these forest ecosystem services by $1,180 trillion over a 50-year period, between 2000 to 2050 {6.4.2.3}. However, a broad range of sustainable land management, soil and water conservation practices, and nature-based solutions, have been effective in avoiding land degradation in many parts of the world (well established) {6.3.1, 6.3.2}. For example, agroecology, conservation agriculture, agroforestry and sustainable forest management can successfully avoid land degradation, while enhancing the provision of a range of ecosystem services (well established) {6.3.1.1, 6.3.2.3}. Many of these same techniques and measures can also be used to restore degraded lands, but may be more costly than their use for avoiding land degradation (well established) {6.3.1, 6.3.2}.
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    Two decades of fighting aliens: exploring Working for Water successes
    (CSIR, 2015-10) Ntshotsho, Phumza
    Ntshotsho and her colleagues sought to verify and characterise success in government’s efforts to restore degraded ecosystems through invasive alien plant management. Invasive alien plants pose a significant threat to South Africa’s biodiversity and human well-being. Through its Working for Water programme, the Department of Environmental Affairs is tackling the problem head-on. The programme was specifically set up in 1995 to manage invasive alien plants and provide employment to marginalised sectors of society. Many areas that were once badly infested by these plants have now been successfully cleared. Examples of projects that have been successful, are presented, together with managerial and operational factors critical for success. This is necessary for the optimisation of the programme’s future operations.