Assessment of veld utilisation practices and veld condition in the Little Karoo

[摘要] The veld condition in the Little Karoo is in various states of degradation and grazingby domestic livestock is considered as the major anthropogenic force that changedthe landscape. This region with its extremely rich plant species diversity andendemics, has supported small livestock for at least 2 000 years, and sincecolonization (250 years ago) been intensively used for the production of a variety oflivestock. Ostrich production developed as the major source of income for thisregion.The first part of this study investigates the current veld management practicesemployed by livestock farmers in the Little Karoo region. Recommended veldmanagement practices considered in this study are grazing rotation, moderate stockingrate control, moderate veld utilisation, separation of ecotopes, veld rehabilitation,controlling declared weeds and alien vegetation and regular assessment of veldcondition. One hundred randomly selected farmers were personally interviewed bymeans of a structured questionnaire. Questions were grouped into the followingcategories: (a) demography of farmers, (b) ostrich farming, (c) perceptions andknowledge of farmers on farming practices, (d) grazing rotation, (e) stocking rate, (f)veld utilisation and veld assessment, (g) separation of ecotopes, (h) veldrehabilitation, (i) control of alien vegetation and (j) farmers' knowledge on legislation.This was used to obtain information on the Little Karoo farming community, sizes offarms and camps, types of farming enterprises and on adoption of recommended veldmanagement practices in the region. The main findings from this section are thatrelatively small farming units with few camps, poor separation of ecotopes and a lowestimated grazing capacity, limit extensive livestock farming within the region.Perceptions of farmers on veld condition, grazing rotation, stocking rate, separation ofecotopes are fairly optimistic. As a result grazing capacities are overestimated andoverstocking occurs within this region. The current stocking rate in ostrich camps(67.7% overstocked) and mammalian livestock camps (55.1% overstocked) isevidence that farmers overstock to compensate for these limiting factors in order tomake a living from the land. The majority of farmers are well aware of the Articles inthe Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act of 1983, which are applicable to veld management. Only more that 50% comply with this legislation by rehabilitating veldand 80% of them control invasive alien species on their farm.In the second part, veld assessments were done in randomly selected veld camps,using the multi-criterion, semi-subjective Quick Rangeland Health Assessment(QRHA) Method. Veld condition was significantly poorer closer to water or feedingpoints due to the piosphere effect caused by livestock. Veld condition in the LittleKaroo can be related to altitude, vegetation types and land use. Therefore, the lowlyingLittle Succulent Karoo vegetation type is in a poorer condition compared toSpekboom Succulent Thicket and South and South-west Coast Renosterveld. Ostrichproduction on plains in the Little Succulent Karoo vegetation type is the main causefor the degradation of this vegetation type. It would seem as if historically highstocking rates cannot be ignored in explaining the current veld condition. A positivecorrelation between veld condition and the diversity of plant species (species density)were found, which highlights the importance of good veld management practices insustainable agriculture.The third part tested whether all indicators in the QRHA method are equally sensitiveand whether there is a positive correlation between the QRHA method and theGrazing Index Method. A significant positive linear correlation was found betweenthe two methods. Cover was the least sensitive indicator of rangeland condition, andlivestock induced disturbances (which include the indicators grazing intensity,disturbance indicators, soil health and species richness) were the most sensitive forKaroo veld assessment. A major benefit of the QRHA method is heuristic; thereforethis method may have value in agricultural extension work.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University