The Swaziland National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, 1999

This is the draft Swaziland National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan and as such is a working document and not a formal policy document. It should not be interpreted as the policy of the Government of Swaziland until it has been finally agreed and adopted.

Executive Summary

Despite the small size of the country, Swaziland is topographically and climatically very diverse. This diversity of environmental conditions supports a correspondingly high biological diversity. The primary objective of the Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP) is to develop a plan of action that will prevent the erosion of Swaziland’s biodiversity. BSAP, as a process, does not stand alone but forms part of the Swaziland Environment Action Plan (SEAP).

Chapter 1 introduces the subject of biodiversity and its value, provides a brief summary of the BSAP process, and presents the goals of BSAP. The main socio-economic factors affecting biodiversity are also briefly discussed. There are a wide range of economic values that may be realised from the sustainable exploitation of biodiversity. This has long been recognised both locally and globally. In the Swaziland context, however, there are also a large variety of socio-cultural values attached to biodiversity.

Chapter 2 is an overview of the status of biodiversity in Swaziland by ecosystem. Four main ecosystems are recognised in Swaziland, namely montane grassland, savanna-woodland mosaic, forests and aquatic systems. The grassland and savanna ecosystems comprise 94% of the country, while the forest and aquatic ecosystems are highly restricted in distribution. The savanna ecosystem is currently best conserved (5%), while the remaining three ecosystems have only 2% of their areas formally gazetted as protected areas. Approximately a quarter of each of the terrestrial ecosystems has been converted to some other form of land-use.

The biodiversity of each of the four ecosystems is briefly described in terms of species richness, species endemism, and threatened species of flora and fauna (vertebrates). The savanna ecosystem exhibits the highest degree of species richness, but the grassland ecosystem supports the highest number of endemics. The conservation status of the four ecosystems are compared and ranked using the biodiversity criteria mentioned above together with considerations of current area protected and area converted to other use. Using these criteria, the grasslands and forests rank as the ecosystems with the highest conservation priority. This should not be viewed as evidence for the lack of conservation concern for the other two ecosystems. An analysis at this scale (i.e. ecosystem scale) overlooks fine-scale detail on the habitat scale. Certain habitats within the savanna (e.g. Lubombo Mountains) or aquatic ecosystems (e.g. montane marshes) may rate just as highly as, or even higher than, habitats within the grassland and forest ecosystems. The ecosystem analysis presented here should, therefore, be used as a broad-scale indicator, and not for decision-making at the fine-scale.

The greatest threats to these ecosystems are degradation and conversion to other forms of use. Afforestation (as a result of alien plantations) is the main land use conversion affecting the grassland ecosystem, while bush-clearing for sugar cane cultivation has impacted mostly on the savanna ecosystem. Forests and aquatic ecosystems are suffering from, inter alia, alien plant invasion and unsustainable resource harvesting practises. These four ecosystems provide a wide range of biological resources which are currently being utilised by a large proportion of Swazis on Swazi Nation Land (SNL). In most cases, there are no mechanisms in place to ensure the regeneration of these resources, at least not on SNL.

Agriculture is the backbone of the economy of Swaziland with over 80% of the country’s surface area currently dedicated to agriculture. Maize is the staple food of Swaziland. Although legumes are an important crop in the diet of Swazis, they are not grown to the same extent as maize. The main commercial crops grown in Swaziland are: sugar cane, cotton, citrus, pineapple, tobacco, and non-citrus fruit. Commercial forestry has resulted in the afforestation of large areas of grassland. The principle trees grown are exotic pines and gums. Cattle, goats and fowls are the main types of livestock kept. The Nguni cow is an indigenous breed which is better adapted to the environmental conditions of Swaziland than exotic breeds, and thus should be prevented from extinction through hybridisation.

Chapter 3 provides an assessment of current efforts to conserve and manage biodiversity in Swaziland. There are three main government institutions/bodies responsible for managing biodiversity in the country. These are: the Swaziland National Trust Commission (SNTC), the Swaziland Environment Authority (SEA) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC). In addition to these government bodies there are a number of private bodies (in particular the Big Game Parks) and NGOs which also play a role in conserving and managing the biodiversity of Swaziland. Using crude, but clearing-defined criteria, an analysis was conducted to assess the degree to which the above-mentioned institutions were contributing to the current conservation of biodiversity. It is clear from this analysis that the current institutional structure is not adequately conserving Swaziland’s biodiversity. However, with only relatively small changes it may be possible to transform the current institutions to more effective ones for biodiversity conservation.

A number of laws provide protection to certain components of Swaziland’s biodiversity. The Game Act of Swaziland is, if enforced, a very powerful law. The Game Act provides protection for all species of birds (except one), most of the mammals and two reptiles. The Fish Act provides some protection to fish. Other species of animals are not adequately protected by law in Swaziland. The new Flora Protection Bill provides legal protection to threatened species of plants. The Swaziland National Trust Commission (SNTC) Act and the Swaziland Environment Authority (SEA) Act are also important pieces of legislation for the conservation and management of Swaziland’s biodiversity.

Swaziland has signed and ratified at least 7 International Treaties or Agreements that directly affect biodiversity conservation. These are: the Convention on Biological Diversity; the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification; United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; the Lusaka Agreement; Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora; and African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

A number of in-situ conservation measures are currently in place. There are a total of 17 protected conservation areas in Swaziland of which six are gazetted protected areas (covering 4% of the country’s area). Most of these conservation areas are situated either in the northeast or northwest of Swaziland. In addition to these conservation areas, there are several privately-owned ranches that contain wild game but cannot be considered nature reserves or game parks at this stage. Forty-four protection worthy areas have been identified. These areas are distributed throughout Swaziland and cover all the ecosystems. Protection worthy areas have been ranked base on criteria in the following categories: biological value, physical value, socio-economic value, long-term sustainability value and availability for protection. The ranking of the protection worthy areas was based on a desktop study, and field-based studies are urgently required to corroborate these findings.

There are currently few ex-situ measures in place for the conservation of indigenous, non-domestic animals. There are no reputable zoos, snake parks or crocodile farms (although crocodiles are being kept in captivity by a few land-owners). A few species of large herbivores and large carnivores are kept in a semi-wild state at some of the reserves. However, there are presently no species of indigenous fauna that require ex-situ conservation measures. The option of ex-situ conservation of farm animal genetic resources is currently being pursued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. The local breed of cattle (Nguni) is currently being conserved ex-situ.

The Ex-situ conservation of plant genetic resources (crops and crop relatives) in Swaziland is currently being implemented by the Gene Bank (Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives). The ex-situ conservation of certain indigenous plant species is desirable. To this end, a botanical garden has seriously been proposed at Mantenga Nature Reserve, but requires support in order to ensure its development.

Chapters 4 to 9 present the strategy and action plan. The six substrategies address the protected area network, the sustainable utilisation of biological resources, the conservation of agro-biodiversity, the risk-minimisation of LMOs, the improvement of institutional, policy and legal framework, and the enhancement of public awareness and support for biodiversity conservation. Each substrategy has one goal. The six goals are:

A viable set of representative samples of Swaziland’s full range of natural ecosystems are conserved through a network of protected areas.
Biological resources of natural ecosystems outside of the protected areas network are used sustainably.
The genetic base of Swaziland’s crops and livestock breeds is efficiently conserved.
Risks associated with the use of living, modified organisms (LMOs) in Swaziland are minimized.
The institutional, policy and legal frameworks, as well as the human resources needed to implement the Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, are developed.
Public awareness of, and support for, biodiversity conservation is enhanced.

Associated with each of these six goals are a number of substrategies and priority actions (the latter are summarised in Annex 2).

Chapter 10 suggests a framework for the implementation of BSAP. Possible sources of funding are mentioned, as are the functions of the Steering Committee. It is stressed that BSAP is an integral part of the SEAP process, and as such, BSAP must not be viewed in isolation. It is also suggested that, in implementing BSAP, emphasis be placed on developing projects that fall within regional Spatial Development Initiatives. Furthermore, close cooperation between BSAP and the Convention to Combat Desertification is essential as the goals of these two processes overlap extensively.

Finally, chapter 11 outlines the need for monitoring both the progress of BSAP, and the status of biodiversity in Swaziland.

This page was last updated on 11 October 2005