Desertification is the process of productive turning into non-productive desert. This happens as a result of poor land management and occurs mainly in areas bordering on the desert and with a rainfall of less than 600mm annually. An example of where this had taken place is in the Sahel, south of the Sahara Desert, where the desert moved 100km south between 1950 and 1975.
Desertification causes the land to become unproductive and unable to support life, which affects wild species, domestic animals, farming crops and the people inhabiting the land. The unproductivity of the land also leads to very little plant cover which accelerates soil erosion by wind and water. Water does not soak into the soil to provide moisture to plants and not many plants can survive the drought. Once the process of desertification has started, the deterioration will worsen.
The main cause of desertification worldwide is overgrazing. The plants in these dry areas have adapted to being eaten by large grazing mammals that move with the patchy rainfall of the region. Early cattle farmers that lived in these regions learned from the animals and moved according to the availability of food and water. The regular stock movement prevented overgrazing of plant cover. Unfortunately modern times lead to the use of fences in order to mark land, which prevented both domestic and wild animals from moving according to food and water availability, which in turn lead to overgrazing.
The effects of desertification can be prevented by using boreholes and windmills, allowing livestock to graze in areas that could previously only be utilised during the rainy season. Poor planning and management regarding the provision of drinking water has contributed to the massive advance of deserts in the past decades.
The following poor management decisions all eventually lead to desertification:
· Farming on land where there is a high risk of crop failure and low economic returns,
· Destruction of vegetation in dry regions for housing or fuelwood
· Poor grazing management after burning of vegetation
· Incorrect irrigation practices leads to a build-up of salts in the soil, preventing plant growth (salinization)
Any of the above can worsen when combined with a dry climate. Increasing the human population in these areas contributes to poverty, which forces the poor to overuse their environment in the short term without planning for the future and the consequences of their actions.
Desertification can be stopped by reducing the amount of animals dependent on the land in order to allow the plants to regrow. This is the only realistic large-scale approach to prevent desertification.
Written by Marleen Theunissen
Creative writer
Educating the youth about keeping the environment green has become important across the globe. With this objective in mind, many countries celebrate Arbor Day once a year. On this day, many trees are planted as an effort to place emphasis on the importance of their role. In South Africa, Arbor Day is celebrated throughout a week.
Part of the important lessons learned during this week includes the different aspects of forestry, which has been divided into three categories.
Indigenous Forests provide a home for wildlife and also attract thousands of visitors, which increases a country’s revenue. These Forests provide trees and herbs used to make natural remedies to cure hundreds of people. All the trees act like a barrier against soil erosion and continue to sustain the African wildlife and the environment.
Commercial Forests is the unnatural version of Indigenous Forests, with a role equally as important. It provides jobs to people in the area and also wood needed in the industry. These woods are used as a rural income generation through massive plantation work and revenue earning from wood, in order to improve socio-economic conditions of the rural masses.
Lastly, Metropolitan Forests refers to the trees, plants and lawns which are grown in cities and towns across the country. The small pieces of greenery scattered through the concrete and brick provides life to our environment, not mentioning the fresh air it produces.
During National Arbor Week, South Africans are educated about trees and how they affect our everyday lives. The dangers of forest fires are reiterated and the importance of the forestry industry, as well as trees in general, is emphasized. Trees are planted and our environment is made greener. Many sponsors combine their efforts in different forms and most of the week’s events are organized by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), with Food and Trees For Africa (FTFA) short on their heels, teaching poorer communities how to develop and maintain their own food garden. National Arbor Day takes place during the first week of September.
Written by Marleen Theunissen
Creative writer
Plant and animal life around the world is incredibly diverse. In fact, many of the species that exist are yet to be discovered, and of those that we have discovered and documented, there are many variations,each unique in its own way, specialized to fit within its own environment. South Africa’s natural landscape is one of the most famously diverse in the world, with spectacular indigenous and alien plant species alike making the landscape look picturesque, bringing in tourists year-round.
The southwestern area of South Africa is the home of the fynbos ("fine bush"), which is composed of ericas, proteas and the grass-like restios. The Proteas (Proteaceae), a family of blossoming flower which includes the King protea, South Africa’s national flower, and others of broadly similar shape, the pincushion-likeleucospermum, and spiky leucadendrons.The Ericaceae, the largest genus of flowering plants in South Africa are more delicate than the rest that belong to this family. The diversity of species found in this family, as well as the incredibly wide range of colours and blossoming habits, means that at any one time of the year, at least one of these species will be in bloom.
Among these highly regarded indigenous species, one can find the incredible range of South Africa’s close to 500 species of wild orchids, which typically grow in mountainous ranges, as well as a number of species of irises, lilies and pelagoniums that have found their way around the world, and can now be found in gardens and parks alike throughout the globe.
