ABSTRACT
Swaziland is severely affected by gully erosion, features known in the Bantu Swazi language as dongas. Gully erosion has been recognized since the 1930s and according to the WMS Associates (1988) it contributes up to 250.000 m3 y−1 to the sediment budget of Swaziland’s rivers. Gully erosion is more important than inter-rill and rill erosion (Märker et al., 2001). This type of erosion is very frequent in the Middleveld region, especially on highly populated, communal land (43,65 inhabitants per km2) with high livestock concentrations. Here, the calculated carrying capacity is 0,27 LSU ha−1
(Live Stock Units) while the actual stocking rate is 0,87 LSU per ha. Numerous studies report that landscape degradation in Southern Africa was started in the nineteen century when first Europeans arrived (Showers, 1996; Keay-Bright and Boardman, 2009). Generally, there is a tendency to attribute gully erosion phenomena to recent human impacts. However gullies have been identified during the Late Quaternary in response to a long-term adjustment of the landscape (Botha et al., 1994; Meadows, 2001). In Southern Africa most of the currently donga formation could be considered as Quaternary manifestations.
