Farmer-reported restoration practices and vegetation recovery in degraded Karoo rangelands, South Africa

Résumé fourni par la source

Rangeland degradation shapes debates on livestock production and ecosystem sustainability in South Africa’s semi-arid Karoo. While numerous restoration techniques have been proposed, evidence of their effectiveness under working farm conditions and over long-time horizons remains limited. This research note synthesises farmer-reported evidence on rangeland restoration practices and outcomes across commercial farms in the Nama-Karoo and Succulent Karoo. Data were collected through structured surveys with 29 experienced farmers and contextualised using published literature on climate, soil and vegetation. Results indicate that restoration success is most strongly associated with adaptive grazing management, particularly conservative stocking and extended rest periods, rather than with specific grazing systems. Passive restoration approaches, including reduced disturbance and natural regeneration, were perceived as robust strategies for stabilising soils and supporting gradual vegetation recovery under variable rainfall. Brush packing as an active restoration was also listed as an effective restoration measure. In contrast, mechanically intensive interventions and reseeding were applied selectively and were widely viewed as costly and unreliable under drought conditions. The findings highlight the resilience of Karoo rangelands when management aligns with ecological constraints and climatic variability. By highlighting farmers’ knowledge, the study frames rangeland restoration as risk management and resilience-building rather than rapid rehabilitation.