Environmental Impact and Socio-economic Incentives of Contrasting Land Management Systems in Southern Namibia

Marked fence-line contrasts are visible outcomes of the effects of different natural resource managements in the dryland rangeland of southern Namibia. Within the framework of the interdisciplinary BIOTA Southern Africa project, comparative investigations were carried out on a pair of permanently marked Biodiversity Observatories (i.e. standardised research sites) at the Gellap Ost Research Station and the neighbouring Nuwefontein and Nabaos Communal Land. Results show that on the historically more intensively used communal farms, there is an overall decline in perennial vegetation, especially within low-growing life-forms. Short-term annual growth in the rainy season is followed by extensively barren surfaces during the dry season. In direct vicinity, the site on the governmental research station looks intact. The access of livestock to the camp is timely restricted and indicator plants are regularly monitored in order to prevent overgrazing. Overall stocking rates are low also because of missing economic incentives for profit maximisation, due to fixed budgeting. These circumstances ensure a dense grass-cover throughout the year. The state of the natural resources on both sites is strongly influenced by present and past motives, actions and constrains of land users, population pressure and the change in incentives set by institutions, such as the (re-)distribution o