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Dr V. Ralph Clark is the pioneer Director of the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU, QwaQwa Campus: University of the Free State). The ARU is located at the foot of the highest mountains in Africa south of Mt Kilimanjaro: the Maloti-Drakensberg (3,500 m; South Africa-Lesotho). The ARU's Vision is to become A Continental Leader in African Mountain Research, with an immediate focus on the sustainable development of the Maloti-Drakensberg. The research philosophy of the ARU is social-ecological systems (SES) thinking. The ARU is also advocating for a science-policy-action interface for southern African mountains as transboundary systems facing immense and complex challenges. The Mission of the ARU is to facilitate the development and capacity building of an African-based mountain research ‘community of practice’ of high excellence that informs global mountain research theory & practice and contributes to mountain-related policy and governance from an African perspective, thus balancing a predominance of mountain research driven from the Global North/Northern Hemisphere. Other than driving a competent, multi-disciplinary mountain research team & international collaborations, Dr Clark's personal research expertise focus on exploring the poorly-known plant diversity of southern African mountains, and translating this into biogeographic understanding for conservation and sustainable use outcomes.
The Maloti-Drakensberg (MD) is the largest and highest-elevation mountain system in southern Africa. Covering 40,000 km2 and reaching 3500 m, the MD provides a range of ecosystem services (ES) to the entire southern African region—benefitting diverse users and extending well beyond the mountains. Rapid socioecological change threatens the provision of ES and presents multidimensional challenges to sustainable development. However, the continued land degradation and persisting socioeconomic problems indicate that development policy has not been effective in tackling these issues. In this paper, a multidisciplinary literature review forms the basis of a discussion which takes an ES framing to scrutinise the multidimensional social, political, economic and cultural issues in the study area. Three critical management systems are presented, and their associated ES are discussed, namely, water transfer, rangelands and conservation and tourism. In particular, the diversity of ES uses and values in the MD is considered. The results reveal the main drivers of continued unsustainable development and highlight important information gaps.
Jess Delves; V. Clark; Stefan Schneiderbauer; Nigel Barker; Jörg Szarzynski; Stefano Tondini; João Vidal; Andrea Membretti. Scrutinising Multidimensional Challenges in the Maloti-Drakensberg (Lesotho/South Africa). Sustainability 2021, 13, 8511 .
AMA StyleJess Delves, V. Clark, Stefan Schneiderbauer, Nigel Barker, Jörg Szarzynski, Stefano Tondini, João Vidal, Andrea Membretti. Scrutinising Multidimensional Challenges in the Maloti-Drakensberg (Lesotho/South Africa). Sustainability. 2021; 13 (15):8511.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJess Delves; V. Clark; Stefan Schneiderbauer; Nigel Barker; Jörg Szarzynski; Stefano Tondini; João Vidal; Andrea Membretti. 2021. "Scrutinising Multidimensional Challenges in the Maloti-Drakensberg (Lesotho/South Africa)." Sustainability 13, no. 15: 8511.
Southern African mountains remain poorly studied as social-ecological systems (SES) and are poorly represented in the global mountain discourse. However, these mountains provide essential ecosystem services (ES) that underpin local and regional development. Quantitative data on ES, their representation in policy, and the political will for sustainable management are limited. We demonstrate this using the Manica Highlands (MH; Zimbabwe—Mozambique): benefiting one million immediate and five million downstream beneficiaries, the seven identified ES are supported in the literature but lack recent quantitative data needed to persuade policymakers for action to promote sustainability. The ES are most at risk from mining, alien invasive species, rapid land transformation, and climate change – yet fine-scale quantitative data to inform mountain-specific policy on these are also lacking. We recommend a ‘science to policy to action’ agenda for the MH, but highlight that the greatest challenge to achieving sustainability is a lack of effective governance; therefore it may be difficult to change ‘immediate benefits’-thinking to higher ideals that would render the ES of the MH sustainable. As a result, academics, civic society, policy makers and governance instruments should work closely together to quantify the value of the MH, and to formulate specific policy for the MH.
V. Ralph Clark; João De Deus Vidal; Isla M. Grundy; Togarasei Fakarayi; Susan L. Childes; Nigel P. Barker; H. Peter Linder. Bridging the divide between intuitive social-ecological value and sustainability in the Manica Highlands of southern Africa (Zimbabwe-Mozambique). Ecosystem Services 2019, 39, 100999 .
AMA StyleV. Ralph Clark, João De Deus Vidal, Isla M. Grundy, Togarasei Fakarayi, Susan L. Childes, Nigel P. Barker, H. Peter Linder. Bridging the divide between intuitive social-ecological value and sustainability in the Manica Highlands of southern Africa (Zimbabwe-Mozambique). Ecosystem Services. 2019; 39 ():100999.
Chicago/Turabian StyleV. Ralph Clark; João De Deus Vidal; Isla M. Grundy; Togarasei Fakarayi; Susan L. Childes; Nigel P. Barker; H. Peter Linder. 2019. "Bridging the divide between intuitive social-ecological value and sustainability in the Manica Highlands of southern Africa (Zimbabwe-Mozambique)." Ecosystem Services 39, no. : 100999.
The Afro-alpine Zone is a fragmented vegetation type that occurs above 3200 m elevation on 14 scattered mountains and covers some 4525 km2 in tropical Africa. Defined by the strong diurnal climate of “summer every day and winter every night,” the Afro-alpine Zone is typified by a unique flora characterized by Giant Groundsel and Giant Lobelia species. The Afro-alpine Zone is mostly concentrated in the eastern region of the continent, with a single western occurrence on Mount Cameroon. It is estimated that the Afro-alpine region harbors between 515 and 521 species of flowering plants, 52 fern species, and > 277 moss species, with endemism levels around 35% for flowering plants and 30% for mosses. This represents moderate diversity and richness compared to other tropical alpine areas such as the Páramos of the South American Andes and the highlands of New Guinea. Typical plant communities in the Afro-alpine are tussock- and shrub-dominated grasslands and alpine bogs or fens, in which are embedded communities of Giant Lobelias and particularly Giant Groundsels. Biogeographically, the evolution of Afro-alpine diversity appears to be driven by age, size, and the geographical proximity of the mountains to each other, similar to the processes described by the General Dynamic Model for oceanic islands but overall much more complex. Due to the difficulty of exploration in some of these mountains and the limitation and biases of the available literature, there is work to be done in terms of finalizing data on the Afro-alpine biotic composition and determining its underlying biogeographic history. Understanding these processes may provide important insights on the conservation of these unique habitats, which are especially threatened by immediate human activities (e.g., overuse of fire) and anthropogenic-driven climatic change.
João De Deus Vidal; V. Ralph Clark. Afro-Alpine Plant Diversity in the Tropical Mountains of Africa. Encyclopedia of the World's Biomes 2019, 373 -394.
AMA StyleJoão De Deus Vidal, V. Ralph Clark. Afro-Alpine Plant Diversity in the Tropical Mountains of Africa. Encyclopedia of the World's Biomes. 2019; ():373-394.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJoão De Deus Vidal; V. Ralph Clark. 2019. "Afro-Alpine Plant Diversity in the Tropical Mountains of Africa." Encyclopedia of the World's Biomes , no. : 373-394.