Search

The need to effectively govern and manage communal rangeland resources has become more important over the past two decades, given the extent of biodiversity loss caused by a myriad of drivers interacting at different scales.Using in‐depth interviews, participant observations and historical information from organisational records, we analysed the application of governance objectives between 1947 and 2017 and their corresponding rangeland condition outcome in Machubeni (South Africa) communal lands.The results show that while the application of governance objectives varied through time, there has been a steady degradation of local rangeland resources since apartheid, due to internal and external drivers of change. This reveals a disconnection between management and resource conditions, suggesting that a return to effective governance alone will not necessarily result in improved rangeland condition in Machubeni, but that more radical steps such as prolonged periods of resting, reseeding and building individual and group agency, are needed. These findings can help practitioners working in post‐colonial territories to design effective rangeland management models. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Throughout southern Africa, there have been growing concerns about the rates of ecosystem degradation. This issue and natural resource governance concerns in general remain key challenges. We conducted a scoping review of 135 articles to inductively assess how governance challenges have manifested in natural resource management during 2010–2020 in southern Africa. The paper's findings show that governance challenges in southern Africa are 'hydra-headed'. The results suggest that governance challenges related to the maintenance of system integrity and functioning – specifically lack of coordination, accountability, capacity, skills and resources to define effective natural resource management – were the most reported in literature. Challenges related to achieving socially equitable governance were the second most mentioned, followed by those related to institutional robustness. Challenges related to the adaptability and flexibility of institutions, specifically learning, monitoring capacity and innovation, were the least identified, showing that these areas are poorly studied or that these attributes are considered less problematic for achieving sustainable outcomes. Furthermore, the review highlights critical gaps – the limited engagement with governance-related frameworks, specifically polycentricity, adaptive governance and social-ecological stewardship. In concluding, we highlight governance reforms and future research needs on the topic of natural resources in southern Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]