Contributions of the environmentally protected areas towards the rural livelihoods of the Mafefe Villlage in Lepelle-Nkumpi Municipality, Limpopo province, South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the contributions of environmentally protected areas towards the livelihoods of the rural community of Mafefe village, which is in Limpopo Province, South Africa. A mixed-method research design was followed. A questionnaire was used to gather quantitative data from households regarding characteristics of environmentally protected areas, determinants of rural livelihoods and relationship between environmentally protected areas and rural livelihoods. Focus group and key informants were interviewed using interview schedule to gather qualitative data. Simple random sampling method was used to identify households; key informants were identified through purposive sampling while focus group members were recruited through snowball. Microsoft excel was used to analyse quantitative data from households while thematic analysis procedure was used to analyse qualitative data. The study highlighted the contributions of Lekgalameetse Nature Reserve towards the livelihoods of the rural community of Mafefe village. The findings revealed that establoishment of the nature reserve impacted negatively on the livelihoods of the neighbouring community of Mafefe village and that it is currently supporting some of the households’ livelihoods who are allowed to harvest various types of materials from the area. Recommendations were outlined on how various government role players can intervene to make the nature reserve share benefits with the neighbouring community.