Natural
Resources, Wealth and Power
28 June 2004
Natural resources are a major
source of wealth and power in Africa; they are also a key to rural development
and good governance. Natural resources such as land, minerals, forests,
wildlife, and water are central to the livelihoods of 70% of the population
and dominate some Africa economies (Anderson 2003). Swaziland like her
counterpart African countries is endowed with these rich natural resources
and her economy rests on these resources.
Access and control
Access and control over natural
resources is the major governance issue especially for rural people who
have since time immemorial depended on these resources for their livelihoods.
Natural resources are the basis for life on this planet, and their exploitation
constitutes the primary source of livelihoods for most of the world's population
especially poor rural populations. Social injustices (forced removals,
loss of community access and control to natural resources, and damage to
livestock or crops from increasing wildlife populations) associated with
parks establishment fuelled the demand for democratic natural resource
management in Southern Africa.
Colonial conservation policies
Colonial conservation policies
introduced in the last century in Swaziland sought to preserve flora and
fauna by separating them from local inhabitants. This deprived rural communities
of their livelihood, forcing them to harvest natural products illegally,
and threatening the existence of some wild species. Many communities suffered,
losing both their land and their access to wildlife, without receiving
adequate restitution. Today, communities, rural resource users living adjacent
parks decry exclusion and alienation from consumptive access to natural
resources within protected areas and natural reserves they depended on
since time immemorial.
People and wildlife conflicts
Wildlife is a valuable natural
resource, capable of sustaining economies and livelihoods. Conflict between
people and wildlife is a major conservation issue that is difficult to
resolve. Wildlife can destroy crops; kill livestock, damage property and
natural resources, and pose serious threats to human health and safety.
A number of incidences were reported in the media of community loosing
their crops and livestock to marauding animals.
Management of natural resources
Management of natural resources
has become the frontline of the struggle for more sustainable and equitable
development. It has been argued that local communities must have direct
control over the utilisation and benefits of natural resources (wildlife,
marine, forest products etc) in order to value them in a sustainable manner.
The Southern African region is promoting Community Based Natural Resources
Management (CBNRM) as both a conservation and rural development strategy.
CBNRM aims to contribute to the sustainable enhancement of rural livelihoods
in Southern Africa by promoting a broader and deeper understanding of how
natural resources can be managed sustainably through group based institutions
and decision making. CBNRM is seen as a sustainable development option
that will lead to sustainable use and management of natural resources,
reduction in conflicts over natural resources and poverty alleviation.
Above all, constructively working together with local people is the most
feasible and morally just way to achieve legitimate long-term equitable
and sustainable nature conservation.
Join Yonge Nawe in a public
discussion on "Wildlife Conflicts in Swaziland" to be held at the Mountain
Inn, on 1 July 2004 at 0900hrs. Register now!!
Watch this column for subsequent
articles natural resources management issues in Swaziland.
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