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Many
demands are placed on land
resources in the province, ranging from the use of land
for agricultural production, mining, industries, afforestation to ecotourism,
private game farming and protected areas for nature
conservation. For the rural population of Mpumalanga the land symbolises
a source of food, fuel, construction material
(timber and thatch) as well as medicinal resources.
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| Current Land Use |
An assessment of the land indicators
reflects that land in Mpumalanga is in a satisfactory condition.
Mpumalanga as a
province is still dominated by vast open areas of natural
vegetation (71% of the total area, comprising grasslands, thickets,
woodlands and forests) and in comparison the extent of
transformed land and / or degraded land is relatively small.
Most of the land which has been converted to another land use
is under some form of cultivation (26%), including commercial
plantations, which comprise 8% of the total area of Mpumalanga.
Urbanisation of
the province is still relatively
low (1.25%) although a new land cover map may well reflect
an
increase since 1999.
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Land degradation |
Land degradation in all
its forms
(erosion, loss of vegetation cover,
chemical imbalances and others) leads to a significant reduction in the
productive capacity of land and often leads to desertification. Human
activities contributing to land degradation, include unsustainable agricultural
land use, poor soil and water management practices,
deforestation removal of natural vegetation, frequent use of heavy
machinery, overgrazing, improper crop rotation and poor irrigation
practices (UNEP, 2002).
According to the land cover map, approximately
1.7% of the natural areas are classified as degraded, with an
additional 0.03% of the total area being classified as eroded
("dongas and
sheet erosion scars").
Land degradation also reduces the productivity of
land, requiring farmers to apply more and other
chemicals that help check falling productivity. Although soil
loss is relatively low, with only 13% of the
province showing high or very high soil loss,
90% of the
province is slightly or lightly degraded. Furthermore,
those activities that involve clearing or disturbance of natural vegetation typically
create a pathway for alien invasive plant species, impacting on
natural species
diversity (Smith, 1990).
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Desertification
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The United Nation Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD) defines desertification as 'land degradation
in arid, semi-arid and dry
sub-humid areas' brought about by factors such as climatic variations and
human
activities (UNCCD, 1994).
The entire Mpumalanga province is, based on
its climatic conditions and vegetation, classified as "affected drylands" and
therefore susceptible to desertification. Almost the whole of Mpumalanga (except for some
small patches in the east
of the province) is considered "affected drylands" and is a high
risk
area for desertification.
The following
indicators were selected to reflect the state of the land in
Mpumalanga
Province:
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