Upland rehabilitation (Craigieburn Village - CB)
Phase 1 of the Wetlands and livelihoods project (see Pollard et al. 2005)highlighted that causes of wetland degradation were not solely from within-wetland practices but in fact resulted from land-uses and landcover changes in the surrounding uplands – the wider catchment of Craigieburn (see figure below) within which the wetlands occur. In response we initiated the Craigieburn uplands initiative to address these issues. This project started in 2006 as a pilot project funded through the First Rand Foundation.
The reason for this is that we have recognised different ‘tenure’ systems (see Governance of Wetlands Natural Resources) which might require quite different ways of working with people: homestead plots which are essentially privately managed; ‘public land’ which lies between houses, and fields and the fields themselves. Thus our approach is very much one of ‘learning-by-doing’ together with Craigieburn residents and in order to take a more careful approach we have started with work on peoples’ homestead plots. The objective is to provide support for soil and water conservation. This involves the following activities: collaborative mapping of the soil and water conservation related problems in Craigieburn; raising awareness of soil and water protection with community, government and service providers; collaborative design and implement appropriate techniques for soil and water conservation in homestead fields; collaborative monitoring and collaborative reflection on soil and water conservation activities. (LINK PHOTOS 1 and 2).