Fjölrit RALA - 05.12.1999, Síða 70

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Desertification in Botswana
Desertifícation or dryland degradation is a fiinction of any factor or combination of
factors which damage the land, water and vegetation resource base and thereby restrict
or inhibit their use or productive capacity (United Nations 1994). In other words, it is
a manifestation of natural resource decline and management failure (Darkoh 1998)
which is causing unemployment and poverty especially in the rural areas of Botswana
(Ringrose et al. 1997). As the case study of the Mid-Boteti area described in the next
section will illustrate, signifícant features of desertification or dryland degradation are
evident in the Kalahari sandveld region. Also, any traveller through Botswana would
observe that the hardveld landscape has been tumed into a mosaic of fields and aban-
doned fields interspersed by grazed bush and occasional water sources (Ringrose et al.
1997). Rocky uplands (plateaus and pediments) are being increasingly used for live-
stock/smallstock grazing as forage on adjacent plains becomes depleted (Ringrose and
Matheson 1995). Soil erosion problems are becoming increasingly signifícant in the
hardveld especially adjacent to ephemeral streams and downslope ífom adjacent pla-
teau/pediment. Land degradation around villages has intensified as a result of large
scale bush clearing aimed at stimulating crop production in both hardveld and sand-
veld areas. Near larger settlements, an incipient problem is the slow diminution of fu-
elwood resources (Republic of Botswana 1996). Bare soil areas are conspicuous
around boreholes and water points in the eastem hardveld as well as in the Kalahari
sandveld as a result of heavy grazing. Areas in the vicinity of National Parks and
Game Reserves from which migrating herbivores are trapped behind fences also show
signs of heavy grazing and vegetation depletion. And, as we have noted, rangeland
resources are becoming scarce and conflicts are increasing. However, whether the
degradation noticeable in Botswana today is temporary or pointing towards more se-
vere (that is, permanent or irreversible) forms is another matter calling for further re-
search. However, there is evidence in at least one case (the mid-Boteti area) of prob-
lematic ecosystem recovery (Sefe et al. 1996). Livestock raising on a large scale and
clearing of large expanses of land for crop production have been introduced into the
Kalahari over a period too short (since the 1960s) and under generally good rainfall
conditions for any definitive conclusions to be reached about the ‘resilience’ of the
Kalahari ecosystem. In fact, while at this stage we must admit that the total picture is
not clear, there is no basis to contend that dryland degradation does not occur or is not
an important issue in Botswana today. As Ringrose (1996) has put it, dryland degra-
dation is taking place irrespective of the stability/resilience of the Botswana ecosys-
tems. Corollaries of the degradation process in Botswana include the decline in wild-
life population; reduction in groundwater; loss of biodiversity; all of which are symp-
tomatic of environmental decline.
The extent of desertification or dryland degradation in Botswana is not known.
Work on this is presently on-going (e.g. Ringrose et al. 1997). Preliminary results
from Ringrose et al. (1997) using GIS/Remote sensing estimates that in the 1994 post-
drought transitional period, the area classified as degradated was about 3 8,000 km2 or
6% of the surface area of Botswana (Figure 6). In the drought period (1984) about
147,000 km2 or 25% of Botswana was classified as degraded.