A Case Study of Conservation and Development Conflicts: Swaziland's Hlane Road

Integrated conservation and development projects are now being promoted as the best means to save wildlife in Africa. However, a case study in Swaziland provides a cautionary tale about the difficulty of reconciling the two; it also provides insight into how conservation politics were played out during the latter years of King Sobuza II's reign. In Swaziland in the late 1970s, a debate occurred about the upgrading of a major road in Swaziland's northeast. The decision was significant because the road under question bisected the country's primary conservation area: Hlane Game Sanctuary. The debate centred on the needs of economic development as opposed to nature conservation. Commercial interests wanted the road tarred; conservationists, on the other hand, believed that an upgrade would undermine their efforts to establish a viable nature conservation area in northeastern Swaziland. Instead, they favoured a new route that would be aligned west of the sanctuary but would cost significantly more than upgrading the established, low traffic volume, route. In the end, the road through Hlane was upgraded. This paper analyses the decision-making process, using archival and other written records, as well as interviews with many of the debate participants.