Towards sustainable land management in the Limpopo

Summary

The main aim of implementing SLM activities at a pilot scale is to reduce land degradation such as sedimentation and enhance land productivity, creating opportunities for replication and scaling through socio-economic benefits, including payment for ecosystem services models.

LIMCOM conducted a working visit to one of its Sustainable Land Management (SLM) pilot sites in Mapoch, South Africa, to assess implementation progress and engage with the Makwane local community on strategies to improve their livelihoods.

The visit, held on 30 September in collaboration with partners, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWPSA), highlighted steady progress in various SLM activities, with active participation from youth and women in local initiatives.

However, it was noted that the Mapoch Wetland faces critical degradation from soil erosion and invasive species encroachment. The valley-bottom wetland system also showed significant hydrological and ecological impairment requiring urgent intervention through structured offset planning and rehabilitation approaches coupled with SLM best-practices and technologies.

In this regard, stakeholders agreed on the need to implement robust offset activities, including rehabilitation interventions, averted loss strategies, legal safeguards, livelihood compensation mechanisms, and comprehensive monitoring frameworks to mitigate the situation.

Speaking during the meeting, the Makwane local community SLM Champion Leader, Mr. Lucky Mothupi, expressed strong support for the ongoing initiative. He affirmed that the community is committed to restoring its degraded land and looks forward to participating in upcoming SLM capacity-building workshops to promote effective environmental stewardship.

Witwatersrand University, the local partner leading the implementation of SLM activities in South Africa under the project “Integrated Transboundary River Basin Management for the Sustainable Development of the Limpopo River Basin,” concurred and emphasized the importance of integrating SLM technologies in efforts to restore degraded land.

The project being implemented by LIMCOM in partnership with GWPSA and supported by UNDP, through funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), has identified four SLM pilot sites – one each in four LIMCOM countries namely Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

These sites are the Mogobane Dam (Botswana); the Massingir Dam (Mozambique); the Mapochs (South Africa); and Guyu-Chelesa in Zimbabwe.

The main aim of implementing SLM activities at a pilot scale is to reduce land degradation such as sedimentation and enhance land productivity, creating opportunities for replication and scaling through socio-economic benefits, including payment for ecosystem services models.