Title:
Bush Encroachment in Namibia - Turning an Environmental Hazard into a Socio-Economic Opportunity
Author(s):
Honsbein, D., Lindeque, C.M.
Document(s):
Paper
Poster
Abstract:
It has been estimated that bush encroachment in Namibia is increasing each year by approximately 3.2%, regardless of any ongoing efforts to extract the bush. In comparison, bush encroachment in South Africa expands by some 2.5% per annum. In the Namibian case, this means that bush encroachment is growing faster than the country’s national population. Simply stemming this spread of bush encroachment each year would require de-bushing and biomass harvesting activities across 1.4 million hectares per annum, while substantially reducing bush encroachment over Namibia’s rangelands is a far greater challenge. Currently, the national concerted de-bushing and harvesting efforts are optimistically estimated at a mere 200 000 hectares per year (0.5 % of the total national potential). Thus, there is abundant potential to engage in large scale harvesting and biomass utilisation activities, and still sustain the resource for several generations to come. Additionally, the re-growth of bush after harvesting can occur within a year, if no aftercare measures are used to curb it.
Keywords:
agricultural residues, charcoal, power generation, pyrolysis, wood chip, densification
Topic:
Industry Sessions
Subtopic:
Biomass Resources (Crops, SRF, Algae and Organic Waste)
Event:
25th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
IDV.3.12
Pages:
1998 - 2005
ISBN:
978-88-89407-17-2
Paper DOI:
10.5071/25thEUBCE2017-IDV.3.12
Price:
FREE
