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The nature, extent and causes of land degradation in South Africa: legacy of the past, lessons for the future?
Author(s) -
Meadows M. E.,
Hoffman M. T.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
area
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1475-4762
pISSN - 0004-0894
DOI - 10.1111/1475-4762.00100
Subject(s) - land degradation , desertification , environmental degradation , context (archaeology) , politics , environmental planning , land use , vegetation (pathology) , geography , subject (documents) , soil retrogression and degradation , distribution (mathematics) , environmental resource management , environmental protection , natural resource economics , political science , environmental science , ecology , agriculture , economics , civil engineering , computer science , engineering , law , medicine , mathematical analysis , mathematics , archaeology , pathology , library science , biology
The aim of this paper is to reassess the land degradation and desertification problem in South Africa. The country has a wide range of interrelated environmental and development challenges existing in a socio–political context recently subject to substantial change. The paper outlines the fundamental environmental constraints and opportunities that underlie degradation phenomena and illustrates the nature, extent and geographical distribution of the major forms of soil and vegetation degradation in the country. The principal causes of degradation are identified and some important land use and land tenure questions that need to be addressed in the near future are posited.