Browsing by Author "Rahlao, Sebataolo"

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    An assessment of land degradation and alien plants invasion in the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve, Limpopo Province
    (2022) Mokubedi, Lucia Macheba; Meadows, Michael, Jonas, Zuziwe; Rahlao, Sebataolo
    Land degradation and invasion by alien plants are interconnecting issues that span both natural and socio-economic systems. As a result, addressing the complexity and severity of these pressures requires the use of a multidisciplinary approach. This study aims to assess land degradation and invasive alien plants distribution and their impacts on the ecosystem services within the WBR. An area outside the reserve was designated as a control to compare how degradation processes have evolved over the last few decades. Landsat images captured in 1989, 2000, 2013, and 2017 were used to analyse and map the land use/cover change. The images were classified into the following classes: water bodies, woody vegetation, grasslands, cultivated fields, bare lands, and settlements. Change detection performed between the years showed that the area outside the WBR has been losing grasslands and woody vegetation and gained more bare lands, cultivated fields, and settlements. On the contrary, the area within the WBR lost a significant amount of bare land and gained grasslands, woody vegetation, and a small amount of cultivated fields and settlements. The roadside survey was used to assess the distribution of invasive alien plants along the main roads in the selected areas. A single observer drive-by method was used to record the alien plants present at an interval of 5 km. To understand how the communities are being influenced by land degradation and alien plants invasion, focus group discussions were held to understand how their livelihoods are affected. Four important indicators, namely vegetation loss, land-use intensity, alien plants distribution, and population pressure, were overlaid using ArcMap 10.1 to determine the land degradation severity in both study areas. The results revealed that land degradation was severe outside the WBR, where most human activities occur, regardless of population pressure and alien plant distribution. These issues were intensifying with profound, severe implications for people's livelihoods, as land is the leading resource from which communities, both within and outside the WBR, eke their living. The WBR experienced land recovery following the proclamation of the area as a formal biosphere reserve by UNESCO, which has constrained the harmful impact of human activities. Reversing degradation and invasion by alien plant species requires sustainable land use and planning based on the current land-use practices and landscape attributes. Therefore, integrating local and scientific knowledge is helpful in the planning of sustainable and efficient land management.
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    Energy, water and climate change in Southern Africa: what are the issues that need further investment and research?
    (Energy Research Centre, University of Cape Town., 2012) Prasad, Gisela; Boulle, Michael; Boyd, Anya; Rahlao, Sebataolo; Wlokas, Holle; Yaholnitsky, Ivan
    Regional climate change projections in Southern Africa, based on GCMs comparing 2080-2099 to 1980-1999, indicate that global warming will most likely lead to greater than the global annual mean temperatures for all seasons, 3.1°C for summer warming and 3.4°C for winter warming (Christensen et al, 2007). Warming in Southern Africa will lead to increasing rainfall intensities, decreasing frequencies of low intensity (soft soaking) rainfall and longer dry period between rainfall events. This will result in more severe draughts, floods and heatwaves, which will lead to greater food insecurity. In historic times, draughts and floods had already major impacts on Southern African populations. Around 1200 to 1500, droughts led people to abandon settlements in the Kalahari Desert. The Lifaqane wars, starting in about 1815, were characterized by a 25-year period of famine and violent conflict between peoples in Southern Africa. During the 1991-1992 draught, 20 million people in the region (15% of SADC population) needed food relief (Dejene et al 2011). Many parts of Southern Africa face two critical resource constraints on development, namely energy and water. Energy and water are closely linked at different levels and scales. Water drives the turbines of hydroelectric power plants. Processing of coal and cooling in thermal and nuclear power plants requires water and energy is required to lift, treat and distribute water. Even at the household level, we observe water-energy linkages. When using water-saving showerheads, for example, we not only save water, but also electricity for heating the water. This complex interconnection is called the water-energy nexus. At the same time, coal-based power plants emit large amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change and climate variability which then leads to floods and droughts. In times of drought little water flows into hydroelectric dams, affecting electricity generation. For rural communities the greater frequencies and severity of droughts and floods caused by climate change leads not only to crop failure and subsequent hunger but also interferes with water supply technologies when, for example, the water levels in boreholes rise or fall beyond the specification of the pump. Thus climate change critically impacts the water-energy nexus. The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Canada commissioned the Energy Research Centre (ERC) at the University of Cape Town to assess the water-energy nexus in the context of climate change. ‘The goal of the exploratory project is to analyse the way energy and water services can be combined and improved to enhance resilience and adaptive capacity of communities to climate variability and change’. After an introduction to the water-energy nexus in Southern Africa (Chapter 1) and a brief review of the four countries studied as well as climate change scenarios for the Southern African region (Chapter 2), the study reports on the following four major research topics identified by the Southern African team: 1. The state of integrated planning of water and energy resources in the context of climate change (Chapter 3). 2. Opportunities and barriers for renewable energy technologies for rural water services in Namibia, Botswana and Mozambique (Chapters 4 and 5). 3. The water-energy nexus in policies of South Africa (Chapter 6). 4. An investigation of water supply adaptation technologies and strategies in a case study from Lesotho (Chapter 7). The assessment is based on secondary data through a cross-disciplinary desktop study, discussions with experts and two workshops. The countries covered in this report are Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, and South Africa.
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    Long-term vegetation change in the Succulent Karoo, South Africa following 67 years of rest from grazing
    (2005) Rahlao, Sebataolo; Hoffman, Timm
    Changes in species richness and vegetation composition in the diverse semi arid Succulent Karoo vegetation of South Africa were investigated after 67 • (1937-2004) years of rest from grazing at the Worcester Veld Reserve. Vegetation change in 70 plots at this 75 ha site was assessed using multi variate ordination techniques. Changes in plant communities on termitaria sites were consistently greater than for adjacent off-termitaria sites and the north-facing slopes changed more than the south-facing slopes. There was a higher increase in diversity on off-termitaria than termitaria sites. On termitaria sites there was a general decrease in stem succulents, particularly Euphorbia mauretanica and an increase in long-lived evegreen shrubs such as Pteronia incana and Asparagus suaveo/ens. Most sites changed in a similar direction primarily determined by their association with termitaria and secondarily with .. aspect. These findings suggest a predictable and directional replacement sequence under changing disturbance (grazing) regimes in a semi-arid region.
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    South Africa's national REDD+ initiative: assessing the potential of the forestry sector on climate change mitigation
    (Elsevier, 2012) Rahlao, Sebataolo; Mantlana, Brian; Winkler, Harald; Knowles, Tony
    Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+) is regarded by its proponents as one of the more efficient and cost effective ways to mitigate climate change. There was further progress toward the implementation of this mechanism at the 16th Conference of Parties (COP) in Cancun in December 2010. Many countries in southern African, including South Africa, have not been integrated (do not participate) into the UN-REDD+ programme, probably due to their low forest cover and national rates of deforestation. This paper discusses the potential contribution of REDD+ activities to the South African Government's pledge of reducing national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 34% below business as usual by 2020. A number of issues such as complex land tenure system, limited forest cover and other conflicting environmental issues present challenges for REDD+ in South Africa. Despite these genuine concerns, REDD+ remains a practical strategy to contribute to climate change mitigation for South Africa. The paper raises the need for development of a variety of emission reduction programmes – not only in the energy sector. The paper also assesses several national options and opportunities towards a working REDD+ mechanism. It concludes by identifying key mechanisms for moving forward to prepare for REDD+ actions in South Africa and raises the urgent need for national dialogue between stakeholders and institutions to evaluate the feasibility of making use of the mechanism in South Africa and the Southern African Development Cooperation (SADC) region. The paper further addresses possible synergies and conflicts between the national climate change and forestry policies towards REDD+ development. It suggests that REDD+ should be part of the national dialogue on policy to respond to climate change and should be integrated into the national flagship programmes that the national climate change white paper seeks to implement. A multiple-benefit REDD+ initiative for South Africa can benefit from these international financial initiatives. It is anticipated that this initiative will provide a platform to enhance policy, institutional and technical stakeholder capacities to access financial incentives that may lead to sound environmental practises.
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    South African approaches to measuring, reporting and verifying: a scoping report
    (University of Cape Town. Energy Research Centre, 2012) Boyd, Anya; Rennkamp, Britta; Winkler, Harald; Larmour, Richard; Letete, Thapelo; Rahlao, Sebataolo; Trikam, Ajay
    The South African government announced its intention to make emissions data reporting mandatory for emitters of more than a 0.1Mt of greenhouse gases per year in the 2011 National Climate Change Response White Paper. The government intends to establish a ‘climate change response monitoring and evaluation system’, that ‘evolves with international measuring, reporting and verification (MRV) requirements.’ MRV is one of the key topics in the international climate negotiations to create trust and legitimacy. This report presents a mapping exercise of South African approaches to MRV. Research shows that a lot of databases and collections exist already, particularly in the emissions intensive energy sector. However, there is no coherent overall approach to the management of these data. Coordination is necessary for a comprehensive system. Government needs to lead this process ensuring the participation of all departments. It will be necessary to build on the existing structures and capacities to achieve the commitments in the White Paper. Three case studies present existing approaches to GHG reporting, besides the overall scoping. This scoping report is the result from the first phase of the Measurement and Performance Tracking Project that the World Resource Institute conducts in cooperation with the German Ministry for Environment and the Energy Research Centre.
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    Uganda and REDD+: Is it worth getting involved from a socio-economic perspective?
    (2012) Lutalo, Proscovia; Rahlao, Sebataolo
    Anthropogenic (human caused) climate change is a major global issue because of the effects of climate change, which include increased frequency of drought, floods, erratic and/or insufficient rainfall, waterborne diseases; as well as related consequences such as water shortages, forest fires and loss of biodiversity. It is therefore imperative that there be a global effort to mitigate climate change in order to limit these potentially disastrous effects. Deforestation and forest degradation, principally in the tropics, cause approximately 12 percent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Therefore, one method to mitigate climate change is to address reducing GHG emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries," also known as REDD+, is, at its core, a financial incentives based strategy that aims to compensate national governments, sub-national actors, private project developers and/or local communities, in return for demonstrable reductions in carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and enhancements of terrestrial carbon stocks. REDD+ also focuses on building capacity for developing countries to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development. Uganda is one of the developing countries that has shown enthusiasm for REDD+ and has actively engaged in REDD+ readiness activities. However, REDD+ readiness activities are costly due to various institutional capacity requirements that may pose a significant challenge to Uganda. The question posed by the study is whether Uganda's involvement in REDD+ is likely to result in net economic benefits for the country. The study aims to determine whether, in the absence of direct evidence of the success of the REDD+ mechanism in any country, Uganda's economic benefits from REDD+ are still expected to exceed the costs of implementation. Social benefits are an additional incentive however, even a combination of both economic and social benefits may not be reason enough for a country to become a REDD+ country, especially if alternative land uses are more lucrative or costs are too high. The methodology used is largely qualitative and theoretical, except for the economic analysis which is quantitative. The outcome of the study is that while there is insufficient evidence to suggest that Uganda will not benefit overall from being involved with REDD+, the feasibility study of the potential REDD+ project in the Murchison-Semkili landscape showed that, at least in that project area, the economic benefits were unlikely to cover both the implementation and opportunity costs in the long term. This does raise a legitimate concern that REDD+ might not result in net economic benefits for Uganda. Even though the economic benefits of Uganda's involvement in REDD+ are uncertain, the mechanism is still expected to result in social benefits, such as improved livelihoods in terms of service delivery; increased efficiency and accountability of government and governmental institutions; and increased public consultation and participation. There are, however, risks to Uganda's successful implementation of REDD+ such as unspecified donor funding, which may not be forthcoming, and the lack of clarity surrounding global compliance carbon markets. Uganda still has much to do in order to build the required institutional capacity for REDD+ to be successful, especially with regard to increasing the effectiveness of the institutions that manage the country's forests. Uganda also needs to reduce some of the drivers of deforestation in the country through programmes that target poverty alleviation and improve agricultural practices. In terms of REDD+ specifically, Uganda needs to complete the development of a National REDD+ Strategy, secure adequate funding for the mechanism, and accelerate the development of REDD+ pilot activities, which are currently in the planning phase. Further research is needed on determining the total value of Uganda's forests, taking into account economic, environmental and social considerations. Research is also needed on the impact successful REDD+ pilot activities have had in other comparable countries.