Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
this is that adult men often migrate to the big cities in search of employment. Agricul-
tural activities, such as cattle and goat keeping and subsistence crop production, play
an important role in the local economy. Only 20 percent of people older than twenty
have completed secondary school, and 64 percent have had no schooling at all or else
completed just a few years of primary school education. Unemployment is estimated
at 60 percent, and only 2 percent of the population earns more than US$100 per
month (Demarcation Board 2003).
Restoration Activities Near Giyani
The ARISE project near Giyani used several different techniques to restore patches of
degraded land, including the following:
1. In discussion with the tribal council, five patches of land, varying in size from
59 to 203 acres (24 to 82 ha), and totaling 628 acres (254 ha), were set aside to
be fenced in and declared off limits from further utilization for the duration of
the project. This passive form of restoration was intended to control fuelwood
collection and livestock grazing, to provide pioneer plants an opportunity to
colonize and establish, and to initiate revegetation through ecological succes-
sion. The return of vegetation cover was expected to reduce the likelihood of
surface erosion and allow tree and shrub seedlings to grow, provided sufficient
seeds were available nearby.
2. A 164-foot (50-m) buffer zone was established on both sides of the Klein
Letaba River. It was not fenced in. Erosion gullies were repaired in this zone
using gabions constructed with wire and stones collected near the restoration
sites. These gabions were constructed in both the fenced-in restoration sites
(see item 1) and the buffer zone. Gabions varied in size from 25 cubic feet to
318 cubic feet (0.7 to 9 m
3
).
3. Furrows were made in soil denuded of all vegetation and then fertilized with
cow and/or elephant dung (from elephants that escaped from the adjacent
Kruger National Park) to enrich soils and promote vegetation recovery. This
was done in both the fenced-in restoration sites and the buffer zone.
4. Seedlings of fifty species, but mainly twenty-seven so-called useful indigenous
tree species, were propagated from seed collected locally. Usefulness was de-
fined as species that can contribute to food, fodder, shade, or other amenity or
use value. During the last six months of operation, the ARISE nursery pro-
duced 1,694 trees per month. This resulted in a stock of 7,957 trees at the end
of the project in March 2007. Between January 2007 and March 2007, workers
transplanted 654 saplings in the fenced-in restoration sites. Since the project
came to a standstill on April 1, 2007, no further transplantation was done, and
we have no information about the survival of the transplanted saplings.
All activities were carried out by village members with support from the local tra-
ditional leadership, and guidance from an informed restoration manager.
