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Despite continued efforts to eradicate black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas), they are considered an abundant mesopredator on agricultural land across South Africa, resulting in ongoing human–wildlife conflict and concern for farmers and wildlife managers. We conducted a questionnaire survey and semi-formal interviews with farmers throughout KwaZulu-Natal, examining farmers’ livestock husbandry, land-use changes and perspectives towards jackals as a perceived threat to livestock. Many (75%) respondents acknowledged expanding agricultural activities on their farmlands since the onset of their farming careers. However, the perception was that these changes placed little pressure on mesopredators as farmers reported frequent daily (25%) and weekly (31%) sightings of jackal, and regular predation on livestock (72%). Some landowners (31%) reported between one and five livestock losses annually and suggest that mitigation strategies to prevent livestock losses are in place. Farmers suggested the increasing intensity in agricultural practices provided a greater food source for jackals allowing them to thrive in expanding agricultural conditions and, in some circumstances, farmers admitted to possibly being a cause through poor disposal techniques for dead animals. Feedback from farmers emphasized the importance of having collaboration between farmers to control jackal predation and reduce human–wildlife conflict. Resume Malgre les efforts constants pour eradiquer les chacals a dos noir (Canis mesomelas), ils sont consideres comme des meso-predateurs abondants sur les terres agricoles de toute l'Afrique du Sud, ce qui entraine des conflits hommes-faune sauvage et des inquietudes pour les fermiers et les gestionnaires de faune. Nous avons realise une enquete par questionnaire et des interviews semi-formelles aupres de fermiers du KwaZulu-Natal, en examinant les elevages de betail, les changements d'utilisation des sols, et leurs points de vue sur les chacals vus comme une menace pour le betail. Beaucoup (75%) de participants ont reconnu avoir etendu leurs activites agricoles depuis le debut de leur carriere de fermier. Cependant, ils avaient l'impression que ces changements mettaient peu de pression sur les meso-predateurs puisqu'ils rapportaient voir des chacals souvent chaque jour (25%) et chaque semaine (31%) et une predation reguliere du betail (72%). Certains proprietaires (31%) indiquaient entre une et cinq tetes de betail perdues chaque annee et suggerent de mettre en place des mesures de mitigation pour empecher ces pertes. Ils disaient que l'intensite croissante des pratiques agricoles fournissait peut-etre une plus grande source de nourriture pour les chacals, ce qui leur permettait de prosperer dans ces conditions agricoles plus favorables et, dans certaines circonstances, les fermiers admettaient qu'ils etaient peut-etre en faute parce qu'ils n'avaient pas de techniques efficaces pour l’elimination des animaux morts. Les remarques des fermiers insistaient sur l'importance d'une collaboration entre eux pour controler la predation exercee par les chacals et pour reduire les conflits hommes-faune sauvage.

The global failure to develop in a sustainable manner has led to attempts to adopt green economy approaches in the context of poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Given South Africa’s high carbon footprint and other negative environmental externalities, the government, in partnership with civil society and the private sector, is taking steps to green its economy. The efforts range from large-scale solar installation projects to small-scale grassroots level projects where green jobs are created for the poor, predominantly women, by paying them for environmental services. This paper addresses if and how green economy can be used to alleviate poverty and protect the environment at a grassroots level. In a project under the management of a local environmental non-governmental organisation (ENGO), poor urban women in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, are utilising the concept to generate income, improve their livelihoods and contribute to environmental sustainability. Green economy is in some ways addressing the gendered social and environmental externalities of urbanisation, wherein women are differentially poor and the environment is neglected in economic development. Left with few other options, the urban poor are using an ENGO and its green economy programme as a mechanism to lift themselves out of poverty, while indirectly managing the environment.

The ecosystem services (ES) concept is being increasingly incorporated into environmental policy formulation and management approaches. The Corporate Ecosystem Services Review (ESR) is a framework used to assess the dependence and impact that a business has on ES. The success of the corporate experience of ES assessment provides an opportunity for adaption for local authority decision making. In this paper, the ESR tool was adapted to the South African setting at a local government level, and tested at two sites in the Msunduzi Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal. In testing the tool and gathering feedback from key stakeholders, it was found that there are both opportunities and challenges to this approach. Overall, however, it provides an opportunity for the systematic inclusion of ES assessment into existing regulatory frameworks for land-use planning and Integrated Environmental Management, whether in a strategic application, at a broader spatial (municipal) scale or in a specific locale within the municipality.

Background: Habitat loss and fragmentation continue to threaten the survival of many species. One such species is the Blue Swallow Hirundo atrocaerulea, a critically endangered grassland specialist bird species endemic to sub-Saharan Africa.Objectives: Past research has shown a serious decline in range and abundance of this species, predominantly because of habitat transformation and fragmentation.Method: The influence of land cover on Blue Swallow habitat and foraging home range, in both natural and transformed habitats, was investigated by radio tracking adult birds.Results: Results showed that tracked birds spent over 80% of their forage time over grasslands and wetland habitats, and preferentially used these ecotones as forage zones. This is likely owing to an increase in insect mass and abundance in these habitats and ecotones. There was reduced selection and avoidance of transformed habitats such as agricultural land, and this is a concern as transformed land comprised 71% of the home range with only 29% of grassland and wetland mosaic remaining for the Blue Swallows to breed and forage in, highlighting the importance of ecotones as a key habitat requirement. The results indicate that management plans for the conservation of Blue Swallows must consider protecting and conserving natural habitats and maintaining mosaic of grassland and wetland components to maximise ecotones within conserved areas.Conclusion: To this end, the stewardship programme spearheaded by local conservation agencies, which aims to formally conserve privately owned patches of untransformed grassland and other natural habitats, may have a strong impact on the long-term persistence of Blue Swallow populations.

Salt-marsh foraminifera are used as precise sea-levelchange indicators as surface assemblages vary in relation totheir position in the tidal frame. Surface-sediment sampleswere collected across an elevation gradient at Galpins saltmarsh, South Africa, to study the vertical distribution offoraminifera and their potential use for sea-level studies. Themarsh is divided into three vertical zones (high marsh, middlemarsh, and mud flats) represented by three assemblagegroups, with agglutinated species restricted to the upperreaches of the marsh and calcareous species more dominanttowards the intertidal channel. The high marsh area isdominated by Jadammina macrescens with a presence ofTrochammina inflata. The middle marsh is characterised byboth T. inflata and Miliammina fusca. Calcareous speciesfound in the mud flats consist of Haynesina germanica,Ammonia batava, and Quinqueloculina sp. This paperdescribes how marsh foraminifera can be used to definesmall-scale vertical zones along modern marsh surfaces andhow these zones correspond to floral zones. We demonstratethat marsh foraminifera have potential to be used as preciseindicators for sea-level reconstructions in South Africa.INTRODUCTIONModern foraminiferal assemblages form discrete verticalzones in salt marshes, strongly correlated with tidal levels(Scott et al., 2001; Gehrels & Newman, 2004). Therelationship between modern foraminiferal distributionand a range of environmental variables, including elevation,vegetation cover, pH, and salinity, can be preciselyquantified (e.g., using multivariate statistics), representinga modern analogue against which to compare fossilassemblages. Salt marshes experience daily and seasonalvariations in salinity and frequency of flooding linked totidal overflow. Several authors suggest that verticalzonation of foraminifera is strongly related to elevation,especially in temperate environments (Scott & Medioli,1980; Scott & Leckie, 1990; Horton & Edwards, 2003, 2006;Leorri et al., 2010).It is well known that a variety of ecological controls exertan influence on the distribution of surface foraminifera(e.g., Murray, 1971; Scott et al., 1998; Horton, 1999),although assemblages are consistently shown to be verti-cally zoned in accordance with tidal frames, either directlyor indirectly (Berkeley et al., 2007). A study conducted inthe Great Marshes of Massachusetts by De Rijk T Horton & Edwards, 2006).Modern analogues of marsh foraminifera are traditionallycollected at the location where a sediment core is extractedfor palaeontological analysis (Gehrels, 1994; Kemp et al.,2009). Where assemblages are identified solely at a singlesite, some fossil samples may lack a modern analogue,thereby compromising the accuracy of the reconstruction(Murray, 2006). This lack of modern analogues could beaddressed by sampling a broader range of contemporaryenvironments (Hayward et al., 2004; Horton & Edwards,2006; Kemp et al., 2009).Researchers have debated the best assemblage make-upfor foraminiferal population studies. Some advocate totalassemblage use, indicating environmental conditions forboth seasonal and temporal fluctuations (Scott et al., 2001;Horton et al., 2005). According to Murray (1971), livingpopulations best represent the modern environment as theuse of dead assemblages alone fails to account for post-mortem changes. However, it can be argued that thedistribution of living assemblages will be dependent on theconditions at time of sampling and not an average overtime. In temperate environments some suggest it isimportant to exclusively use dead assemblages as they arenot susceptible to seasonal variations, thus accuratelyreflecting subsurface assemblages (Murray, 1979; Hortonet al., 2005; Horton & Murray, 2007). On occasion, trainingsets comprised of total assemblages (live + dead) are stillused based on the assumption that live assemblages in timewill contribute to the fossil record (Booth et al., 2010). Astudy conducted on foraminiferal assemblages in surfacesediments from a marsh in Nova Scotia concluded thattotal foraminiferal assemblages provide a good basis forpalaeoenvironmental studies (Scott & Medioli, 1980).Previous studies have described the distribution of salt-marsh foraminifera in temperate environments (e.g. Leorriet al., 2010). The highest intertidal zones are oftendominated by Jadammina macrescens and Trochamminainflata, which are replaced by species such as Haplophrag-moides sp. and Miliammina fusca as elevation decreases(Hawkes et al., 2010). Agglutinated species are prevalent inthe upper and middle marsh while calcareous species arescarce. This relationship depends on the accessibility of

The year 2015 saw the City of Kingston, in Ontario, Canada, commemorate what would have been the 200th birthday year of its first Prime Minister, Sir John Alexander Macdonald (hereafter referred to as SJAM). A monumental figure in helping to forge the Canadian nation, SJAM is a figure surrounded by as much praise and controversy as any political figure, both past and present. Although much is said and interpreted as to who SJAM was as a politician and a personal figure, this essay is not about analyzing him or his policies. Rather, this essay looks at how discussions surrounding SJAM are taken up in schools. We argue that SJAM can be used as a racial literacy tool for reading against dominant texts and grappling with personal and institutional implications arising from this critique of dominant texts. In the Canadian context, white privilege is a powerful entry point for engaging students with notions of complicity, accountability and responsibility. We must inform our understanding of the present with a critical trans-historical perspective, challenging popular Canadian misunderstandings of historical racial oppression, such as how we celebrate SJAM for his role in the creation of the transcontinental railway but forget the following: 1) Many Canadians—including government officials—persecuted those who physically built it; and 2) Canada itself is a nation built on the practice of slavery, on one hand, and genocide, on the other. Therefore, with the significance and opportunity of the year 2015, the City of Kingston and the Limestone District School Board opened up an inquiry-based project with 180 students in grades six, seven, and eight regarding their perspectives of SJAM. Responding to their first indepth introduction to SJAM in their history curriculum, the students were asked: “Was Sir John A. Macdonald an Effective Political Leader?” and “Does Kingston Need a New Hero?” Through enriched classroom discussions, exploration of primary and secondary sources and informative academic web conferences, issues of racism, invisible voices, and settler privilege wove a greater and more critical understanding of how racial literacy is imperative in today’s schools and classrooms.

Stream flow and associated seasonal hydrologic variation is a critical driver affecting the structure of aquatic macroinvertebrate communities. Quarterly aquatic macroinvertebrate sampling was carried out for a single year along the longitudinal axes of two streams in the southern Cape of South Africa. Stones-in-current, marginal vegetation, gravel-sand-mud, and stones-out-of-current biotopes were sampled for aquatic macroinvertebrates. Associations between macroinvertebrate communities and hydrographs were analyzed to investigate whether a non-perennial stream with greater flow variability had a higher prevalence of common or opportunistic species than a perennial one with less variable flow. Macroinvertebrate species richness was greater in the perennial as opposed to the non-perennial stream, where, on a seasonal basis, species richness increased from winter to autumn. Temporal species turnover differed between sites and streams, where reduced flows transformed the more dominant aquatic biotopes from s...

The coastal environment represents a critical interface of human activity, socio-economic influence and ecological diversity. It is estimated that the coastal environment supports some 30% of the world's population and provides a range of social and economic benefits. Use of the coastal environment is ever increasing due to its attractiveness for recreation and leisure actives, holiday homes and retirement. As a result, the coastal environment is constantly under pressure and management actions, policies and legislation need to ensure the protection of this unique environment. South Africa is considered to be the third most biodiverse country in the world, largely linked to coastal and marine diversity with a number of Marine Protected Areas (MPA). This rich biodiversity needs to be carefully managed while also meeting the needs of South Africans with regards to access to coastal and marine resources. To date management of the South African coast has been governed by various statutes and access to the coast and its resources has been affected by historical spatial planning and socio-political conditions. To facilitate a more holistic management the newly promulgated Integrated Coastal Management Act (Act 24 of 2008) is an attempt to better manage coastal resources to protect coastal assets and functionality. The ICM Act is inherently dynamic, attempting to tackle the interlinked problems of coastal development and conservation. However, to ensure implementation, capacity challenges and historical fragmented governance structures need to be addressed.

Comfort whilst camping overnight during outdoor pursuits is based on pain free and warm sleeping arrangements and is highly dependent on the performance of the sleeping bag and sleeping mat. In adventurous and challenging situations, performance can contribute to safety and expedition success. From the manufacturer's point of view, thermal performance of sleeping bags has now been quantified and regulated, though these issues are still in progress for sleeping mats. Using Newton's Law of cooling combined with standard physics of thermal conduction, convection and radiation, the sleeping bag and sleeping mat combination is investigated. Physical comfort provided by various bag and mat style combinations are included to provide a review of the overall performance and demonstrate how some standard classical physics can enhance the outdoor camping experience.

South Africa’s extensive and topographically diverse coastline lends itself to interpreting and understanding sea-level fluctuations through a range of geomorphological and biological proxies. In this paper, we present a high-resolution record of sea-level change for the past ~1200 years derived from foraminiferal analysis of a salt-marsh peat sequence at Kariega Estuary, South Africa. A 0.94-m salt-marsh peat core was extracted using a gouge auger, and chronologically constrained using five radiocarbon age determinations by accelerator mass spectrometry, which places the record within the late Holocene period. Fossil foraminifera were analysed at a high downcore resolution, and a transfer function was applied to produce a relative sea- level reconstruction. The reconstructed sea-level curve depicts a transgression prior to 1100 cal years BP which correlates with existing palaeoenvironmental literature from southern Africa. From ~1100 to ~300 cal years BP, sea levels oscillated (~0.5-m amplitudes) but remained consistently lower than present-day mean sea level. The lowest recorded sea level of −1±0.2 m was reached between 800 and 600 cal years BP. After 300 cal years BP, relative sea level has remained relatively stable. Based on the outcomes of this research, we suggest that intertidal salt-marsh foraminifera demonstrate potential for the high-resolution reconstruction of relative sea-level change along the southern African coastline.

Variable seasonal stream temperatures are a critical factor in maintaining aquatic invertebrate community patterns. We investigated whether the degree of predictability in a stream’s water temperature profile provides insights into the structure and functional predictability of macroinvertebrate communities. Quarterly macroinvertebrate sampling over 11 months at five paired sites along the longitudinal axes of the Keurbooms River, Western Cape, and the Kowie/Bloukrans River, Eastern Cape, was undertaken in conjunction with collection of hourly water temperatures. Macroinvertebrate taxonomic turnover across seasons was higher for sites having lower water temperature predictability values than for sites with higher predictability, while temporal partitioning was greater at sites with greater temperature variability. Macroinvertebrate taxa responded in a predictable manner to changes in their environment. Specialist taxa preferred sites with greater temperature variability, and generalist taxa those with less temperature variability. Water temperature is an important abiotic driver of stream ecosystems, and should be expressed in terms of predictability metrics, as mean values do not adequately measure the components of water temperature that are important for biotic communities. Water temperature predictability provided an indication of the structure, functional predictability and seasonal turnover in macroinvertebrate communities. These findings have implications for streams experiencing temperature modifications due to the onset of climate change.Keywords: climate change, ecosystems, freshwater, generalist taxa, macroinvertebrates, rivers, specialist taxa, turnoverAfrican Journal of Aquatic Science 2013, 38(2): 163–174

Black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas) are an abundant mesopredator on farmlands (croplands and rangelands) across South Africa. Given their adaptability in a changing anthropogenic landscape, knowledge of spatial movements can provide important ecological information on the species. We captured, collared and monitored five black-backed jackals in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal to determine their home range and habitat use in farmlands. The 95% fixed kernel (95% FK) home range sizes were large, showing a marked seasonal variation in movement. One adult male dispersed 150 km over two seasons (winter and spring) and thereafter settled into a home range that it maintained. Transient home ranges of males and juveniles were larger than resident home ranges. The mean resident home ranges (95% FK) across seasons for adult males, adult female and juvenile males were 11.4 ± 4.3 km2, 5.6 ± 0.36 km2 and 2.15 ± 0.45 km2, respectively. The mean transient home ranges (95% FK) of all the seasons for adult and juvenile males were 1 181.93 ± 575.81 km2 and 104.27 ± 35.64 km2, respectively. Adult jackal preferred croplands in spring, summer and autumn but avoided croplands in winter. Variable habitat use and large home ranges in our study confirmed the species’ ability to adapt to agricultural areas.Keywords: agriculture, carnivore, dispersal, habitat use, home range, movement, radio-tracking, wild canid

Downscaled global climate models can be used to investigate the regional impacts of future emission scenarios. The downscaled models can be validated by how well they can reproduce past, observed climate. This paper investigates the possible future climate of Lake Kariba in Northwestern Zimbabwe under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) A2 and B1 emission scenarios for the near (2046–2065) and far future (2081–2100). Nine models were employed and all reflected past climate (1961–2009) well, accurately reproducing the annual cycle and capturing the unimodal annual rainy season and temperatures summer maxima and winter minima. The models project a drier climate with an average decrease in rainfall ranging from 3% to 27.46% with the exception of increased rainfall around the early rainy period (October–November) under A2 and in March under both scenarios for both the near and far future periods. Models predict that both minimum and maximum temperatures will increase by an average of 3.17–3.42 °C. A polynomial (order 3) model was used to investigate the implications of the future climate projections on the sardine fish Limnothrissa miodon (Kapenta) production based on the median of all nine models for future climate. If all conditions remain the same the Kapenta fish production in Lake Kariba could continue to decline. Options and strategies for fishery management that can boost Kapenta fish production are suggested in the wake of such possible, detrimental future climate changes.

Objective: To assess associations between different antidepressant treatments and rates of three cardiovascular outcomes (myocardial infarction, stroke or transient ischaemic attack, and arrhythmia) in people with depression.Design: Cohort study.Setting: UK general practices contributing to the QResearch primary care database.Participants: 238?963 patients aged 20 to 64 years with a first diagnosis of depression between 1 January 2000 and 31 July 2011.Exposures: Antidepressant class (tricyclic and related antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, other antidepressants), dose, duration of use, and commonly prescribed individual antidepressant drugs.Main outcome measures: First diagnoses of myocardial infarction, stroke or transient ischaemic attack, and arrhythmia during five years’ follow-up. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios, adjusting for potential confounding variables.Results: During five years of follow-up, 772 patients had a myocardial infarction, 1106 had a stroke or transient ischaemic attack, and 1452 were diagnosed as having arrhythmia. No significant associations were found between antidepressant class and myocardial infarction over five years’ follow-up. In the first year of follow-up, patients treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors had a significantly reduced risk of myocardial infarction (adjusted hazard ratio 0.58, 95% confidence interval 0.42 to 0.79) compared with no use of antidepressants; among individual drugs, fluoxetine was associated with a significantly reduced risk (0.44, 0.27 to 0.72) and lofepramine with a significantly increased risk (3.07, 1.50 to 6.26). No significant associations were found between antidepressant class or individual drugs and risk of stroke or transient ischaemic attack. Antidepressant class was not significantly associated with arrhythmia over five years’ follow-up, although the risk was significantly increased during the first 28 days of treatment with tricyclic and related antidepressants (adjusted hazard ratio 1.99, 1.27 to 3.13). Fluoxetine was associated with a significantly reduced risk of arrhythmia (0.74, 0.59 to 0.92) over five years, but citalopram was not significantly associated with risk of arrhythmia even at high doses (1.11, 0.72 to 1.71 for doses ?40 mg/day).Conclusions: This study found no evidence that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are associated with an increased risk of arrhythmia or stroke/transient ischaemic attack in people diagnosed as having depression between the ages of 20 to 64 or that citalopram is associated with a significantly increased risk of arrhythmia. It found some indication of a reduced risk of myocardial infarction with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, particularly fluoxetine, and of an increased risk with lofepramine.

BackgroundRelatively little is known of the use of systematic review and synthesis methods of non-randomised psychiatric epidemiological studies, which play a vital role in aetiological research, planning and policy-making.AimsTo evaluate reviews of psychiatric epidemiological studies of functional mental disorders that employed synthesis methods such as systematic review or meta-analysis, or other forms of quantitative review.MethodWe searched the literature to identify appropriate reviews published during the period 1996 to April 2009. Selected reviews were evaluated using published review guidelines.ResultsWe found 106 reviews in total, of which 38 (36%) did not mention method of data abstraction from primary studies at all. Many failed to mention study quality, publication bias, bias and confounding. In 73 studies that performed a meta-analysis, 58 (79%) tested for heterogeneity and of these, 47 found significant heterogeneity. Studies that detected heterogeneity made some allowance for this. A major obstacle facing reviewers is the wide variation between primary studies in the use of instruments to measure outcomes and in sampling methods used.ConclusionsMany deficiencies found in systematic reviews are potentially remediable, although synthesis of primary study findings in a field characterised by so many sources of heterogeneity will remain challenging.

(2011). The decline of Kapenta fish stocks in Lake Kariba – a case of climate changing? Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa: Vol. 66, No. 3, pp. 220-223.

This article seeks to situate the experience of demographic and economic change in South African small towns within a broader context. Drawing on international literature detailing demographic, economic and racial changes within small towns, the paper relates these trends to the Karoo region in South Africa. The research findings reveal that small towns in the Karoo are experiencing selective demographic and economic growth, which particularly favours the larger small towns. There is clear racial differentiation in the growth which is taking place and, contrary to predictions made in the 1970s, small towns in South Africa are not all experiencing absolute decline.

The influence of climatic variables (rainfall, temperature and evaporation rates) and lake water levels on the stocks of the sardine fish species Limnothrissa miodon (Boulenger), commonly known as Kapenta in Lake Kariba, was investigated. Secondary data of the climatic variables, water levels and fish catches recorded from 1963 to 2008 were analysed to determine their trends over time as well as the relationships among them. The analyses showed that rainfall is decreasing at a rate of 0.63 mm per year around Lake Kariba, while evaporation rates have increased by 31% at an average rate of 2.77 mm per year since 1963. The temperatures around the Kariba area have been rising since 1964; with the maximum range increasing at a faster rate than the minimum temperatures. Kapenta fish production has decreased significantly (R 2 =0.85, P≤0.05) since 1974 at an average rate of 24.19 metric tons per year. This pattern of decrease was also observed in the artisanal fish catches that have declined at an average rate o...

Coastal areas are experiencing high levels of development, largely driven by a number of aesthetic and recreational factors, increased mobility, availability of disposable income for middle and upper income groups and the promise of job opportunities and improved economic well-being for lower income groups. As existing coastal urban nodes expand development “shifts” to less developed areas and places increasing pressure on the surrounding natural environment. This article considers the coastal zone of two municipalities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, with similar environmental characteristics but disparate socioeconomic and governance histories. It identifies and integrates the drivers of development and land use change in the coastal zone of these municipalities by means of an adapted Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) Framework. Development and land use change are driven by a combination of social, economic, and legislative factors that need to be considered for future management and plan...

This paper considers development and land use change in the coastal zone of the Ngqushwa and Ndlambe municipalities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The two municipalities portray similar physical geographies, but have distinctly different socio-economic characteristics, which result in notable differences in development and land use patterns. Land use units were mapped from monochromatic aerial photographs at three time epochs for the period 1940–2004. The resultant land use maps illustrate a mosaic of development and land use change in the two municipalities with unique trends; the Ndlambe Municipality has experienced rapid formal urban development, with limited informal development. In contrast, the Ngqushwa Municipality has experienced low-density informal development, with a very low increase in formal development. Differences in the two areas can largely be attributed to their differing political and socio-economic histories as well as current municipal capacities. The study concludes that to ensu...

In most marginalized rural areas of developing countries, where employment opportunities and income channels are limited, illegal hunting of wildlife for subsistence and commercial purposes often prevails. Rapid human population growth and the rising demand for bushmeat, particularly in cities where bushmeat has become a popular delicacy, has increased illegal bushmeat harvesting. The extent and drivers of illegal hunting of two important habitat specialists and keystone species in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, South Africa, namely oribi (Ourebia ourebi) and serval (Leptailurus serval), are relatively poorly understood. Thus, we interviewed community members in the region (n = 271 interviews) and found that most respondents hunted illegally to acquire meat (82%), as bushmeat was perceived to taste better than domestic meat (46%). However, illegal bushmeat hunting in the region did not represent an important source of livelihood. Oribi were hunted for meat while serval were sought after for the purposes of traditional medicine and for the skin trade. The consideration of site-specific socio-economic drivers of illegal resource use is vital in ensuring effective conservation management for these two species. Our results also provide support for conservation initiatives addressing a wide range of wild animals affected by illegal hunting in this region.

The ideals and assumptions associated with a transdisciplinary approach to environmental issues are investigated through the experience of a three-year research project in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa focused on low-cost housing. Through this work, transdisciplinarity was conceptualised not as a panacea to create an all-encompassing research approach, but as an attempt to move away from paradigm isolation and allow researchers to integrate and develop a synthesis from their separate contributions. The paper discusses aspects of transdisciplinarity including definitions, methodologies, team-building, paradigmatic rigidities, the negotiation of power in the production of knowledge with stakeholders and community partners, and institutional challenges. Trade-offs include loss of data resolution at times, but are offset by deeper understanding of the complexities and constraints of applied environmental and social research in contemporary South Africa.

The paper investigates the development and use of corporate social and environmental reporting by businesses within a large municipality in South Africa. There is a strong call for improved CSR, and a greater degree of accountability and transparency by business. The survey was conducted through the use of interviews following a structured questionnaire with the Global Reporting Initiative used as an appropriate framework. This approach allowed us to determine the challenges businesses face in implementing a comprehensive CSR system in the South African context and why, other than companies which are part of a group, businesses are unable or unwilling to increase external reporting. We suggest that implementation of a comprehensive and externally controlled and certified standard, such as ISO 14001 would not only reduce environmental impacts, but facilitate increased CSR. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Semi-arid areas are often considered to be environmentally and economically marginal, a situation which has been exacerbated by economic change, shifts in agricultural production and land use, and changing state policy. These themes are explored with reference to a semi-arid landscape, namely the Karoo, which covers some 40% of the geographic space of South Africa and is used primarily for extensive livestock farming. Despite long-term decline in agricultural output, the traditional mainstay of the region, and weakening small town economies, the Karoo's population and the economies of its largest service centres are growing. There are, real socio-economic needs and development backlogs, and the situation has been exacerbated by recent political marginalisation. In this study, the small towns of the region are focal points of investigation and provide a lens to investigate the changing demographic and economic dynamics of the Karoo. Most of the region's population lives in these centres which are service, collection, and distribution points for what traditionally has been an agriculture-based regional economy. This paper explores the concept of marginalisation with specific reference to historical, economic, and demographic change.

This paper documents a continuous ∼ 44,000-yr pollen record derived from the Mfabeni Peatland on the Maputaland Coastal Plain. A detailed fossil pollen analysis indicates the existence of extensive Podocarpus-abundant coastal forests before ∼ 33,000 cal yr BP. The onset of wetter local conditions after this time is inferred from forest retreat and the development of swampy conditions. Conditions during the last glacial maximum (∼ 21,000 cal yr BP) are inferred to have been colder and drier than the present, as evidenced by forest retreat and replacement of swampy reed/sedge communities by dry grassland. Forest growth and expansion during the Holocene Altithermal (∼ 8000–6000 cal yr BP) indicates warm, relatively moist conditions. Previous records from Maputaland have suggested a northward migration of Podocarpus forest during the late Holocene. However, we interpret a mid-Holocene decline in Podocarpus at Mfabeni as evidence of deforestation. Forest clearance during the mid-Holocene is supported by the appearance of Morella serrata, suggesting a shift towards more open grassland/savanna, possibly due to burning. These signals of human impact are coupled with an increase in Acacia, indicative of the development of secondary forest and hence disturbance.

Student field courses at Universities are increasingly incorporating problem-based interdisciplinary approaches to enhance learning opportunities. This paper reports upon seven field-based, problem-oriented, interdisciplinary courses held within southern Africa concerning natural resource management and sustainable land use. The SLUSE (Sustainable Land Use and Natural Resource Management) project, under which these courses were devised, is introduced and the process of field-course implementation is described. The SLUSE approach is discussed in terms of management issues, levels of responsibility, staff and student development and the benefits to rural host communities. The courses are very intense experiences and students encounter difficulties working across traditional academic disciplines and in cross-cultural groups. Through critical thinking and self-reflection students understand the context of their learning better and have a greater appreciation of their own personal development. The process calls for long-term commitment to the communities with whom one works closely, the recognition of sometimes having to 'think on one's feet', being prepared to make mistakes and use frustration in a positive manner and a strong respectful working relationship from the staff. We advocate this process as worthwhile as classroom theory becomes real in an applied and complex environment.

This paper explores an approach to problem-oriented, interdisciplinary field-based courses devised by university consortia in southern Africa and Denmark. The SLUSE (Sustainable Land Use and Natural Resource Management) model has been applied on six three-week field courses within southern Africa and trained over 200 students. Student groups composed of individuals from different academic disciplines that investigated problems specifically devised to integrate social and natural science approaches set the stage for an interdisciplinary approach. The field locations are in rural areas that have a legacy of marginalization, poverty and reliance on natural resources for at least part of their livelihoods thus allowing for environmental and natural resource issues to be investigated. Course evaluations show that students feel they gain invaluable exposure to the innovative field-based learning environment created by the SLUSE approach. The main benefit perceived by hosting local communities was an increase in...

Since democratization in 1994, South African forest policies have promoted sustainable forest management. However, implementation has been problematic due to limited information concerning forest product utilization. This paper investigates and quantifies timber use from the Mngazana Mangrove Forest. Eastern Cape Province. South Africa. Three local communities utilize stems of the mangrove species Rhizophora mucronata Lam. and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza (L.) Lam. for building construction. There were two distinct building shapes, circular and rectangular. On average. 155 stems were used for circular buildings and 378 stems for rectangular buildings. Most buildings were constructed using mangroves as well as indigenous timber from coastal scarp forests. The proportion of mangrove stems in buildings varied from 0 to 95%. The annual demand for mangroves was estimated to be 18 400 stems. Due to the high annual demand, projected human population growth rates have a minor influence upon future demand values. For effective sustainable forest management, the standing stock at Mngazana should be restricted to the two mangrove species utilized for building construction, and a forest inventory performed so that demand for building can be compared to supply.

A new global synthesis and biomization of long (> 40 kyr) pollen-data records is presented and used with simulations from the HadCM3 and FAMOUS climate models and the BIOME4 vegetation model to analyse the dynamics of the global terrestrial biosphere and carbon storage over the last glacial–interglacial cycle. Simulated biome distributions using BIOME4 driven by HadCM3 and FAMOUS at the global scale over time generally agree well with those inferred from pollen data. Global average areas of grassland and dry shrubland, desert, and tundra biomes show large-scale increases during the Last Glacial Maximum, between ca. 64 and 74 ka BP and cool substages of Marine Isotope Stage 5, at the expense of the tropical forest, warm-temperate forest, and temperate forest biomes. These changes are reflected in BIOME4 simulations of global net primary productivity, showing good agreement between the two models. Such changes are likely to affect terrestrial carbon storage, which in turn influences the stable carbon isotopic composition of seawater as terrestrial carbon is depleted in 13C.

Summary The Blue Swallow is confined to the grassland component of the mistbelt region of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, a habitat well suited to intensive agriculture and especially afforestation, due to the high rainfall and deep well-drained soils. The species is listed as amongst the top five Critically Endangered bird species in South Africa and the numbers are dramatically declining. Any further fragmentation of its habitat may well lead to the local extinction of the Blue Swallow. It is in response to these sentiments that this paper investigates the potential influence of land use change, identifies what those changes have been over a 20-year epoch and what the impact on the persistence of Blue Swallow nesting sites has been. To achieve this, the extent and nature of land transformation, adjacent to past and current Blue Swallow nesting sites on five separate study sites in KwaZulu-Natal was investigated, using a Geographical Information System (GIS) as a means of recording the levels of transformation and the change in land use over time. While sample sizes were limited, as a result of dealing with a Critically Endangered species, the data suggest that nest density was positively related to changes in grassland and arable land uses and negatively related to an increase in plantation forestry. A decrease of 55% in active Blue Swallow nest sites coincided with a measured decline in grassland of 46% for the period 1981–2000. It is clear that the current rate of loss of Blue Swallow breeding pairs is critical and without the conservation of primary grassland habitat, the Blue Swallow is heading towards extinction in KwaZulu-Natal. It is recommended that artificial nest site provision and the conservation and sustainable management of the mistbelt grassland biome, both as a vegetation unit worthy of conserving in its own right and in collaboration with surrounding dependant communities, is necessary for the recovery of this charismatic, indicator species.

Africa has a disproportionate share of the world's poorest countries and within this context economically weak states generally lack the ability to provide the ideal level of support and opportunities for their citizens. This paper examines how, in Malawi, a community-based economic development initiative, with the aid of a supportive NGO, has significantly improved rural livelihoods and facilitated market access in the formal market economy. Active government and NGO support for small scale irrigation farming coupled with their encouragement of community development led to the emergence of the Ngolowindo agricultural cooperative which serves as a useful model and example of locality-based development in Africa. After providing a context for the study in terms of both contextual literature and details specific to the Malawian context, the paper examines how the cooperative emerged, how it operates, what role the supporting NGO plays, and how products are sold. The study concludes with an overview of key findings and an examination of the lessons for local development in Africa.

Richards Bay is one of South Africa’s key economic nodes. Despite the presence of several of the country’s key industries in the city, poverty and unemployment in the city and its hinterland are significant. This paper examines the Local Economic Development (LED) initiatives of the local and district municipalities and the private sector, individually and collectively. The relative importance and impact of pro-poor versus pro-growth LED are examined and the role of the private sector in development is outlined and assessed. Overall despite impressive economic growth levels, not all have benefited. Despite this the individual and joint actions of the two municipalities and the corporate sectors do yield interesting insights into the needs and value of both pro-poor and pro-growth LED and of collective action.

Apartheid housing policies of the pre-1994 South African government, and the low-cost high-density housing programmes of the post-1994 government, have given rise to numerous urban environmental problems, some of which could be addressed in a cost-effective and sustainable manner through urban greening, while simultaneously promoting biodiversity. Public participation in the planning of urban greening has been identified as being of vital importance, without which urban greening projects run a high, and expensive, risk of failure. Previous studies indicate that the greening priorities of residents in low-cost high-density housing settlements may differ considerably from those of managers and experts tasked with the protection and extension of the natural environment resource base. A system of participatory decision support is therefore required to reconcile the greening requirements of the community, and the ecological benefits of biodiversity. If language, literacy, map literacy and numeracy difficulties are to be avoided, and a sense of place or belonging is to be invoked, such a participatory decision support system should, ideally, be visually based and capable of generating realistic eye-level depictions of the urban landscape. New computer-based landscape visualisation applications, which can directly utilise geographical information systems (GIS), computer-aided design (CAD) and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data to produce detailed photo-realistic viewsheds, were deemed better suited to the task of visualising urban greening than existing GIS-based mapping systems, CAD and traditional landscape visualisation methods. This paper examines the process of constructing a 3D computer model of the Mount Royal low-cost high-density housing settlement, situated in the eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Visualisations including terrain, natural features, indigenous vegetation, houses and roads were produced and submitted, with a questionnaire, to experts from different disciplines, Mount Royal residents and neighbours. Results from the expert survey indicate moderate support for visualisation in professional decision-making. Both experts and residents expressed strong support for the accuracy and credibility of the visualisations, as well as for their potential in a participatory decision support system.

Background Epilepsy is a serious condition which can profoundly affect an individual’s life. While there is some evidence to suggest an association between antidepressant use and epilepsy and seizures it is conflicting and not conclusive. Antidepressant prescribing is rising in the UK so it is important to quantify absolute risks with individual antidepressants to enable shared decision making with patients. In this study we assess and quantify the association between antidepressant treatment and the risk of epilepsy and seizures in a large cohort of patients diagnosed with depression aged between 20 and 64 years. Methods Data on 238,963 patients with a diagnosis of depression aged 20 to 64 from 687 UK practices were extracted from the QResearch primary care database. We used Cox’s proportional hazards to analyse the time to the first recorded diagnosis of epilepsy/seizures, excluding patients with a prior history and estimated hazard ratios for antidepressant exposure adjusting for potential confounding variables. Results In the first 5 years of follow-up, 878 (0.37 %) patients had a first diagnosis of epilepsy/seizures with the hazard ratio (HR) significantly increased (P

Background and objectives: Land transformation of the Karkloof catchment is described for the period 1944–1999, together with implications for biodiversity integrity and hydrological functioning.Method: Maps of land categories were generated by using aerial photographs and a geographical information system. Property ownership and extent were mapped based on title deed searches and analysis of property grants. Implications of land transformation on biodiversity integrity and hydrological functioning were determined according to an expert approach using the analytic hierarchy process.Results: More than half (54%) of the natural grassland area has been transformed to commercial timber plantations (427% increase) and commercial agricultural cropping (311% increase). Loss of grassland in the Karkloof catchment is considered to be representative of the general trend in the moist eastern portion of the Grassland Biome of South Africa. Both combined forest and woodland and areas of dense alien vegetation increased (26% and 397%, respectively), whereas the area under subsistence cultivation decreased (98%). Land ownership has changed from private individuals to private business entities (31%) and corporate forestry (26%). Biodiversity integrity of the catchment is estimated to have decreased by 326% and hydrological functioning for the support of aquatic biodiversity by 166%.Conclusion: Continued pressure to change patterns of ownership and land use is expected. This is likely to occur within the global context of climate change, population growth and shortages of land and its products. Immense pressure on the land areas, and specifically water services and biodiversity, is likely to occur, with associated environmental impacts.

Tourism is widely acknowledged as a key economic sector that has the potential to contribute to national and local development and, more specifically, serve as a mechanism to promote poverty alleviation and pro-poor development within a particular locality. In countries of the global South, nature-based tourism initiatives can make a meaningful impact on the livelihoods of the poor, in particular the subsistence based rural poor. Taking two examples in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, where small-scale tourism initiatives were developed recently in response to existing natural attractions in the context of coping with local economic crises, this paper broadly assesses the modest benefits to date, as well as drawbacks, in improving conditions of life.

The application of distributional modelling techniques to invertebrates has seldom been explored, primarily due to a lack in adequate distributional data for these taxa. Here, we have selected a simple modelling approach for the generation of distribution maps from a limited dataset, as a first step to the atlassing of Odonata in South Africa. The BIOCLIM-type approach was selected for this purpose, as it requires minimal data for model building and validation procedures. BIOCLIM partitions an area climatically prior to survey, and predicts species distributions on a bioclimatic basis. Conservative deterministic models were developed using point presence/absence data for each of the regions' 160 described species. These models were validated by cross-validation, and the Jaccard coefficient of similarity was used as an index of model performance. A sensitivity analysis investigated the influence of extreme values and errors in the data on predictive ability. Models identified disjunct distribution patterns and accurately predicted the restricted ranges of habitat-specialist species. However, models overstated the distribution of habitat generalists and species with distinct outlier records. For accurate predictions of broad-ranging species, it is suggested that a probabilistic approach be adopted. Nevertheless, basic distribution patterns generated through this conservative approach can be further applied to the investigation of species richness and issues relating to conservation, such as reserve design. The BIOCLIM-type approach provided a means of predicting species distributions, allowing for broad-scale atlassing and thereby providing the first step towards Odonata conservation in South Africa.

An investigation into the spread of two alien wattle species ( Acacia mearnsii and Acacia dealbata ) in rural parts of the Drakensberg region of South Africa and the importance of the trees to the livelihoods of the local communities was carried out. With the aid of aerial photography two plots near the village were selected. Wattle aerial cover increased from 7% and 20% in the two plots, respectively, in 1953, over 21% and 33% in 1975, to 48% and 58% in 2000. In 1995, a government-sponsored national programme, “Working for Water” was established, with the expressed purpose of employing people described as being from the poorest and disadvantaged rural communities to clear areas of invasive alien species from river catchments and water courses. Whilst the programme provides an income to thousands of families in rural areas, it may also be jeopardising the livelihoods of the same communities. The wattle is an important resource for village households; virtually all households used it as their primary heat source and for building materials. Other uses included medicine extraction and 20% of the interviewed households gained income from selling firewood. From the rural communities’ perception, the greatest concern regarding the alien species is its high water consumption (although this did not affect them directly), and the fact that it provides cover to thieves and criminals. Consequently, most villagers wanted either a reduction of the wattle stands (58% and 86% in the 2001 and 2003 study, respectively), or that they remained as at present (42% and 10%, respectively). Leaves from woody legumes have demonstrated large potential as green manures and fodder providers in many agroecosystems. The abundance of the wattle in the study area suggested an exploration of alternative beneficial uses in the low input farming systems practiced. The wattle’s potential as green manure was evaluated in a decomposition trial. In all treatments, the wattle litter immobilised nitrogen from soil, in spite of a high N content of the litter. Plant available P increased in soil after 4–5 months of incubation. We argue that the current practice of externally funded wattle control is not sustainable in the long term. We discuss alternative approaches with a higher level of community participation and ownership, and conclude that the current underutilization of land may, ironically, be one of the largest constraints for a viable solution to the spread of wattle.

Within the European Mental Health Status Project, over 200 psychiatric surveys concerning members of the European Union (plus Norway) were examined for their potential for meta-analysis with regard to prevalence of psychiatric disorders and basic demographic and social variables. The diversity of samples, methods, analysis and presentation was such that only data derived from GHQ-12 and CIDI studies could be used, and those relating to sex differentials only. The statistical program ‘Stata’ was used to compute odds ratios (with confidence intervals) for individual studies, and to produce fixed and random effects estimates of the pooled odds ratio for all studies together, and a measure of heterogeneity. Forrest Plots were also produced. Analysis of GHQ-12 data with a cut-off point of 4, indicating a current or recent ‘probable mental health problem’, showed, as expected, that women had higher prevalence rates than men. However, there was a relatively high heterogeneity score, suggesting that these studies may not be measuring the same thing. Analysis of CIDI results showed homogeneity for major depressive disorder within the last 12 months, with the risk for men about half of that for women. In terms of advancing epidemiological knowledge, the results are trivial, at most confirming what is already well known. However, the study shows the potential for pooled analysis, with much greater power in epidemiological investigation if consistency could be achieved in research. Various ways in which this might be done are discussed. It also shows the value of personal knowledge and personal networks in fields which are not well handled by electronic literature databases.

The idea for this special issue arose from discussions by the Council of the Society for South African Geographers in planning for the centenary of Geography in South Africa. Geography was first taught in 1914 at Victoria College which later became Stellenbosch University (Visser, Donaldson, & Seethal, 2016). The first lecturer in Geography - James Hutcheon - was appointed in 1917 at the South African School of Mines and Technology, the institution that was to become the University of the Witwatersrand. The main event marking the centenary of these founding moments is the special bi-annual conference at Stellenbosch in September 2016.

The impact of mine closure can have a devastating effect on the local economies of the towns that they once supported. Drawing on comparative, international material, this article examines the nature and effectiveness of the local economic development responses that have been initiated in the former coal-mining towns in northern KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Although a range of innovative locally identified strategies have been embarked upon, considerably greater effort and investment will be needed in order to catalyse significant and meaningful regeneration endeavours.

The city in South Africa has “been forced to engage in serious soul-searching about their role in a new political order while facing up to complex and dynamic global economic forces” (Hall and Robbins, 2002, p. 43)

© BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2015. Objective To assess the associations between different antidepressant treatments and the rates of suicide and attempted suicide or self harm in people with depression. Design Cohort study. Setting Patients registered with UK general practices contributing data to the QResearch database. Participants 238 963 patients aged 20 to 64 years with a first diagnosis of depression between 1 January 2000 and 31 July 2011, followed up until 1 August 2012. Exposures Antidepressant class (tricyclic and related antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, other antidepressants), dose, and duration of use, and commonly prescribed individual antidepressant drugs. Cox proportional hazards models were used to calculate hazard ratios adjusting for potential confounding variables. Main outcome measures Suicide and attempted suicide or self harm during follow-up. Results During follow-up, 87.7% (n=209 476) of the cohort received one or more prescriptions for antidepressants. The median duration of treatment was 221 days (interquartile range 79-590 days). During the first five years of follow-up 198 cases of suicide and 5243 cases of attempted suicide or self harm occurred. The difference in suicide rates during periods of treatment with tricyclic and related antidepressants compared with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors was not significant (adjusted hazard ratio 0.84, 95% confidence interval 0.47 to 1.50), but the suicide rate was significantly increased during periods of treatment with other antidepressants (2.64, 1.74 to 3.99). The hazard ratio for suicide was significantly increased for mirtazapine compared with citalopram (3.70, 2.00 to 6.84). Absolute risks of suicide over one year ranged from 0.02% for amitriptyline to 0.19% for mirtazapine. There was no significant difference in the rate of attempted suicide or self harm with tricyclic antidepressants (0.96, 0.87 to 1.08) compared with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, but the rate of attempted suicide or self harm was significantly higher for other antidepressants (1.80, 1.61 to 2.00). The adjusted hazard ratios for attempted suicide or self harm were significantly increased for three of the most commonly prescribed drugs compared with citalopram: venlafaxine (1.85, 1.61 to 2.13), trazodone (1.73, 1.26 to 2.37), and mirtazapine (1.70, 1.44 to 2.02), and significantly reduced for amitriptyline (0.71, 0.59 to 0.85). The absolute risks of attempted suicide or self harm over one year ranged from 1.02% for amitriptyline to 2.96% for venlafaxine. Rates were highest in the first 28 days after starting treatment and remained increased in the first 28 days after stopping treatment. Conclusion Rates of suicide and attempted suicide or self harm were similar during periods of treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and tricyclic and related antidepressants. Mirtazapine, venlafaxine, and trazodone were associated with the highest rates of suicide and attempted suicide or self harm, but the number of suicide events was small leading to imprecise estimates. As this is an observational study the findings may reflect indication biases and residual confounding from severity of depression and differing characteristics of patients prescribed these drugs. The increased rates in the first 28 days of starting and stopping antidepressants emphasise the need for careful monitoring of patients during these periods.

Biogeography is a natural science that deals with the study of the earth's plant and animal distribution patterns in geographical space, both in terms of the present day and also in the context of their evolution and development over time. It has deep historical roots in the identification of the spatial relationships of organisms, while its fundamental principles embody those of the theory of evolution and the ecosystem concept. More recently, the work of, among others, Robert Mac Arthur and Edward Wilson, has proved instrumental in developing thinking as to how organisms achieve and maintain their ranges. Over longer, geological, time scales, the key principles of biogeography include the influence of changing global geography, especially through continental drift, on biological distributions. In the context of the present day and more recent past, climate and climatic change are regarded as the most significant factors determining the distributions of organisms. Biogeography is applicable to a...

After many years of confusion, thermal performance of sleeping bags has now been quantified and unified using expensive test techniques. Based on Newton's law of cooling, we present a simple inexpensive test and model to check manufacturers' claims on the temperature performance of a range of modern sleeping bags.

Strachan, K.L.; Hill, T.R.; Finch, J.M.; Barnett, R.L., and Frenzel, P., 2017. Distribution of salt-marsh foraminifera in two South African estuaries and the application as sea-level indicators. The global mean sea level is rising as a result of climate change and is likely to affect millions of people. It is essential to understand and quantify regional relative sea-level variability to be able to predict future changes. Proxy evidence is necessary for extending our understanding of past sea-level changes beyond the industrial era, and salt-marsh foraminifera have become an important tool for reconstructing late Holocene sea-level changes. In South Africa, little is known regarding the distribution of salt-marsh foraminifera and their use as sea-level indicators, thereby limiting their application in sea-level research. This study therefore describes the distribution of living and dead surface foraminifera from two study sites along the SE South African coastline. The full surface dataset has be...

Development planning in South Africa is moving towards a people-centred, democratic approach with a strong emphasis on community involvement, which had previously been lacking. This paradigmatic shift to an integrated and considerate approach lends itself to the inclusion of spatially orientated geographical information systems (GIS) technology. The paper outlines a number of South African planning processes and shows how GIS could be incorporated to the betterment of these processes. Cognisance is taken of a number of concerns surrounding the utilisation of what is traditionally perceived to be a top-down, authoritative, technocratic technology. A number of solutions are proposed, including the development of a participatory GIS and the co-construction of decision-making processes through community communication. A key issue to consider is the need for the planning process to develop a ‘conscience’ and become ‘considerate’, in order to facilitate the development and implementation of a successful process...