San success to sharpen rural friction

By: TANGENI AMUPADHI

TENSION between traditional hunter-gather communities from former Bushmanland and cattle farmers is expected to increase following the declaration of a large area of land as a conservancy.

The !Kung, a people constituting one of the San language groups,

last month succeeded in having their land proclaimed a protected

conservation area, which added muscle to their prospects of

repelling powerful cattle farmers who occupy the land with their

livestock.

For more than a decade the farmers have driven their cattle into

the sprawling and sparsely populated Tsumkwe constituency,

intensifying the fight for survival affecting human and beast

alike.

 

More than 3 000 cattle threaten the livelihood of the San, who

have for centuries depended on wild roots and fruit to augment

their diet.

 

Their nomadic lifestyle made it easy for the wild foods to

recover, but the arrival of pastoralists has destroyed their

prospects of revival.

 

According to Axel Thoma of the Working Group for Indigenous

Minorities (Wimsa), approval of the N#A Jaqna Conservancy by the

Ministry of Environment and Tourism means that overgrazing will no

longer be tolerated.

 

"We will not be chasing out everybody but will be reducing

livestock so that the land can recover.

 

We don't want to see any more overgrazing.

 

We have to maintain natural resources," said Thoma.

 

Wimsa has been working closely with San communities to help them

adapt to modernisation, the main threat to their survival.

 

"The people do want development, but they want development which

respects their culture," he said.

 

Conservancies have been set up to enable communities that want

development to benefit from the long-term use of their land without

destroying it in the process.

 

Thoma, who attended the signing ceremony at Omatako in Tsumkwe

west, said the !Kung community was excited "after having patiently

waited for four years" for conservancy status.

 

Some !Kung groups this year took cattle farmers to court over

water rights.

 

They have accused the farmers, who are Herero, Kavango and

Owambo pastoralists, of valuing their animals' lives above those of

the San.

 

They have accused farmers of shutting down diesel engines used

for pumping water from boreholes, and restricting the availability

of the most precious element in their survival.

 

For more than a decade the farmers have driven their cattle into

the sprawling and sparsely populated Tsumkwe constituency,

intensifying the fight for survival affecting human and beast

alike. More than 3 000 cattle threaten the livelihood of the San,

who have for centuries depended on wild roots and fruit to augment

their diet. Their nomadic lifestyle made it easy for the wild foods

to recover, but the arrival of pastoralists has destroyed their

prospects of revival. According to Axel Thoma of the Working Group

for Indigenous Minorities (Wimsa), approval of the N#A Jaqna

Conservancy by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism means that

overgrazing will no longer be tolerated. "We will not be chasing

out everybody but will be reducing livestock so that the land can

recover. We don't want to see any more overgrazing. We have to

maintain natural resources," said Thoma. Wimsa has been working

closely with San communities to help them adapt to modernisation,

the main threat to their survival. "The people do want development,

but they want development which respects their culture," he said.

Conservancies have been set up to enable communities that want

development to benefit from the long-term use of their land without

destroying it in the process. Thoma, who attended the signing

ceremony at Omatako in Tsumkwe west, said the !Kung community was

excited "after having patiently waited for four years" for

conservancy status. Some !Kung groups this year took cattle farmers

to court over water rights. They have accused the farmers, who are

Herero, Kavango and Owambo pastoralists, of valuing their animals'

lives above those of the San. They have accused farmers of shutting

down diesel engines used for pumping water from boreholes, and

restricting the availability of the most precious element in their

survival.

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