relationship between land use and soil erosion in the communal lands near Peddie town, Eastern Cape, South Africa
The origins and development of severe forms of erosion are traced in the communal villages located in a part of the dividing ridge between the Great Fish and Keiskamma rivers near Peddie town, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Progressive changes in land use and soil erosion distribution are reconstructed by analysing sequential aerial photographs of the area between 1938 and 1988. The distributions of the two phenomena are mapped and quantified at the different dates using PC ARC/INFO GIS. Observable soil erosion is confined to the communal lands at all the dates.