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      Land degradation in South Africa: Justice and climate change in tension

      1 , 2 , 1 , 2 , 1 , 3
      People and Nature
      Wiley

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          Abstract

          • Land degradation is a global problem impacting biodiversity and livelihoods, with profound effects on resource‐based livelihoods. As such, it impedes progress towards sustainable development goals (SDGs) and overcoming climate‐related poverty. Interrelated biophysical and social factors are driving further land degradation, and, internationally, there is a range of policies and initiatives designed to address these.

          • In this paper, we argue that analysis of land degradation must encompass three key dimensions: firstly, that the causes are both physical and social; secondly, that they are shaped by historically unjust land tenure and resource allocations; and thirdly, that outcomes are the result of entwined processes at the global, national and local levels. To do this, we modify an analytical framework derived from structuration theory and populate it with illustrative material from the case of rangeland management in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. In this way, we show how understanding land degradation requires an analytical approach that is simultaneously bio‐social, historically informed and multiscalar.

          • Land degradation caused by woody encroachment is a major bio‐social issue for the rangelands of South Africa, exacerbated by intersecting factors including climate change, historical land tenure policies and post‐apartheid reforms. However, contemporary land use policies in South Africa designed to redress historic land injustices and enhance rural livelihoods are not directly connected with those which prioritise the protection of ecosystems and biodiversity, or climate mitigation. Finally, South African policymakers face the challenge of reconciling political commitments to improve the lives of local populations whilst meeting international targets to address degradation, carbon emissions and SDGs.

          • Whilst the South African case is unique, many countries face the simultaneous challenges of trying to prevent ecological degradation whilst mitigating historical patterns of unjust access to land and natural resources. More broadly, this talks of the global challenge of reconciling goals of poverty alleviation with climate mitigation.

          A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

          Abstract

          A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

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          Most cited references60

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          Governing the Commons

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            The Constitution of Society : Outline of the Theory of Structuration

            Anthony Giddens has been in the forefront of developments in social theory for the past decade. In "The Constitution of Society" he outlines the distinctive position he has evolved during that period and offers a full statement of a major new perspective in social thought, a synthesis and elaboration of ideas touched on in previous works but described here for the first time in an integrated and comprehensive form. A particular feature is Giddens's concern to connect abstract problems of theory to an interpretation of the nature of empirical method in the social sciences. In presenting his own ideas, Giddens mounts a critical attack on some of the more orthodox sociological views. "The Constitution of Society" is an invaluable reference book for all those concerned with the basic issues in contemporary social theory.
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              Biological feedbacks in global desertification.

              Studies of ecosystem processes on the Jornada Experimental Range in southern New Mexico suggest that longterm grazing of semiarid grasslands leads to an increase in the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of water, nitrogen, and other soil resources. Heterogeneity of soil resources promotes invasion by desert shrubs, which leads to a further localization of soil resources under shrub canopies. In the barren area between shrubs, soil fertility is lost by erosion and gaseous emissions. This positive feedback leads to the desertification of formerly productive land in southern New Mexico and in other regions, such as the Sahel. Future desertification is likely to be exacerbated by global climate warming and to cause significant changes in global biogeochemical cycles.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                People and Nature
                People and Nature
                Wiley
                2575-8314
                2575-8314
                October 2021
                September 27 2021
                October 2021
                : 3
                : 5
                : 978-989
                Affiliations
                [1 ] Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures University of Sheffield Sheffield UK
                [2 ] Plants, Photosynthesis and Soil, School of Biosciences University of Sheffield Sheffield UK
                [3 ] Lancaster Environment Centre Lancaster University Lancaster UK
                Article
                10.1002/pan3.10260
                edfec0b0-601c-4cbb-b8d7-bb4c0613ba41
                © 2021

                http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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