Rangeland Ecology & Management

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PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF GRAZING MANAGEMENT INTERVENTIONS ON VEGETATION AND SOIL SURFACE FEATURES IN NORTHERN NAMIBIA
Author
Coppock, D. Layne
Crowley, Luke
Durham, Susan
Groves, Dylan
Jamison, Julian
Karlan, Dean
Norton, Brien
Ramsey, Doug
Tredennick, Andrew
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2018
Body

Grazing management interventions that improve rangeland condition and trend are often elusive in lands governed by common-property regimes. �In 2010-14, GOPA�a consulting firm�was contracted by the Millenium Challenge Account (Namibia) to implement cattle grazing-management interventions based on holistic management principles under the auspices of the Community Based Rangeland and Livestock Management (CBRLM) project.� Project beneficiaries are agro-pastoral and pastoral people residing in 123 Grazing Areas (GAs) occurring along an 800-km, east-to-west transect near the Angolan border.� Producers here have traditionally relied upon �low input� grazing and herding practices that have reportedly contributed to rangeland degradation.� The interventions implemented by GOPA were intended to slow or reverse rangeland degradation and improve dry-season fodder reserves via adoption of short-duration, �higher-input� grazing and herding practices. �GOPA targeted fifty-two GAs for inputs in support of new grazing systems, while 71 GAs have served as controls.� Some of the 52 GAs, however, did not fully accept the program. From 2015 to the present, effects of the intervention package on management behaviors, cattle productivity, and household wealth and resilience have been assessed by researchers affiliated with a US-based NGO called Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), and will not be addressed here. �IPA recruited ecologists in 2016 to assess the effects of grazing intervention on the rangeland environment, with a focus on vegetation and soil surface features. Our field data collection has occurred within 972 1-hectare plots, using 1 to 10 plots per GA. �Data collection has included cover and line-intercept measurements in wet and dry seasons.� Analysis of precipitation records and remotely sensed images provide context for the field studies by identifying possible long-term drought cycles and regional trends for woody encroachment and water-point development.� Here we provide a preliminary analysis concerning the ecological effects of the grazing management interventions across a diverse landscape.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Reno, NV