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Vulture populations are declining globally largely due to deliberate and unintentional persecution and poisoning of animal carcasses which the birds consume. The objectives of this study were to: (i) assess local people's knowledge and perceptions of vultures and their ecological importance and (ii) determine the socio-cultural uses of vulture body parts in communities adjacent to the northern Gonarezhou National Park, south-eastern Zimbabwe. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered through interviews with randomly selected household representatives (n = 81) in August 2016. Our results showed that the majority of study respondents, 72.9% (n = 59) reported the need to conserve vultures for their socio-ecological importance to the local communities. Respondents acknowledged the importance of vultures as agents of cleaning the environment, hence maintaining ecosystem health. However, a concern for vulture population decline due to poisoning was reported by most respondents of 71.6% (n = 58). Vulture's organs were reported to be used mostly to enhance dreaming or having visions about the future followed by healing and lastly magic use. We recommend enhanced conservation awareness and education on vultures' conservation and restrictions on access to and use of hazardous chemicals which may likely be used in poisoning wildlife. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assessed land cover and land use change in Driefontein Grasslands Important Bird Area (Driefontein IBA), Zimbabwe, after the land reforms that took place in 2000, using remotely sensed satellite land cover images of 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010. A drive transect was done for ground truthing. Data were analysed spatially in a Geographical Information System environment. Changes in land cover and land use proportions were recorded from 1995 to 2010 throughout the Driefontein IBA. The land cover classes of grassland and wetland showed a decrease, whereas land area under cultivation increased during 1995-2010. However, the woodland area marginally remained constant over the same time. We concluded that changes in land cover in the study area were largely driven by land use change, i.e., increase in cultivation, following the resettlement of people within the Driefontein IBA. It is likely that with increasing human population the natural habitat of the study area will be degraded further, negatively impacting key sensitive habitats such as wetlands, bird species, and other biodiversity. Threats to birds and wetlands habitats are also threats to human livelihoods because people in this semi-arid area depend on wetland ecosystem services for their survival. The study recommends continuous monitoring of Driefontein IBA for conservation of birds and their habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An assessment was done to determine the abundance and structure of baobab (Adansonia digitata) across Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe. Baobabs were sampled on fifteen belt transects of constant width of 300 m with fifteen baobabs in each belt transect determined the length of a particular belt transect between May and June 2012. Our results showed that there were no significant differences in basal area, height and density of baobabs across Gonarezhou. Moreover, elephant (Loxodonta africana) dung counts and damaged baobabs were similar across Gonarezhou. Our findings suggest a relatively similar spatial effect of elephant herbivory and other disturbance regimes on baobabs in Gonarezhou. We recommend the continuous monitoring of baobab woodland stands across Gonarezhou. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assessed woody vegetation composition and structure in Mapembe Nature Reserve, eastern Zimbabwe. Woody vegetation was sampled during the period May-June in 2012. Using a stratified random sampling design, we delineated the study area into three strata; plains, mountain and wetland areas. We recorded a total of 1443 woody plants representing 17 woody species assessed from 30 sample plots. Our results from Kruskal Wallis-H test showed significance differences in plant height, canopy volume, and tree density across the study strata (P < 0.05). In contrast, no significant differences were observed in basal area, shrub canopy volume, shrub density and woody species diversity. Our study results highlighted woody vegetation degradation on wetlands and mountains of Mapembe Nature Reserve, which was attributed to anthropogenic factors. The study recommends in-depth woodland inventory, collaborative arrangements with the local surrounding human communities and improved law enforcement strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]