scholarly journals Local management strategies and attitudes towards selected threatened or protected plant species in Limpopo Province, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marula Triumph Rasethe ◽  
MARTIN POTGIETER ◽  
MICHÈLE PFAB

Abstract. Rasethe MT, Potgieter M, Pfab M. 2021. Local management strategies and attitudes towards selected threatened or protected plant species in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Biodiversitas 22: 3773-3784. Throughout South Africa, ordinary people are managing and using local natural resources in ways that enhance their lives, but there is a major concern about the sustainability of wild plant harvest. This study aims to investigate the current management strategies employed by local people in the Limpopo Province for selected threatened or protected plant species (TOPS). Semi-structured questionnaires were used to gather information from a total of 333 participants, i.e. 110 community members (CMs), 180 traditional health practitioners (THPs), and 28 traditional leaders (TLs), as well as from 15 conservation officers (COs). The study area included the districts of Capricorn, Sekhukhune, Mopani, Vhembe, and Waterberg. Results indicated that in all districts of the province most CMs and THPs reported that no one managed plant resources in their surrounding communal lands, though TLs indicated that the state was involved with management. Fifty-nine percent of THPs indicated that there are no traditional rules that are applied towards conservation of communal lands, yet 91% of other participants in the Mopani, Sekhukhune, and Capricorn districts indicated that traditional rules are followed. Most CMs in these three districts were allowed to participate in conservation initiatives, although most of them did not know that the plants they were using were threatened and protected in legislation. It is recommended that collaborative partnerships be initiated between government and TLs in relation to managing the threatened or protected plant species in communal lands.

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marula Triumph Rasethe ◽  
Sebua Silus Semenya

Abstract. Rasethe MT, Semenya SS. 2019. The population, utilization and local management of Elaeodendron transvaalense in the Blouberg Municipality, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Biodiversitas 20: 2978-2985. Elaeodendron transvaalense is highly harvested by rural communities of the Limpopo Province (South Africa) to meet various livelihoods. However, its information on the population, uses, harvesting practices, threatening factors and local management is still not investigated and documented in many parts of this province. The current study therefore, provides a base-line data of E. transvaalense occurring in two villages of the Blouberg Municipality, Limpopo Province. Data on the population locations, utilization and local management strategies of this species was collected from community members, traditional healers and leaders via semi-structured questionnaires, supplemented by field observations on harvesting practices, threats, area of occupancy, population size, density and demographic structure and population health. Two populations, referred in this study as Sebotlana and Makgabeng covering an area of 25252.17 m2 and 45099.79 m2, respectively, were located in the two villages of the Blouberg Municipality. Both populations were characterized by a mixture of healthy seedlings, sapling, juvenile, middle trees, adult trees, and senescent trees, with Makgabeng population having the highest plant density. Various morphological parts such as bark and roots were mainly used by respondents as common ingredients in traditional medicines, mainly for cough, fever, diarrhoea, symptoms of AIDS and as blood purifier. Evidence of harvesting was only observed on Sebotlana population, which was also highly impacted by rural settlement expansion. Overall, there were no local management strategies meant specifically for the identified E. transvaalense around the Blouberg area.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebua S. Semenya ◽  
Matjutla J. Mokgoebo

The knowledge pertaining to uses of indigenous wild plants and their conservation methods by the rural communities of the Limpopo Province (South Africa) is not fully reconnoitered. The available data highlighting these aspects are scattered in general ethnobotanical literatures. The current study therefore sought to collate, analyze, and describe such information. Search engines and local libraries were used to document information. A total of 50 useful wild plant species belonging to 32 botanical families, mainly the Fabaceae (28%, n = 9) and Cucurbitaceae (13%, n = 4), were harvested by rural communities inhabiting the Limpopo Province. These species were mainly exploited wholly for medicinal (62%, n = 31) and food (20%, n = 10) purposes. Leaves, bark, fruits, and roots, respectively, were the most commonly used plant parts. Overall, the traditional conservation approaches employed by the indigenous people to ensure continual supply of these organs for different livelihoods encompasses traditional beliefs and taboos, sustainable harvesting practices as well as domestication of plants. However, not all these approaches promote effective conservation and sustainable utilization of wild plant resources.


Social Change ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 204-221
Author(s):  
Ghazala Shahabuddin

During the last few decades, there has been a growing realisation that biodiversity conservation cannot be successful without the active involvement of the people living close to and dependent on natural ecosystems for their survival and livelihoods. Consequently, there has been a gradual broadening of the global conservation agenda from strict nature protection to include the sustainable use of natural resources, which is now reflected in governmental policy the world over. However, as conservationists strive today towards the harmonisation of people's needs with biodiversity conservation, one of the most elusive, yet critical, goals for them has been the sustainable extraction of plant resources from the wild. Hundreds of plant species continue to be extracted from natural habitats for use as food, medicine, fuel and fodder in households and for commercial sale, both legally and illegally. As a consequence of unmonitored extraction and over-exploitation, many plant species populations are reported to be declining in the wild. In the face of increasing pressure on forest resources, it has become more important than ever before to devise quantitative management policies for sustainable plant use so that both forests and the livelihoods of millions of rural people who are dependent on them, can be sustained. One of the major stumbling blocks for conservationists in developing countries, who are attempting to design and implement sustainable forest management systems, is the lack of information on the state-of-the-art in this field, especially that relating to field methods, data analysis, data recording and monitoring systems. In order to fill this lacuna, a comprehensive bibliography of studies undertaken so far in the science of sustainable use from terrestrial ecosystems is presented here. The scope of this bibliography includes sustainable


Scientifica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Sebua Silas Semenya ◽  
Alfred Maroyi

Several communities in developing countries derive substantial part of their livelihood needs from alien plants cultivated and managed in home gardens. The aim of this study was to assess useful alien plant species cultivated and managed in home gardens of Limpopo province in South Africa. Semistructured interviews, personal observation, and guided walks with 300 participants between January 2015 and December 2016 were employed to obtain data on names of alien plants cultivated in home gardens and their use categories. A total of 101 plant species belonging to 44 families were recorded from the study area. More than half of the species (66.3%) belonged to 14 families, Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Rosaceae, Solanaceae, Lamiaceae, Anacardiaceae, Poaceae, Amaranthaceae, Apocynaceae, Brassicaceae, Cactaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Moraceae, and Myrtaceae. Twenty-six use categories of alien plants were identified in this study with the majority of species (75.2%) used for medicinal purposes, followed by ornamental (33.7%), edible fruits (24.8%), spices (16.8%), vegetables (16.8%), shade (11.9%), beverages (10.9%), construction materials (8.9%), firewood (7.9%), and hedge (7.9%). These findings corroborate the existing body of knowledge emphasizing the importance of plants grown and managed in home gardens to the livelihood needs of local communities.


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 2191-2206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Sholto‐Douglas ◽  
Charlie M. Shackleton ◽  
Sheunesu Ruwanza ◽  
Tony Dold

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Marula Triumph Rasethe ◽  
Sebua Silas Semenya ◽  
Alfred Maroyi

Trading of herbal medicines generates economic opportunities for vulnerable groups living in periurban, rural, and marginalized areas. This study was aimed at identifying medicinal plant species traded in the Limpopo province in South Africa, including traded plant parts, conservation statutes of the species, and harvesting methods used to collect the species. Semistructured questionnaire supplemented by field observation was used to collect data from owners of 35 informal herbal medicine markets in the Limpopo province. A total of 150 medicinal plant products representing at least 79 plant species belonging to 45 botanical families, mainly the Fabaceae (11.4%), Asteraceae (7.6%), and Hyacinthaceae (6.3%), were traded in the study area. Roots (50.0%), bulbs (19.0%), and bark (16.0%) were the most frequently sold plant parts. Some of the traded species which includeAlepidea amatymbica, Bowiea volubilis, Brackenridgea zanguebarica, Clivia caulescens,Dioscorea sylvatica,Elaeodendron transvaalense, Encephalartos woodii,Eucomis pallidiflorasubsp.pole-evansii,Merwilla plumbea,Mondia whitei,Prunus africana, Siphonochilus aethiopicus, Synaptolepis oliveriana,andWarburgia salutarisare of conservation concern and listed on the South African Red Data List.Findings of this study call for effective law enforcement to curb illegal removal of wild plants especially those species that are at the verge of extinction.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Masoko ◽  
Kulani Mashudu Nxumalo

The aim of the study was to scientifically evaluate the antimycobacterial activity of selected indigenous medicinal plants from the Limpopo Province used for the treatment of humans with symptoms ofMycobacterium tuberculosis. The leaves of five plant species (Apodytes dimidiata, Artemisia, Combretum hereroense, Lippia javanica, and Zanthoxylum capense) were collected from the Lowveld National Botanical Garden in Nelspruit, South Africa. The dried leaves were powdered and extracted using hexane, dichloromethane, acetone, and methanol. Antimycobacterial activity was evaluated using microdilution assay and bioautography andρ-iodonitrotetrazolium violet (INT) as indicator. Antioxidant activities were determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). Phytochemical content of extracts was further evaluated. The acetone extracts ofL. javanicadisplayed antioxidant activity on BEA chromatogram. T Acetone extracts ofA. afrahad MIC value of 0.39 mg/mL againstMycobacterium smegmatisATCC 1441. Acetone extracts ofC. hereroenseandL. javanicahad MIC value of 0.47 mg/mL. Four bands that inhibited the growth ofM. smegmatiswere observed atRfvalues of 0.12, 0.63, and 0.87 on BEA and 0.73 on EMW. The plant speciesA. dimidiata, A. afra, C. hereroense,andL. javanicain this study demonstrated their potential as sources of anti-TB drug leads.


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