Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
These two reserves are situated in north-eastern Swaziland, c.12 km south of the town of Lomahasha and 20 km north of Siteki. The reserve complex covers the northern portion of the Lubombo range (up to the Mozambique border) and the plains to the west. The major part of the area lies at low altitude. The vegetation is predominantly mixed bushveld in Hlane and dry thornveld, open grassland and moist woodland in Mlawula. Trees of
Acacia,
Sclerocarya,
Combretum and
Dichrostachys are widespread and common. In the west of Hlane the bushveld is predominantly evergreen and the herbaceous layer is seasonal. In the lower-lying eastern Hlane and western Mlawula area, drier
Acacia savanna dominates. There is some highly localized sandveld, which is dominated by
Terminalia,
Strychnos and
Perotis. The riverine vegetation differs quite substantially from the surrounding woodland and is dominated by
Schotia,
Ficus and
Acacia, and locally by dense stands of
Spirostachys and
Euclea. Ravines in the Lubombo range support dense moist forest, and the plateau is covered by open grassland savanna.
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. This is the only reserve complex in Swaziland holding breeding
Torgos tracheliotus and
Trigonoceps occipitalis.
Gyps coprotheres is seen regularly, and it is suspected that the breeding colony in nearby Mozambique regularly obtains much of its food from this area.
Gyps africanus also breeds here in important numbers; 26 pairs nest at Mlawula, and at least triple that number at Hlane (Monadjem in press). Other important raptor populations include breeding
Aquila rapax,
Polemaetus bellicosus and
Terathopius ecaudatus. The sand forests and riparian fringes hold
Hypargos margaritatus,
Lamprotornis corruscus and
Nectarinia veroxii. The surrounding bushveld and savanna support
Poicephalus cryptoxanthus,
Cossypha humeralis,
Eremomela usticollis and
Telophorus quadricolor.
Non-bird biodiversity: This complex holds the endemic cycads Encephalartos lebomboensis (Rare) and E. umbeluziensis (VU). The latter is highly localized and extends just across the international border into Mozambique. Two other highly range-restricted plants, Aloe keithii (VU) and Euphorbia keithii, occur here. Leptotyphlops telloi and Platysaurus lebomboensis, two very range-restricted reptiles, found only in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland and Mozambique, occur in the Lubombo sector of Mlawula Game Reserve. The endangered mammal Ceratotherium simum (LR/cd) has been reintroduced.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
King Sobhuza set part of Hlane aside as a royal hunting area; it was proclaimed a reserve in 1967 and managed for game and wild ungulate populations. Mlawula was proclaimed in 1980. Fire plays an important role in maintaining vegetation structure in Swaziland, and reserve managers use it as a tool to increase the cover of palatable grass and reduce bush encroachment. However, care should be taken to allow the burning regime to mimic natural fire events and maintain a natural mosaic of the representative communities within the reserve. The wild ungulate population was allowed to increase unchecked in Hlane during the 1970s and 1980s. The resultant overgrazing resulted in an extreme case of bush encroachment. Due to reductions in ungulate populations and better fire management, much of this encroachment was reversed in the 1990s. The recently initiated Lubombo Conservancy aims to forge management ties between Hlane, Mlawula and several smaller adjoining reserves.Diamonds were found and prospecting was permitted in the north-western corner of Hlane in the 1970s, but this was eventually halted. Further mining opportunities threaten the future of this reserve. In Swaziland, agriculturists constantly encroach on land set aside for nature conservation; in the case of Hlane the land is wanted for sugar-cane production. A land swap was recently completed, in which Hlane lost c.500 ha to sugar cane, but gained c.1,500 ha (however, this land was already under its management, so there was a net loss of ‘bush’). The natural vegetation and associated fauna in this wildlife complex represent a natural relict of the erstwhile Swaziland lowveld. Extensive landscape alteration and modification is widespread outside this natural oasis. Vultures are used for traditional medicine quite heavily outside protected areas. The ranges of
Gyps africanus and
Torgos tracheliotus appear to have decreased dramatically in Swaziland over the last 20 years. All of Swaziland’s vulture species are included in the first schedule of the Game Act as Royal Game, and are consequently protected by law, although this is not always enforced. There are currently seven operational vulture restaurants in Swaziland, which supply an estimated 60% of the vultures’ food demands.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Hlane and Mlawula Game Reserves (Eswatini). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/hlane-and-mlawula-game-reserves-iba-eswatini on 23/11/2024.
