Posts Tagged ‘Beaufort West’
Gradients in vegetation cover, structure and species richness of Nama-Karoo shrublands…
1. Gradients of animal impact known as piospheres tend to develop around artificial watering points, particularly in arid zones. Such grazing gradients represent a potential opportunity for differentiating the long-term effects of livestock activity from other environmental patterns. In this study, the impact of watering point provision on the plant cover, species richness and community…
Read MoreBiostratigraphic correlation in the Karoo
The richness of fossil tetrapods from the Beaufort Group of South Africa has enabled biostratigraphic subdivision of this Permo-Triassic succession, with global applicability. Despite being the thickest of the seven biozones recognised, attempts at further subdivision of the Middie Permian TafJinocephalus Assemblage Zone (Abrahamskraal Formation) have not been successful, largely because the exact stratigraphie ranges of fossil taxa are…
Read MoreReview of Municipal Commonage programme of the Department of Land Affairs
The term municipal commonage is traditionally applied to land owned by a municipality or local authority. The land was usually acquired through state grants or from the church. The land was granted to serve the needs and interests of the poorer residents of the specific town. Commonage lost its traditional character when previously disadvantaged residents…
Read MoreThinking regionally: Aviation and development implications in the Karoo region
This study focuses on regional economic development in South Africa, across provincial political jurisdictions. The article argues that remote hinterlands can be more usefully understood as forming an integrated whole, rather than functioning as the poor rural cousins of their provincial metropoles. This article considers three propositions: that key transport projects (such as airports) may…
Read MoreAn Airport in the Central Karoo
Atkinson, D, Myles, P and Van Rooyen, D (2013), An Airport in the Central Karoo: The Feasibility and Potential Impacts of the Karoo Gateway Airport, Beaufort West. Unpublished commissioned report, Centre for Development Support, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein; Funded by the Royal Embassy of the Netherlands, Pretoria. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. This report…
Read MoreThe tourism potential of Beaufort West
Van Staden, J-W and Marais, L (2005), The tourism potential of Beaufort West: a study based on visitor demand. Development Southern Africa Vol. 22, No. 2. Abstract Tourism is increasingly viewed as a key strategy for promoting local economic development. The integrated development planning (IDP) process of the Beaufort West municipality on the north-eastern…
Read MoreMissing the uranium train
Van Rooyen, D (2012), “Missing the uranium train: Local economic development and civic culture in Beaufort West”, R Donaldson and L Marais (eds), Small Town Geographies in Africa: Experiences from South Africa and Elsewhere, Nova Press. (Author contact: griesd@ufs.ac.za; book for sale from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Small-Town-Geographies-Africa-Experiences/dp/162100001X).
Read MoreBusiness confidence in a Karoo town
Van Rooyen, D (2011), “The U-turn: Business confidence in a Karoo town”, Southern African Business Review, vol. 15, no. 2, 2011. ABSTRACT Business confidence helps explain the sentiments that business owners or managers have towards current and future business conditions. This article compares several ways of measuring business confidence. Business confidence is mostly surveyed…
Read MoreBeaufort West case study
Van Rooyen, D (2007), Beaufort West case study. Unpublished report, Centre for Development Studies, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein. BACKGROUND – BRIEF HISTORY The town of Beaufort West was established in 1818 on the farm Hooyvlakkte at the request of Lord Charles, Somerset, then governor of the Cape. The town was named in honour…
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