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UNDERSTANDING THE PRESENT AND HISTORIC FOREST RESOURCE USE OF THE NTABAMHLOPHE INDIGENOUS STATE FOREST BY RURAL COMMUNITIES By OSCAR MTHIMKHULU Submitted in partial fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Master in Environment and Development in the Centre for Environment, Agriculture and Development, School of Environmental Sciences University of KwaZulu-Natal Supervisor: Dr. M. Dent Co-Supervisor: Mr. S. McKean November 2009 Pietermaritzburg 1 DECLARATION “As the candidate’s Supervisor I agree/do not agree to the submission of this dissertation.” ____________________________ ________________________ Signed: (Dr. M. Dent - Supervisor) Date i DECLARATION I Oscar Mpiyani Emmanuel Mthimkhulu declare that: (i) The research reported in this dissertation, except where otherwise indicated, is my original work. (ii) This dissertation has not been submitted for any degree or examination at any other university. (iii) This dissertation does not contain other persons’ data, pictures, graphs or other information, unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other researchers. (iv) This dissertation does not contain other persons’ writing, unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other researchers. Where other written sources have been quoted, then: a) their words have been re-written but the general information attributed to them has been referenced; b) where their exact words have been used, their writing has been placed inside quotation marks, and referenced. (v) Where I have reproduced a publication of which I am an author, co- author or editor, I have indicated in detail which part of the publication was actually written by myself alone and have fully referenced such publications. (vi) This dissertation does not contain text, graphics or tables copied and pasted from the Internet, unless specifically acknowledged, and the source being detailed in the dissertation and in the References sections. ______________________ ________________________ Signed: (Oscar Mthimkhulu) Date ii ABSTRACT Ntabamhlophe indigenous state forest is the focus study area. It is one of the forests that are found along the Drakensberg mountain range in KwaZulu- Natal province in South Africa. It is a proclaimed forest of approximately 50ha in extent. The Ntabamhlophe indigenous state forest was formerly called Monk’s Cowl State Forest, (Monk’s Cowl State Forest - iNtabamhlophe) situated in central uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park World Heritage Site, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This forest is located on communal land. In many parts of the world, indigenous forests face growing threats and pressures. Internationally this has resulted in approximately 9.4 million hectares being lost by 1990. Indigenous forests play an important role in ecosystem processes. They are associated with a range of products and processes that support the livelihood of millions of people around the world. Forests cover more than 3 000 km 2 or 0.1% of the land surface of South Africa. Furthermore, due to the lack of appropriate management programmes, South Africa has contributed its share to indigenous forest loss . Approximately 76% (3240ha) of the Drakensberg Montane forest is formally protected South Africa’s geographical positioning is such that it has historically had a smaller extent of forests. The future of South Africa’s remaining indigenous forests depends partly on the values ascribed to them by local communities. The study objectives were, (i) to understand the values and perceptions of the community towards the existence and future management of the Ntabamhlophe indigenous state forest, and (ii) to determine the different types of forest products and resources used by the community and their values to the users (cultural, spiritual or economic values). To understand Ntabamhlophe community’s indigenous forest resource use, values and perceptions, a qualitative survey method was used. This was conducted by using focus group techniques. The use of focus groups provided an insight into qualitative data. The technique combined both wise counsel and focus group workshops. The use of this technique aimed at drawing upon respondents’ attitudes, feelings, beliefs, experiences and reactions. The iii questionnaire design was based on the structures of other studies, on user attitudes and values relating to forest resources. The study revealed that the community ascribes high values to the indigenous forest, however they do not have a proper forest management system in place. The following were regarded as the major threats facing Ntabamhlophe forest resources: crime, uncontrolled and excessive burning, uncontrolled harvesting of indigenous medicinal plant and fuelwood, deforestation (clearing forests for plantations, e.g . vegetable crops and Cannabis sativa ). Illegal hunting, soil erosion, and inappropriate forest management systems (non- existence) were all considered by community representatives as serious threats to the survival of this indigenous forest. The findings also revealed that there is a lack of capacity and skills, appropriate stakeholder representation and coherent community leadership to pursue Ntabamhlophe Mountain and forest conservation initiatives. Given the circumstances, there is an apparent lack of confidence on the part of the community to confirm their natural resource conservation priorities. The community representatives recommended that the current uncontrolled activities be prohibited. They also had a strong belief that the forest should be protected through a cooperative management system involving Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the Traditional Authority, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry and Imbabazane Local Municipality. The focus group indicated that they had a very high future benefit expectation of activities such as education, water, cultural, biodiversity, spiritual upliftment, tourism, craft and free access (Table 6). They also indicated that gathering medicinal plants and fuelwood was very common. Educational benefit was regarded as the most important of all, followed by tourism and biodiversity conservation. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this mini-dissertation was due to many people. I would like to express my sincere appreciation for assistance, guidance and support given by the following: Dr. M. Dent, Centre for Environment, Agriculture and Development, School of Applied Environmental Sciences University of KwaZulu-Natal for his supervision and guidance regarding the research presented in this dissertation. I warmly appreciate support and constructive critiques from Dr. N. Nyambe. Many thanks to Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife staff, especially Mr. Steven McKean my co-supervisor, for his advice and reading of the manuscripts. I am grateful to Sindiswa Zamla for her assistance in data collection and the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park World Heritage Site community conservation unit for their support. I am also grateful to Sonja Krueger, Duncan Heard and Karen Kohler for constructive critiques and reading of the manuscripts. The cooperation received from the Ntabamhlophe community has been invaluable. I am thankful to the Ntabamhlophe community, and iNkosi Ndaba for organizing and providing a venue for all the meetings we held. A special note of gratitude goes to all the traditional healers, and cattle owners for their assistance during the field work and for sharing information. I am indebted to my mother Ms. S’bongile Mthimkhulu for all my achievements in life. I am grateful to my family, my daughters, relatives and friends for their support and encouragement. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Declaration ............................................................................................................. i Declaration ............................................................................................................ ii Abstract ................................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgements .............................................................................................. v Table of Contents ................................................................................................. vi List of Appendices ............................................................................................... ix List of Tables and Figures................................................................................... ix Acronyms and Abbreviations .............................................................................. x Chapter 1: Research Introduction 1.1 Indigenous Forests and Communities ............................................................... 1 1.2 Problem Statement ........................................................................................... 2 1.3 Overall Objective of the Study ........................................................................... 4 1.4 Specific Objectives ............................................................................................ 5 1.5 Research Methods ............................................................................................ 5 1.6 Research Study: Chapters’ Overview ............................................................... 6 Chapter 2: Indigenous Forests: Significance, Threats, Pressures and Conservation Efforts - Literature Review 2.1 Chapter Overview ............................................................................................. 7 2.2 Indigenous Forests: A Threatened Resource Defined .....................................

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