Interpretations of environmental change and diversity: A critical approachto indications of degradation - The case of Kalakamate, northeast Botswana

Studies of environmental change and degradation in semi-arid Africa often p resent contradictory results of the magnitude, severity, causes and effects of observed changes. Central questions are how findings may be generalized and extrapolated, how perceptions of the environment are recognized and an alysed, and how value-judgement terms are defined and used. Emerging theori es about dryland ecosystem dynamics, and ideas on interdisciplinary researc h, formed the background for a geographical study of the environmental hist ory of an agropastoral communal area in North East District, Botswana. Here a comprehensive and discursive summary of the main conclusions of this stu dy is presented. Using methods from the social and natural sciences, enviro nmental outcomes were linked to different 'types' of change, such as effect s of isolated events, of cyclic variation, and of trends. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the area has been described a s severely degraded, but the present results contradict previous descriptio ns and instead describe a temporally fluctuating, and spatially heterogeneo us, environment with few signs of deterioration. Many changes were caused b y isolated physical and social events, while others occurred in cycles. The few long-term 'causative' trends identified showed only small environmenta l impact. Several variables used as degradation indicators were identified, but found to constitute natural phases in the interaction of biophysical a nd socio-economic processes. The local understanding of environmental chang e corresponds quite closely with recent scientific thinking, and this study definitely supports the need for reevaluations of past 'truths' about envi ronmental change in semi-arid Africa. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.