Landscape change in the Levuvhu and Nzhelele River Catchments, Venda Limpopo Province South Africa.

Abstract : For a very long time social scientist have been studying environmental and natural resource management, and disaster risk management, from their studies. They picked up that one could not fully comprehend the risks and welfares that ascend from the environment without first being considerate of the parts which society play in instigating, creating sense of and in reacting to those hazards and benefits (Feliciano & Berkhout, 2013). This paper seeks to identify and explain both drivers in terms of landscape change within two research focused study areas (Nzhelele and Levuvhu) within the Vend district in the Limpopo province. It is important to identify the drivers of landscape change to understand the various sectors involved in landscape change such as the economic, social and environmental just to mention a few. The broadness of landscapes change makes it quite challenging and difficult to understand the drivers, since landscape change is spread across various disciplines. Landscape change over the past decades has been influenced by several significant changes such as urbanization, agricultural intensification, and expansion of renewable energy uses, which situates their sustainability in jeopardy. Group focus discussions, field work and interviews were conducted to collect data with environmental, geography, landscape surveyors and the local ordinary residents within the areas. The results of the findings were assessed accordingly and provided to give a clear understanding of the importance of landscape change.M.Sc. (Town and Regional Planning