Capturing lessons from land-users to aid the development of ecological restoration guidelines for lowland Namaqualand

The main themes to emerge were that protection from strong winds and lack of rainfall were considered the most important impediments to successful restoration. Shade-cloth wind-nets were the most effective method for reducing wind speed and stabilizing mobile sand on mined areas. Transplanting of leaf-succulent species from undisturbed to rehabilitated areas was considered a successful restoration method for re-introduction of indigenous vegetation whilst there was expressed for methods to successfully re-introduce non-succulent perennial species. The cumulative restoration knowledge of land-users provides practical insights for restoring degraded land in lowland Namaqualand as well as highlighting key areas that require further scientific research.