swaziland: biodiversity privatization
and human rights abuses
Swaziland
is a landlocked kingdom in southern Africa,
lying between South Africa and Mozambique.
It is formally governed by a Monarch, a
legislature and a judiciary, but as of
1973, the King has all executive,
legislative and judicial powers vested in
him.
Protected areas make up four percent of
the land. National parks are managed by the
Swaziland National Trust Commission, a
parastatal entity created by statute in
1972. Private companies also have a stake
in park management with Big Game Parks
(BGP) as a major commercial player.
BGP owns and manages Mlilwane Wildlife
Sanctuary and Mkhaya Nature Reserve. It
also manages Hlane National Park, one of
the country’s largest. This park is owned
by the Swazi nation and draws finances from
the national treasury, but BGP claims it
submits its reports directly to the king.
The alleged involvement of the king means
the management of these funds and the
performance of the park cannot be debated
by parliament, unlike all other national
expenditures.
In 1991 Swaziland passed the Game Act to
curb rampant poaching. Swaziland also
signed and ratified the Convention on
International Trade of Endangered Species
(CITES). In 1998, the administration of the
Game Act and CITES were moved from the
Ministry to the Kings Office. BGP is
responsible for these two instruments on
behalf of the King and is the management
and scientific authority for CITES.
cites privatized
Despite the obvious potential for a
conflict of interest, BGP, a major player
in the for-profit wildlife industry, was
entrusted with the administration of an
international agreement, to which Swaziland
is a party. The current arrangement means
that the country’s wildlife management and
the scientific authority responsible for
CITES are housed within the same entity.
This situation is totally inadequate to
ensure accountability and transparency,
which can only be achieved through the
segregation of responsibilities.
Since BGP is not obliged to report or
consult with anyone, Swaziland’s compliance
with CITES is very difficult to monitor.
The dangers of this arrangement were
illustrated in 2002 when BGP exported
eleven elephants to a zoo in the USA under
the pretext of relieving overpopulation.
This was done within the ambit of CITES,
and BGP itself was able to both propose the
export and also approve it as
scientifically sound.
For the CITES COP 13 in 2004, Swaziland
successfully proposed to down-list its
sixtyone white rhinos so that they could
become subject to trophy hunting and export
to unnamed destinations. The proposal was
once again underwritten by BGP, which did
not consult with other stakeholders. It
appears to be strictly a business decision
in BGP’s financial interest.
ungamely act
The Game Act provides wide-ranging
powers to game rangers in protecting
wildlife, such as the use of force in the
execution of their duties with guaranteed
immunity from prosecution. In a murky turn
of events, in 1997 the owner of BGP, his
son and daughter and five other BGP
employees were appointed rangers,
retroactively to 1991. The appointment came
conveniently in the wake of a pending
criminal prosecution of the owner and his
BGP rangers for the murder of a man and his
brother-in-law in 1992. Immediately after
the announcement of the appointments, the
prosecution was dropped.
The BGP has used its immunity and the
king’s name to terrorise local communities
and intimidate government officers who
dared to intervene in their dealings.
People have been killed and crippled, yet
the perpetrators are not prosecuted. Other
farm owners have joined in and are maiming
and killing community members. Communities
are subjected to inhumane acts and torture
reminiscent to those of the apartheid
regime in neighbouring South Africa.
Yonge Nawe, a public interest
environmental NGO in Swaziland has been
trying to highlight the situation and is
advocating the deprivatization of CITES in
Swaziland or the suspension of Swaziland
from the convention. This entails the
removal of private corporations and placing
the administration of wildlife and
biodiversity laws in the responsible
government ministries. Yonge Nawe is also
working on accessing justice and redress
for victims of human rights abuses at the
hands of park and farm owners and bringing
the perpetrators to book. Finally, it is
campaigning on ensuring community rights to
access, ownership and management of natural
resources and biodiversity in
Swaziland.
more information
Yonge Nawe
