Sustainability Indicators for Swaziland

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NATURAL RESOURCE ASPECTS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN SWAZILAND

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FORESTS

Background

Swaziland being faced with serious problems of deforestation and degradation of her indigenous forests and woodlands. The deforestation and degradation are caused by a complex number of factors such as for example conversion of land to agriculture, uncontrolled extraction of forest products from communal land, large livestock populations, and is further compounded by a number of underlying socio-economic conditions that counteract rational use of the forest and woodlands.

The "Forest Policy and Legislation Project"

The "Forest Policy and Legislation Project" was formulated during a project formulation mission in July-August 1997 and was appraised by DANCED during October-November 1997. The project was agreed in April 1998 and the CTA arrived in Swaziland in September 1998. The project is the first programme component to be implemented under the GOS/DANCED co-operation.

The background for the project is a recognition of Swaziland being faced with serious problems of deforestation and degradation of her indigenous forests and woodlands. The deforestation and degradation are caused by a complex of factors such as for example conversion of land to agriculture, uncontrolled extraction of forest products from communal land, large livestock populations, and is further compounded by a number of underlying socio-economic conditions that counteract rational use of the forest and woodlands.

Very little is documented about the present utilisation and potential values of the indigenous forest and woodlands in Swaziland, and the National forest authorities have inadequate capacity to analyse, plan and manage the forest resources, both due to budgetary constraints and lack of capability. Consequently the broadly formulated National forest policies that exist have not been developed into action plans, and similarly the forest legislation, which is considered fragmented and insufficient to enforce national policies, has not been revised for a very long period of time.

The project has been designed to a duration of 3 years. The first year will focus on creating an overview of the current ecological, socio-economic and institutional situation in the forestry sector, and the output will be the "Green Paper" analysing the status of the sector and indicating scope and options for the future management of it.

The following two years will be used to:

1. prepare forest policy through consultations with relevant stakeholders;
2. revision and updating of forest legislation, and
3. formulation of National Forestry Action Plans.

These activities will be supported with capacity building for institutions involved in the national forest administration and various awareness raising activities such as information campaigns and demonstration projects.

The overall aim of the project is to develop forest policy, legislative basis and forest action planning which would ensure sustainable use of Swaziland's forests and woodlands both with regard to traditional forest products and non-wood forest services. The project activities shall take place through participatory processes involving all the stakeholders, at national as well as local level, and build on enhancement of the general awareness of sustainable forest management among the large variety of stakeholders.

Overview of forest resources

In Swaziland, 'forestry' as a land use relates to commercial plantation forests. So far, indigenous forests, i.e. natural forests and woodlands, are considered as extensive farmland because they are neither managed nor primarily utilised for the production of timber. They are often included in the major land use category 'extraction and collection'.

Forest plantations started in the 1930s when wattle was introduced for the extraction of tannin. The Usutu Forest and Peak Timbers (now Mondi Forests) were established in 1947, and since then other forestry companies, including wood processing industries, have been established.

In 1990, a forest resource inventory was made for Swaziland. A new inventory was undertaken in 1999, using the same forest types to allow comparison. Results from the two inventories are presented in Table 1. It should be noted that the 1999 results are preliminary, as analysis of findings have not yet been completed.

According to this, the total forest area of Swaziland in 1990 was 624,000 ha or almost 36% of the country. The area in 1999 was estimated at 789,000 ha or more than 45% of the country. Due to different methods of measurement (with the 1999 inventory using digitalised maps to measure areas, i.e. it is probably more precise than the 1990 inventory), the findings should be interpreted with caution. However, they do indicate that deforestation may not be a widespread problem in Swaziland.

Table 1 Swaziland forest resources in 1990 and 1999

Plantations

An annual census is made of timber plantations, intended to cover all such plantations on TDL and Government Land, irrespective of size. Timber grown on SNL is not included because of difficulties in collecting information. The latest available census relates to 1996. The collection of data is made by mailing questionnaires to all timber growers and processors. The average response rate 1995/96 was 70 %, but very different for small timber growers in those two years. In general, the figures vary considerably between the two years. It is emphasised that unless stated otherwise, data relate to the 1995/96 figures, i.e. not to the man-made forest area as per 1999 (cf. Table 1).

Plantations for timber production are mainly found in the Highveld. As is seen from Table 2, the two particular censuses covered on average 181,000 ha, of which 64% was forest and 54% was under man-made tree cover, while 4% was clear felled and still not replanted. The man-made forest area under tree cover seems to have increased from 97,944/0.70 = 140,000 ha to 151,000 ha in five years (cf. Table 1). There is 5% of natural forest on plantation estates. The Forest Servicing area includes roads, firebreaks, power lines and villages. Seventy-five per cent of the area was owned by companies and 13% was privately owned sensu stricto.

Table 2 Area of plantation land uses and ownership types, aver. 1995/96

Table 3 Area of man-made forest area by size class and ownership category, aver. 1995/96, ha

Table 3 shows that the man-made forest area under tree cover is dominated by estates of more than 10,000 ha and that the estates of more than 500 ha are almost exclusively in company ownership. Smaller estates are predominantly in private ownership.

The man-made forest area under tree cover is dominated by coniferous species, but Eucalyptus spp. are also important. Wattle covers a comparatively small part of the census area, but according to the 1999 inventory wattle woodlots comprise 29,000 ha (cf. Table 1).

Table 4 Man-made forest area by tree species, aver. 1995/96

The coniferous area is dominated by Pinus patula, but P. elliottii is also important while P. taeda holds the third position. P. patula has become more used in recent years.

Table 5 Area of coniferous species, aver. 1995/96, ha

Eucalyptus saligna and E. grandis are mainly found in the youngest age classes because their use for pulpwood dominates. The same holds true for wattle in the plantations covered. Expected market development leads to a conversion of Pinus spp. into Eucalyptus spp., growing conditions permitting.

Conifers are used for sawlogs and pulpwood, in the ratio of 1 to 2. When used for sawlogs, the rotation is 26 years, when used for pulpwood 18-20 years. Eucalyptus spp. are mainly used for sawlogs, mining timber and pulpwood, ratios 1:2:2+. The rotation period for the three uses is 15-25, 8-10, and 10 years, respectively. When used for sawlogs and pulpwood, the rotation period for wattle is 12 years.

Table 6 Area of hardwood species by age class, aver. 1995/96, ha

¹ Very little of the wattle area is covered, cf. Table 1.

Table 7 Man-made forest area by species and main timber production, aver. 1995/96, ha

Indigenous forests

More than 80% of the forest area in 1999 is indigenous forest, the main part is drier vegetation units (cf. Table 1). Unfortunately, it is not possible to relate the information from either of the inventories to physiographic zones or vegetation units.

The total volume of wood in indigenous and wattle forests in 1990 was estimated at just over 10 million m³. The figure for 1999 is almost the same. The average standing volume for indigenous forests was 18.5 m³/ha in 1990, and 15.5 m³/ha in 1999. This does not clearly indicate, remembering that the preliminary nature of data calls for caution, that indigenous forests are generally over-harvested. Annual increment in indigenous forests and wattle woodlots is 598,478 m³/year; using a conversion factor of 0.71, this corresponds to 424,919 tonnes/year. Annual household consumption of fuelwood in Swaziland is estimated at 320,000 to 659,000 tonnes/year, which also does not clearly support that over-harvesting takes place. For a discussion of these issues. In general, data does not seem to support the common perception that deforestation and forest degeneration are widespread problems that need to be addressed at the national level.

The average standing volume for indigenous forests in 1990 was 18.5 m³/ha; this figure includes timber, material for posts and fencing, fuelwood and other uses. The most common species in indigenous forests, accounting for 55% of the standing volume, were: Acacia nigrensis, A. karroo, A. swazica, Combretum spp., Syzygium spp., Spirostachys africana, Ziziphus mucronata, Schotia brachypetala and Slerocarya birrea. Some of these species supply important non-timber forest products, e.g. the latter species is 'marula' and is used for a variety of products.

Such information is not yet available for the 1999 inventory. However, a preliminary analysis has been made of the number of useful timber and non-timber plants occurring per ha in indigenous forests. This analysis indicates from 1,900 to more than 3,000 useful plants per ha, with the highest number in Montane and Highland. This indicates that a large number of non-timber forest products, including medicinal plants and fuelwood, are available across physiographic zones and vegetation units.

In a study in 1999, the value of non-timber products (NTFP) has been assessed, the study being focused mainly on angiosperms. Animal products are not included, and neither are forest services, comprising such important functions as erosion control and maintenance of soil fertility.

Given the low income level of the majority of the rural population and the limited potential for alternative livelihood strategies, such as formal wage employment, the natural resource base plays an important role in both subsistence and cash economies in all physiographic zones of Swaziland. Forest and tree products are important components of the natural resource base, e.g. by providing fodder to livestock, building material, medicinal plants, and food products. Utilisation is characterised by being labour intensive, harvested in the wild, and collected for home consumption, barter or sale. NTFP, common property management regimes and indigenous knowledge are important issues, and as they are likely to remain so for a long time in rural communities, they should receive attention in Swaziland.

However, basic information on all aspects of utilisation and conservation of NTFP are missing:

1. Species utilised
2. amounts and values of these species
3. species utilisation patterns, including indigenous management systems and intra-household tasks and responsibilities
4. supply and demand levels, including end uses and end users, and sustainable harvesting rates, and
5. identification of factors determining utilisation patterns, e.g. what is the role and influence of traditional tribal authorities in regulating access to NTFP.

Fuelwood

Indigenous forests are the dominant suppliers of fuelwood in Swaziland. Fuelwood is an important non-timber forest resource to both rural and urban households.

Rural fuelwood use

Fuelwood makes up 91 % of energy consumption. Daily fuelwood consumption per household varies from 8.3 to 17.9 kg, with the higher amounts consumed in the Highveld and the lowest in the Lowveld and Lubombo. When fuelwood becomes scarce, people respond by economising or by switching to other fuels. There is indication that decreasing fuelwood supplies will mainly have a negative effect in lower income groups. Use of charcoal is restricted to urban areas and even there it is not a common fuel.

Urban fuelwood use

Urban households, distributed in urban towns and company towns, use a mix of different fuels, with fuelwood making up 20-60 % of total household energy consumption. Consumption is less in company towns as employees receive coal free from their employers. Though less important than to rural households, fuelwood is a major source of energy for urban households. More than half of the urban population uses fuelwood, and it is assumed unrealistic that a large number of urban households can afford to switch to other sources of energy in the near future, i.e. fuelwood is likely to remain an important source of energy to urban households in the foreseeable future. There is generally an ample supply of fuelwood to urban areas, though the availability of fuelwood that can be collected free in urban and peri-urban areas is reported to be decreasing.

National fuelwood sector

Fuelwood provides almost 24% of all fuel energy used in Swaziland, e.g. three times more than electricity. Lasschuit (1994) argues that total annual wood consumption, of which fuelwood constitutes 79%, in 1990 exceeds wood increment by some 110,000 tonnes, thus indicating an unsustainable situation. However, the calculations indicate an annual national household fuelwood consumption of 320-659,000 tonnes, and thus data on indigenous forest and wattle woodlot increment, indicating an order of magnitude of 425,000 tonnes, does not confirm that forest resources are currently being over-exploited. When considering these data it should be kept in mind: (i) Annual wood increment takes only indigenous forests and wattle forests into account. Considerable amounts of fuelwood are likely to be supplied by commercial plantations and private trees, (ii) annual increment data relate to the 1990 forest inventory and whether this survey provides reliable data on increment is debatable, (iii) the lack of planting trees for fuelwood in rural communities and apparent lack of indigenous management systems could be interpreted as indications that the fuelwood situation in rural areas is generally not perceived to be a serious problem, and (iv) the lack of community interest in community woodlots so far also indicates a low interest in increasing fuelwood supplies in rural areas.

It can thus be argued that estimates of supplies are too low, or of too low validity to be relied upon. Likewise, rural responses to an increase of fuelwood supply are missing, though this may also be due to other factors such as tenure issues. On the other hand, fuelwood consumption may also be higher if consumption by industries is included (no data available). In conclusion, it is uncertain whether a fuelwood crisis exists in Swaziland. However, there is no doubt that fuelwood shortage can be a serious local problem and that fuelwood issues should be addressed in a future forest policy.

Overview of forestry related international conventions which Swaziland has ratified

• Click here for National Forestry Action Plans
• Click here for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
• Click here for the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development
• Click here for the The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) - Forestry Section

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This page was last updated on 03 February 2004