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The management of a country’s natural resources is a key element of sustainable development.  The Swazi nation is heavily dependent on natural resources such as freshwater, animals and plants for provision of its basic needs.  The access, control and ownership of natural resources are important governance issues for rural people who depend on these resources for their livelihoods.

The principle that individuals and communities can access and benefit from natural resources in known as an environmental right, and is recognised as part of the basic human right.

What are Environmental Rights?
Environmental Rights concern the entitlement that everyone has to use and protect natural resources.  The Rio Earth Summit in 1992 recognised a number of issues in relation to environmental rights:

• That human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development.  They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.
• That environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned citizens.
• That indigenous people and local communities have a vital role in environmental management and development because of their knowledge and traditional practices.

Communities also have a duty to ensure that levels of natural resources are not depleted, and that their use does not compromise the ability of future generations from enjoying the same benefits.

The fact that wild animals or plants are enclosed in protected areas should not deprive local users of resources they have always utilised in the past.  However, if biodiversity is threatened to such an extent that traditional patterns of use are restricted, then perhaps rural communities should be compensated for this loss of resource.

Conservation has its pros and cons: protected areas can help to safeguard biodiversity and generate tourist revenue for governments and the private sector, notably through game viewing and trophy hunting.  Unfortunately conservation can also have a negative effect on local communities.  Throughout southern Africa there are cases of rural populations who have either been displaced from their homes or forced to relinquish their land for the benefit of privately owned protected areas.

Community Conserved Areas
Yonge Nawe believe that empowering local communities to manage natural resources would be one way of securing a more equitable approach to conservation and resource use in Swaziland.

At an international meeting in 2003 organised by the African Resources Trust and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) it was recognised that there is strong evidence that community conserved areas deliver substantial institutional, livelihood and conservation benefits.  However to date this practice has not been applied to best effect in the southern African region.

A greater emphasis on community ownership and participation in natural resources management would represent a significant step forward in guaranteeing environmental rights for the Swazi people.  Next week we will detail examples of community ownership and participation being achieved in practice.