Human activity and vegetation change around Mkuze Game Reserve, South Africa

In the last century, the establishment of protected areas has become an important part of managing South Africa's wilderness and wildlife. The notion of untouched protected areas has become contested in a time when developing nations are seeking to improve quality of life for their citizens. With the promulgation of modern environmental legislation, resource sharing with local rural communities has become an important policy guideline for protected area management authorities. Census archives and remotely sensed data were used in order to investigate anthropogenic land-cover change around Mkuze Game Reserve between 1979 and 2008. Results showed that natural land cover decreased consistently as populations increased, despite variations in rainfall and population movement. Natural land cover inside Mkuze Game Reserve remained relatively stable. Bush was found to be increasingly degraded around more densely populated areas, while grassland was degrading in districts more concentrated with agricultural activity. A potential problem for future natural resource-dependent livelihoods in the area was the replacement of wetlands with sugarcane agriculture. If current trends continue, natural land-cover loss will continue. Evidence suggests that local socio-environmental systems are changing signifying important implications for the management of human activity and biodiversity around the borders of protected areas in South Africa.