Encroachment by subsistence farmers is threatening the survival of the delicate ecosystem of the coastal peat swamp forests of the St Lucia Wetlands Park in Maputaland, on the border of KwaZulu-Natal and Mozambique. But park authorities are reluctant to take action against the farmers, who have no alternative but to cultivate the wetlands for survival.
“The trick is to find the balance between preserving the wetlands and the park and providing a livelihood for the people who live on the park’s boundaries,” says Jan Sliva, a leading authority on the St Lucia wetlands.
The 500 000-strong community living on the fringes of the park depend on the peatland swamps to grow subsistence crops. They also earn a meagre income by selling what they don’t eat. In an area with few employment opportunities and poor sandy soil, impoverished communities have turned to the rich earth of the wetland ecosystem to grow crops. Ironically, this kind of agriculture is slowly destroying the valuable peat soil.
“It is a vicious cycle these communities are in,” says Bronwyn James, director of the St Lucia Wetlands Park Authority’s social economic and environmental development unit. “Because of the poverty and bad soil here, they rely on their crops in the wetlands. Yet the crops are damaging the very soil they rely on.”
It is estimated that up to 200 farmers are illegally farming inside the park itself. But the park’s authorities are careful not to refer to the farmers in a negative way, as they are trying to build relationships with the surrounding communities and get buy-in for the concept of conservation.
“We’re supposed to be arresting people, but we’re reluctant to do that,” explains Robert Mfeka, conservation manager of the Sodwana State Forest. He says the authority has reached a compromise with farmers. It will not uproot the farmers’ crops until they have been harvested, but thereafter farmers will not be allowed to plant new crops in the park. Unfortunately, the same agreement has been made for the past two years — and it has yet to succeed.
The crops never seem to be ready for harvesting and new crops keep popping up. “Each time these farmers go down to their fields, they have something new on their backs that they want to plant,” says Mfeka.
Some of the plots have been cultivated by the same families for several generations. Wetlands farmer Jabhile Zikhali says her livelihood depends on the wetlands. “Where else can I farm?” she asks. Her father, Ndoda Zikhali, has been farming this plot for 15 years in order to feed his extended family of 20.
The swampland farmers grow bananas, madumbes, sweet potatoes, cassava and sugar cane — basic food supplies for their families. Research conducted on behalf of the wetlands authority shows that most farmers cite “interference” by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife officers as their biggest problem.
While park authorities have gone out of their way to build good relationships with neighbouring communities, it is not easy. Many people still see conservation as encroaching on their right to a livelihood. The relationship is further weakened each time conservation authorities tell farmers they cannot farm the wetlands, but fail to offer them an alternative.
“If we ask people to leave, they rub their stomachs and ask what they are going to eat,” says James. “Until we can present them with a viable and attractive alternative, they are not going to leave their plots.”
Suggested alternatives have not materialised. These included swamp forest experiences for tourists and the farming of commercial crops — such as geraniums for essential oil production — in areas outside the park. James and her team are still hoping to attract investment to these enterprises, but all parties recognise that an agricultural solution will have to be found. James says the solution is likely to lie in a blend of several different alternatives.
The difficulty lies in asking people with short-term survival needs to consider the impact their farming will have four or five generations down the line.
Why the fuss?
Coastal peat swamp forests are highly threatened ecosystems in South Africa. They are the second-rarest forest type in the country and only occur in isolated patches from the Mozambique border to just south of the Msikaba river in the Eastern Cape.
These fresh-water forest wetlands occur on peat soils adjacent to the sea. The ecosystem depends on a constant water supply wetting and flooding the peat. Peat’s most important function in the ecological system is its ability to store carbon, which stimulates plant growth and makes for fertile soil in which to grow crops. If the peat were to become too dry, the carbon would evaporate and the soil would lose its fertility.
Ironically, the communities’ survival depends on preserving the swamp forests, because they rely on the peat for sustenance in their crops. If peat-forming processes are destroyed, the basis for agricultural production also evaporates.
The carbon from destroyed peatlands contributes to global warming. In Indonesia, where the destruction of peatlands through fires is immense, the emissions evaporating into the atmosphere are calculated to be more than the whole of the United States’s emission contribution.
The swamp forests on the flat coastal plain of Maputaland make up 75% of all swamp forests found in South Africa, making them valuable for future conservation. In Maputaland, the largest sections of swamp forest, comprising 59% of all local swamp forests, are protected inside the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park. — Yolandi Groenewald