Decision analysis to inform invasive alien plant management in the Garden Route Biosphere Reserve

Invasive alien plants (IAP) pose significant threats to global economies and biodiversity and are often considered as wicked problems. With an increasing number of IAP and limited resources, their management and decision-making processes are becoming difficult because of uncertainty, multiple and conflicting objectives, and diverse stakeholder views, facts and values. This is particularly challenging given the complex interactions between economic, ecological, and social elements that exist in invaded areas. Consequently, it is important to incorporate new ways of thinking and novel methodologies to improve our understanding of IAP management and the decision-making processes around them, which are currently inadequate. Decision analysis can help with dealing with these challenges and support decision-making under uncertainty. Drawing on the systems thinking approach and the concepts of leverage points, transition management and transformational change, the aim of this thesis was to explore the effectiveness of IAP management and the decision-making process in the Garden Route Biosphere Reserve (GRBR). This was achieved using a mixed methods approach involving: social-ecological inventory (identifying relevant stakeholders); review of literature on the available decision support tools; key informant interviews (stakeholder perspectives on the current decision-making process); and stakeholder workshop and expert consultation (casual loop modelling). The results of this thesis provide evidence that application of the proposed principles of robust decision-making has the potential to overcome the weaknesses of the current decision-making process and as such, enables decision-makers to efficiently allocate resources towards IAS management. A novel causal loop diagram (CLD) was developed to highlight the interconnections between key variables in IAP management and decision-making. This revealed that to transcend ‘policy resistance’ and ‘quickfixes that fail’ archetypes, and improve IAP management, the stakeholders need to consider deep leverage points, for example, fostering trust and shared understanding among different stakeholder groups. These can be realistically maintained over the long-term and can cause a fundamental change in IAP management, rather than focusing on shallow leverage points that are relatively easy to implement but do not result in significant systemic change. The findings of this thesis are flexible and could guide various stakeholder groups at local, national, and international scales in improving the effectiveness of IAP management and decision-making

Linking livelihood and ecosystem change in two dryland sites in Southern Africa over a period of 30 years

The ongoing and rapid change (from global to local level) in climate, populations, governments, cultures, environment, land use and economies are critical issues, especially for poor rural communities found in the dryland parts of southern Africa. The manifestations of change can combine to increase rural livelihood vulnerability, through the erosion of assets and insecurity, but can at the same time create new opportunities. Studies that consider the complex nature of change across scales and how it affects changes in livelihoods, ecosystems and responses at local level, are increasingly needed. This study, carried out in two purposefully selected study sites in the communal drylands of south-eastern Zimbabwe (Marwendo village) and Limpopo province in South Africa (Tshivhulani village), examined the complex nature of change across scales by assessing the way in which change at the global scale results in localised trends, shocks and stressors, and its impacts on livelihoods and ecosystems and responses over the past 30 years. The study applies social-ecological system thinking in understanding human-environment change. Particular emphasis was put on the role of social protection and natural resources in responding to change, shocks and stressors. The study employed a mixed method approach to gather data which included a household survey, life history interviews, transect walks, focus group discussions as well as secondary sources of information. The results of the study illustrate that shocks and stressors are common in both villages and are likely to increase in severity and frequency with ongoing and rapid human-environmental change, especially climate change. The local responses to change, shocks and stressors are primarily reactive and mainly intensify exploitation of existing natural resources and social protection as safety-nets. In Marwendo village, the villagers relied more on the use and sale of natural resource products readily available to them, whereas in Tshivhulani village they mainly tend to rely on social grants. Thus, in the future, households’ vulnerability might increase, and may be worse in Marwendo village, since important components of current livelihoods remain natural resource-based and climate sensitive. In Tshivhulani village, livelihoods characterised by high dependence on social grants can have severe consequences for households as children get older or elderly members die and grants cease to be available. Social grants therefore only really offer a temporary relief. This coupled with environmentally destructive practices such as brick-moulding in Marwendo village and uncontrolled settlements in Tshivhulani village may reinforce the negative impacts of change and thus undermine sustainable adaptation. The study concludes that multiple lenses for understanding the links between livelihood and ecosystem vulnerability in the context of the ongoing and rapid change are essential, and these provide insights into how different policy options for livelihood improvement and social protection might be appropriate for reducing household and ecosystem vulnerabilities in the future

Decision analysis to inform invasive alien plant management in the Garden Route Biosphere Reserve

Invasive alien plants (IAP) pose significant threats to global economies and biodiversity and are often considered as wicked problems. With an increasing number of IAP and limited resources, their management and decision-making processes are becoming difficult because of uncertainty, multiple and conflicting objectives, and diverse stakeholder views, facts and values. This is particularly challenging given the complex interactions between economic, ecological, and social elements that exist in invaded areas. Consequently, it is important to incorporate new ways of thinking and novel methodologies to improve our understanding of IAP management and the decision-making processes around them, which are currently inadequate. Decision analysis can help with dealing with these challenges and support decision-making under uncertainty. Drawing on the systems thinking approach and the concepts of leverage points, transition management and transformational change, the aim of this thesis was to explore the effectiveness of IAP management and the decision-making process in the Garden Route Biosphere Reserve (GRBR). This was achieved using a mixed methods approach involving: social-ecological inventory (identifying relevant stakeholders); review of literature on the available decision support tools; key informant interviews (stakeholder perspectives on the current decision-making process); and stakeholder workshop and expert consultation (casual loop modelling). The results of this thesis provide evidence that application of the proposed principles of robust decision-making has the potential to overcome the weaknesses of the current decision-making process and as such, enables decision-makers to efficiently allocate resources towards IAS management. A novel causal loop diagram (CLD) was developed to highlight the interconnections between key variables in IAP management and decision-making. This revealed that to transcend ‘policy resistance’ and ‘quickfixes that fail’ archetypes, and improve IAP management, the stakeholders need to consider deep leverage points, for example, fostering trust and shared understanding among different stakeholder groups. These can be realistically maintained over the long-term and can cause a fundamental change in IAP management, rather than focusing on shallow leverage points that are relatively easy to implement but do not result in significant systemic change. The findings of this thesis are flexible and could guide various stakeholder groups at local, national, and international scales in improving the effectiveness of IAP management and decision-making

Exploring Long-Term Livelihood and Landscape Change in Two Semi-Arid Sites in Southern Africa: Drivers and Consequences for Social–Ecological Vulnerability

This paper investigates the drivers and dynamics of livelihood and landscape change over a 30-year period in two sites in the communal drylands of Zimbabwe (Marwendo) and South Africa (Tshivuhulani). Of particular interest to us was how access to social protection and a wider range of options may mitigate increased vulnerability under a changing climate. A mixed methods approach (using household surveys, focus group discussions, life history interviews, transect walks and secondary sources of data) was applied to develop human–environment timelines for each study site. Findings indicate that prolonged periods of droughts, unreliable rainfall, changing socioeconomic policies and development-related projects were among the major drivers of both positive and negative change in both villages. Marwendo, in particular, experienced a suite of negative drivers in the last 10 years that increased vulnerability and forced households to diversify into potentially maladaptive activities. In contrast, the expansion in social grants in Tshivhulani provided an important safety net that reduced vulnerability, but also led to a decline in farming and a narrowing of livelihood activities for some households. We demonstrate that rural development initiatives such as electrification and road construction can strengthen local people’s capacity to respond to drivers of change, while new methods of farming and diversification of the livelihood portfolio can make them more climate-resilient. However, long-term changes in landscapes and ecosystem services and feedbacks on livelihoods could reverse some of the benefits of development by eroding the natural capital many households still depend on

Is awareness on plastic pollution being raised in schools? Understanding perceptions of primary and secondary school educators

Plastic pollution is a major global issue and its impacts on ecosystems and socioeconomic sectors lack comprehensive understanding. The integration of plastics issues into the educational system of both primary and secondary schools has often been overlooked, especially in Africa, presenting a major challenge to environmental awareness. Owing to the importance of early age awareness, this study aims to investigate whether plastic pollution issues are being integrated into South African primary and secondary education school curriculums. Using face-to-face interviews with senior educators, we address this research problem by investigating (i) the extent to which teachers cover components of plastic pollution, and (ii) educator understandings of plastic pollution within terrestrial and aquatic environments. The results indicate that plastic pollution has been integrated into the school curriculum in technology, natural science, geography, life science, life skills and life orientation subjects. However, there was a lack of integration of management practices for plastics littering, especially in secondary schools, and understanding of dangers among different habitat types. This highlights the need for better educational awareness on the plastic pollution problem at both primary and secondary school level, with increased environmental programs needed to educate schools on management practices and impact