Southern Forests: a Journal of Forest Science

A modern day forester in South Africa assumes a variety of roles that constantly challenge them to remain professionally relevant in a dynamic system including the continuously expanding number of stakeholders that cuts across political, social and economic boundaries. This study is important in understanding how a forester’s job has shifted from simply managing trees and forests for timber to managing trees and forests to achieve the interests of various stakeholders and biological ecosystems that are influenced by industry. This research contributed to a global programme involving the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO). The programme addressed the needs of future employers and economic innovators in the field of forestry. A variety of data collection methods were used to complete this empirical research. The research strategy adopted was implementing case studies where students and academic experts from four tertiary institutions were interviewed. A sample of individuals from the forestry sector was also drawn for interviews. The findings from this research provided insight and perspective on the challenges facing tertiary education of foresters in South Africa, such as the subject of the disciplinarity of forestry as a profession as opposed to more interdisciplinary careers where in addition to modules that are grounded in the discipline, other types of natural sciences are also considered in curriculum design. The main conclusions drawn from this study are that a higher level of integration of social sciences in forestry curricula is pivotal to resolving some of the challenges facing the forestry sector, and that in light of programmes whose delivery process is severely restricted by budget constraints, solutions developed jointly between industry and tertiary institutions should be ongoing

This comparative study analysed the compliance behaviour of local communities towards culturally protected areas and state-protected indigenous forests. Interviews were conducted with 135 households from four villages. Data analysis was done using non-parametric tests. All villages did not significantly differ in the proportion of compliance behaviour in cultural protected areas (χ²(3) = 5.21; p = 0.15) and state-protected indigenous forests (χ²(3) = 5.10; p = 0.16). The majority of local people (76%) were compliers to the cultural protected areas. In contrast, the majority (73%) were non-compliers to the state-protected indigenous forests. Villages did not significantly differ in the distribution of perceived local values (χ² = 6.77; df = 3; p = 0.08). On average, an individual holds about four perceived local values (x̅  = 3.89, SD = 2.35) out of the seven perceived local values. The highest motive for conservation were the need to protect forest and trees of outstanding utility values (79%), watershed protection (73%), cultural values (61%), endangered species (n = 78(58%), and wildlife habitat (51%). About 50% of local people perceived the decline of state-protected indigenous forest cover. About 90% showed a willingness to take part in conservation. There was no consensus on the strength of enforcement of rules over the last 20 years (χ²(1) = 0.67; p = 0.796). The regression model (χ² = 50.304; df = 7, p = 0.00, R² = 45.5%) revealed that individuals who held fewer perceived local values, perceived negative impact and weaker rules were mostly likely to be non-compliers. People’s experiential knowledge might have triggered intention for conservation, but did not influence compliance behaviour. We suggest that state-protected indigenous forests become more vulnerable to non-compliance when the necessity of resources for rural livelihood arise due to misalignment of the rules to local values, social norms and taboos. This can be addressed through inclusive policy reviews to reconcile diverse values and norms and through genuine co-management arrangement.

The aim of this study was to determine the above-ground stem volume and tree biomass of the multi-stemmed karee tree (Searsia lancea) for its potential use for producing wood chips and/or pellets. A stratified random sampling was done, by selecting two blocks with both sparse and dense Karee stands. In each block, three sparse and three dense karee stands were identified. Within each block, three thinning treatments of only karee stems (no cutting, 50% cutting and 100% cutting by number of stems) were randomly allocated to the selected stands. The average moisture content of karee wood was 35.43%. A 50% cutting in sparse stands produced a total dry biomass of 8.51 ± 3.63 t ha⁻¹ and stem volume of 11.92 ± 6.28 m³ ha⁻¹, and in dense stands it produced a total dry biomass of 16.05 ± 2.42 t ha⁻¹ and stem volume of 22.97 ± 4.38 m3 ha^−1. The 100% cutting (clear-felling) in sparse stands produced a total dry biomass of 10.02 ± 4.48 t ha⁻¹ and stem volume of 14.10 ± 4.01 m³ ha⁻¹, and in dense stands it produced 33.80 ± 2.25 t ha⁻¹ and 60.64 ± 22.97 m³ ha⁻¹. Thus, the clear-felling biomass was significantly higher than that of 50% cutting, which was supported by ANOVA results for tree biomass (p = 0.0078). In contrast, in terms of stem volume, the p-value was 0.08, indicating that 100% cutting was not significantly higher than the 50% cutting treatment. Dense stands were significantly higher than sparse stands in both tree biomass and stem volume comparisons. Generally, this study showed that there is a great potential to utilise stems of karee for biomass.