Changing Patterns of Rural Land Use and Land Cover in South Africa and their Implications for Land Reform

Land use and land cover have changed significantly in South Africa since the 1913 Natives Land Act, in response to a wide range of political, social, cultural and environmental influences. This review examines the response of the vegetation of three biomes to these changing patterns. Vegetation change over the last 100 years is described along an aridity gradient from the arid Succulent Karoo biome in the west, across the wide expanses of the semi-arid, central Nama-Karoo biome, to the mesic Savanna biome on the east coast of South Africa. While Namaqualand has been relatively stable or has even improved in vegetation cover and composition, the Little Karoo is considered severely degraded, with a significant loss of ecological integrity. The Nama-Karoo biome has experienced a significant increase in grassiness since the 1960s in response to decreasing livestock numbers and changed rainfall seasonality. Bush encroachment has occurred over much of the Savanna biome, although this process has a long history in the region. Invasive alien plants pose an increasingly serious threat to the Savanna biome. The main implications of these findings for the land reform programme are that land use has important effects on the vegetation of South Africa, that the state has an important role to play in maintaining the proper functioning of ecosystems,and that some degree of planning for future climate and land cover change is critical within the land reform process.