Kgaphola, Motsoko JRamoelo, AOdindi, JMwenge Kahinda, Jean-MarcSeetal, Ashwin RMusvoto, Constansia D2023-07-202023-07-202023-05Kgaphola, M.J., Ramoelo, A., Odindi, J., Mwenge Kahinda, J., Seetal, A.R. & Musvoto, C.D. 2023. Impact of land use and land cover change on land degradation in rural semi-arid South Africa: Case of the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality. <i>Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 195(710).</i> http://hdl.handle.net/10204/128930167-63691573-2959https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11104-0http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12893In semi-arid regions, interactions between biophysical and socio-economic variables are complex. Such interactions and their respective variables significantly alter land use and land cover, degrade landscape’s structure, and impede the efficacy of the adopted land management interventions. This scenario is particularly prevalent in communal land tenure system or areas managed by a hybrid of traditional and state led institutions. Hence, this study sought to investigate the impacts of land use and land cover changes (LULCCs) on land degradation (LD) under communal rural districts, and the key drivers of habitat fragmentation in the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality (GSDM), South Africa. The study used the wet and dry season multi-temporal remotely sensed image data, key-informant interviews, and workshop with tribal council to determine the major drivers of LULCC and LD. Results revealed that mines and quarries, subsistence and commercial cultivation, and thicket/dense bush LULCs declined significantly during the study period. These LULCs mostly declined in wet season, with loss in vegetation cover highly prevalent. Specifically, the highest conversions were from shrub/grassland to bare soil, thicket/dense bush to shrub/grassland, and shrub/grassland to residential, respectively. Generally, LULCC affected vegetation productivity within the study area, with increased negative NDVI values observed during the dry season. The findings from key informants and the tribal council workshop emphasized that soil erosion, abandonment of cropland, and injudicious land use (i.e. overgrazing and consequent bush encroachment) have severely degraded the land. The study also established that the degrading land can be attributed to the weakening local communal land management system, particularly the weakening tribal councils. The study recommends an urgent need for collaborative (i.e. government, tribal authorities, and land users) land management through designing relevant multi-stakeholder LD mitigation measures.FulltextenLand use and land cover changesLULCCsGreater Sekhukhune District MunicipalityLand degradationArticleKgaphola, M. J., Ramoelo, A., Odindi, J., Mwenge Kahinda, J., Seetal, A. R., & Musvoto, C. D. (2023). Impact of land use and land cover change on land degradation in rural semi-arid South Africa: Case of the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality. <i>Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 195(710)</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12893Kgaphola, Motsoko J, A Ramoelo, J Odindi, Jean-Marc Mwenge Kahinda, Ashwin R Seetal, and Constansia D Musvoto "Impact of land use and land cover change on land degradation in rural semi-arid South Africa: Case of the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality." <i>Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 195(710)</i> (2023) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12893Kgaphola MJ, Ramoelo A, Odindi J, Mwenge Kahinda J, Seetal AR, Musvoto CD. Impact of land use and land cover change on land degradation in rural semi-arid South Africa: Case of the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 195(710). 2023; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12893.TY - Article AU - Kgaphola, Motsoko J AU - Ramoelo, A AU - Odindi, J AU - Mwenge Kahinda, Jean-Marc AU - Seetal, Ashwin R AU - Musvoto, Constansia D AB - In semi-arid regions, interactions between biophysical and socio-economic variables are complex. Such interactions and their respective variables significantly alter land use and land cover, degrade landscape’s structure, and impede the efficacy of the adopted land management interventions. This scenario is particularly prevalent in communal land tenure system or areas managed by a hybrid of traditional and state led institutions. Hence, this study sought to investigate the impacts of land use and land cover changes (LULCCs) on land degradation (LD) under communal rural districts, and the key drivers of habitat fragmentation in the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality (GSDM), South Africa. The study used the wet and dry season multi-temporal remotely sensed image data, key-informant interviews, and workshop with tribal council to determine the major drivers of LULCC and LD. Results revealed that mines and quarries, subsistence and commercial cultivation, and thicket/dense bush LULCs declined significantly during the study period. These LULCs mostly declined in wet season, with loss in vegetation cover highly prevalent. Specifically, the highest conversions were from shrub/grassland to bare soil, thicket/dense bush to shrub/grassland, and shrub/grassland to residential, respectively. Generally, LULCC affected vegetation productivity within the study area, with increased negative NDVI values observed during the dry season. The findings from key informants and the tribal council workshop emphasized that soil erosion, abandonment of cropland, and injudicious land use (i.e. overgrazing and consequent bush encroachment) have severely degraded the land. The study also established that the degrading land can be attributed to the weakening local communal land management system, particularly the weakening tribal councils. The study recommends an urgent need for collaborative (i.e. government, tribal authorities, and land users) land management through designing relevant multi-stakeholder LD mitigation measures. DA - 2023-05 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR J1 - Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 195(710) KW - Land use and land cover changes KW - LULCCs KW - Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality KW - Land degradation LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2023 SM - 0167-6369 SM - 1573-2959 T1 - Impact of land use and land cover change on land degradation in rural semi-arid South Africa: Case of the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality TI - Impact of land use and land cover change on land degradation in rural semi-arid South Africa: Case of the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12893 ER -37541