Lubombo, Swat – In the heart of the Jilobi Forest, a biodiversity hotspot in Eswatini’s eastern Lubombo region, there have been long-standing disputes and tensions running high between the three chiefdoms that inhabit the area.
But recently, the drive to preserve their shared land has led them to abandon their rivalry.
“There were disputes over boundary lines and resource management that strained relations and hindered peaceful coexistence,” said Muzi Maziya, a 32-year-old from Lukhetseni constituency, one of the chiefdoms in the remote area of the country formerly known as Swaziland.
“Most disputes resulted in illegal activities such as logging and cattle rustling by outsiders and people from the communities taking advantage of the polarization.”
Rivalries dating back to the 1980s between the chiefdoms of Maphungwane, Tikhuba and Lukhetseni posed a serious threat to the diversity of the Jilobi forest, environmentalists said.
“Border disputes have been an ongoing challenge and have resulted in a strained relationship between chiefdoms,” Chief Maliwa Maziya of Maphungwane, the largest chiefdom inhabiting the forest, told Al Jazeera.
“The rivalry often led to illegal activities such as cattle rustling,” he said. Members of one community stole livestock belonging to a neighboring chiefdom to stop farmers from grazing on disputed land.
The problems worsened as outsiders took advantage of the tensions and moved into the area, soon depleting much of the resources.
This led to the poaching of wild animals such as warthogs and samango monkeys, as well as the illegal harvesting of plants for medicine and food.
Collective efforts
The forest is of cultural significance to the Maziya clan of Maphungwane and the Dlaminis of Lukhetseni, said Nomsa Mabila, project manager at local environmental organization Indalo Eswatini.
Locals from the Maziya and Dlamini clans also bury family members in the forest. “It is a common belief among communities that the souls of their ancestors roam the forests, so they believe the land should be preserved and never disturbed,” Mabila told Al Jazeera.
But “unsustainable land use, harvesting of medicinal plants without consent and poaching have threatened this natural treasure,” she said.
Thembisile Myeni is a small farmer in this region. She told Al Jazeera she believes locals know best when it comes to conservation.
For generations, the people of Tikhuba, Maphungwane and Lukhetseni chiefdoms have relied on their close relationship with the Jilobi forest for survival and have viewed themselves as custodians of this invaluable natural resource, Myeni explained.
People regularly adopt sustainable farming practices, which include protecting the area from pests and diseases and avoiding protected areas, she said.
“There is a concerted effort in our communities to protect the forest from threats,” she told Al Jazeera.
Bhekithemba Matsenjwa, a member of the Maphungwane community, also highlighted the central role that the forest plays in people’s lives.
“It has a rich ecosystem and is home to endangered species such as the endemic cycad and the samango monkey.”
The ironwood tree, locally known as Bukhunkhu in SiSwati, also grows abundantly in the forest. Matsenjwa shed light on its importance to the Maphungwane.
“It has a variety of uses, from building houses to making furniture, and is an all-round important resource for the community,” he said, emphasizing that the communities living around the forest use responsible and sustainable harvesting methods and know they are not harming the forest but to replenish its resources.
Biodiversity hotspot threatened
However, when the chiefdoms were at odds and disputes arose between them over boundaries and whose cattle should graze where, conservation was not always a priority.
Mabila of Indalo Eswatini, which advocates for natural resource management in biodiverse landscapes, noted that while rivalries continued, forest-dwelling animals were quickly being wiped out by poachers.
“Recent research has shown the rich biodiversity and unique butterflies in Jilobi Forest. All of this was at risk due to rapid deforestation,” she said.
“In the last 20 years, deforestation has been a major problem for Jilobi,” Seth Maphalala, a biodiversity consultant and ecology expert, told Al Jazeera.
“The rural communities surrounding this forest exploited the forest’s resources by, among other things, cutting down trees and never replacing them,” he said.
As the population increased, people from outside the three communities using the forest’s natural resources, particularly for traditional medicine, remained unhindered, and the problem worsened, Maphalala said.
“There have been cases where people have stripped the bark from an entire tree to obtain enough resources for medicinal purposes.”
The forest’s cycads, globally endangered plants, and other plants in the forest are highly vulnerable to poaching for medicinal purposes.
To protect the Jilobi Forest from repeated encroachments, it became essential for the chiefdoms to reconcile to jointly manage and protect the area.
So a group of local and international organizations intervened.
“Common heritage”
One of these interventions was an ecotourism development project that began in 2021, a joint initiative between the Jilobi Joint Trust committee and Indalo Eswatini, Mabila said.
The project supports locals in managing the sustainability of the forest while paving the way for reconciliation between chiefdoms – a step seen as necessary to curb activities such as illegal logging and deforestation.
“Ultimately, conversations were facilitated to help chiefs and communities recognize that the ongoing rivalry is damaging not only their collective heritage but also the precious Jilobi Forest,” Mabila said.
Chiefdoms were receptive to a change of course when they knew that forest conservation would be particularly beneficial to their communities.
The Joint Management Committee was established in 2021 to assist the three chiefdoms in jointly managing Jilobi’s resources by jointly developing a reforestation plan that includes responsible forestry practices such as responsible grazing and avoidance of protected areas.
“We were able to resolve our differences,” said Chief Maliwa.
Since chiefs are a moral compass for their communities, it was important to convince them of the importance of conservation projects.
“[I] Always encourage the community to invest in Jilobi by establishing businesses such as lodges,” the chief said.
“People were worried about where they would take their livestock to graze if some parts of it [Jilobi] were taboo. I told them we have a lot of land in the area. They listened,” he said of forbidding his people from using the forest for grazing.
Despite conflicting opinions among chiefdoms over whether tourists could have a negative impact on the forest, Maliwa said this would not necessarily be the case.
“The paths used by tourists are already laid out to get the best view of the forest without having to cut down trees,” he said.
Meanwhile, workshops have been added as another pillar of the program, Mabila said, to “make the larger community aware of the value of biodiversity and the role of the Jilobi Forest in reducing vulnerability to climate change.”
The population of the three chiefdoms inhabiting Jilobi Forest is estimated at 25,000. About 500 people from each chiefdom took part in the workshops, Mabila said. In addition, another 75 people – 25 from each chiefdom – are key participants in the workshops. Together they agree on a plan to help their communities manage the forest together.
Mabila said it wasn’t easy to get people to share similar views, but through the workshops the majority of community members and chiefs – who are ultimately the ones who can decide how best to manage their forest – now have a shared understanding of how we can protect the area together.
In addition, a new pilot project, a collaboration with the United Nations Development Program Eswatini and Indalo Eswatini, launched in September. The aim is to establish permaculture gardens near the Jilobi Forest, promote wildlife conservation and improve community livelihoods. Mabila said about nine homesteads near the forest had received gardening materials.
In 2019, UNESCO declared the Lubombo region a biosphere reserve. “Biosphere reserves involve local communities and all interested stakeholders in their planning and management,” says UNESCO.
‘A turning point’
Locals largely agree that the conservation projects have been successful.
Nothando Shongwe, a 27-year-old from Tikhuba, told Al Jazeera that his grandfather used to harvest cycads in the forest, but he noticed that a large number of outsiders were also harvesting the endangered plant.
“Since the area was placed under protection, fewer people have come to harvest. Also, many people used to graze their livestock in Jilobi, but now it is fenced and they graze elsewhere.”
Nompumelelo Ndzabandzaba, chairwoman of the Jilobi Committee, told Al Jazeera that locals had benefited from projects that helped raise funds for community development.
Joseph Khoza from Tikhuba described the projects as “a turning point for the community”.
But not everyone sees this as the best path forward. Matsenjwa, a member of the Maphungwane community, is concerned about the motivations of outsiders who demand a particular type of conservation.
“It seems to me that the organizations that come to the area and raise awareness about conservation are just driven by greed to secure funds from donors,” he said.
“You must understand that the forest is a sacred place used for burial purposes by the Maziya clan. Now these organizations want to turn the place into a tourist hotspot. This is against our culture and the chief should know better,” Matsenjwa said.
“I know my feelings on this matter have made me unpopular before, but it is my opinion as a resident,” he added, concluding that while he respects traditional authorities, he believes “sometimes they will misled.”
This piece was published in collaboration with Egab.