A career rooted in conservation
Jabulani Hlophe believes passionately in the power of nature, and the need for human activity to be sustainable and responsible. “After all, the environment can look after itself without us – it’s been doing that for thousands and thousands of years. So what we have to manage is our impact.”
Conservation is in Jabulani’s blood. His uncle was involved in the campaign to save the southern white rhino from extinction, and Jabulani was born and raised in the KwaSokukhulu area, bordering KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) iSimangaliso World Heritage site, which teems with wildlife including hippos, crocodiles and more than 450 species of bird. He spent his early years in a village surrounded by forestry plantations, with both his parents working for Waterton Timber Company (later purchased by Sappi). So it seems only natural that he’s chosen a career where he can protect South Africa’s precious wildlife and ecosystems – the grasslands, wetlands and indigenous forest which are home to a treasury of unique species, not only the so-called ‘big five’ but also rare amphibians, birds and insects.
As Environmental Manager for the KZN province at Sappi Forests, based in Pietermaritzburg, Jabulani and his team safeguard 53,000 hectares across KZN province. This is just a portion of the 139,000 hectares of unplanted natural land (or 35%) included in the total 405,000 hectares of land owned or leased for commercial forestry operations by Sappi across South Africa.
“This land is set aside for the long term, which requires significant funding,” he explains. “It’s not about protecting individual species directly; if the integrity of the land is improved and kept intact, and it’s functioning, then the associated species it supports should come through and prosper.”
Much to Jabulani’s delight, a new nature reserve that will protect the endangered Karkloof blue butterfly recently won government approval. The Environmental Department looks after more than 156 important conservation areas (ICAs), and eight of these ICAs have been declared nature reserves under the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act 57 of 2003.
There are lots of regulatory hoops to jump through before a reserve achieves full protected status. But the effort is worth it, because new threats to biodiversity are constantly emerging. One of the larger threats is wildlife poaching of both plants and animals. In the province historically, antelopes fell prey to traditional hunting, but this has now morphed into sport and gambling syndicates made up of affluent city-dwellers, who take part in ‘taxi hunts’ to chase down animals with packs of expensive dogs, for money and prestige. Researchers at the University of KwaZulu-Natal have found that these acts have contributed to the continued loss of biodiversity.
After all, the environment can look after itself without us – it’s been doing that for thousands and thousands of years. So what we have to manage is our impact.
Jabulani Hlophe, Environmental Manager for the KZN province at Sappi Forests
It’s something that makes Jabulani angry, but our department is determined to stay positive and keep fighting to protect vulnerable creatures. “We have a vital role to play in combating these illegal practices, by creating effective security and developing a sound understanding of the law and where it can be applied,” he says.
Jabulani and his colleagues work closely with the forestry teams on the ground to guide them and boost their effectiveness in activities such as clearing alien and invasive plants. They are also in constant dialogue with the communities surrounding the plantations, who are important stakeholders, not least because they rely on water catchments and livestock grazing areas that are on Sappi land. “We have to balance those demands with the need to safeguard our biodiversity assets,” says Jabulani. “We try to sensitise communities, empower them, encourage them to take pride. We say to them: ‘We are not here to change how you operate but to make sure you do it in a sustainable way.’”
Jabulani prefers to influence culture through collaboration and partnerships with local people, rather than taking a top-down approach. A project he joined in 2024 centres on muthi, or South African traditional medicine (the term muthi is derived from the Zulu word for tree). The Muthi Market in Durban, for example, is an important outlet for healers and traders to source medicinal herbs and other plants, some of which are highly threatened. This has a negative impact upon the conservation of these plant species and leads to biodiversity loss within Sappi natural areas. Jabulani explains: “We worked with the local Bulwer Forest Manager to identify the users of these plants and then organised a workshop, including representatives from the province’s conservation agency, to teach propagation and cultivation so the plants can be grown locally rather than taken from the wild. The objective is to reduce pressure on wild stocks.”
Similarly, anti-poaching and anti-trafficking measures require close cooperation with communities. “After an incident, we proactively go to the traditional council,” says Jabulani. “We make it clear that we are obliged to take action, that the law requires us to.”
Jabulani has almost 20 years of conservation experience – and he appreciates all species, from the elephants to the rhinos. But working with the invertebrates that can be found in Sappi land has left a lasting impression on him. He appreciates the role that the smallest creatures – such as butterflies, frogs and birds – play in the ecosystem. While our efforts may not yield immediate results, he says, improvement in biodiversity becomes visible only over time, and each of us has the power to contribute.
In conservation, many tiny actions add up to a huge difference.
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