MADLANGEMPISI –Malibeni High School has won E30 000 after emerging first in the Royal Eswatini Sugar Corporation (RES) Schools Anti-Poaching Competition.
The competition, held at Bhalekane under the theme *‘Protecting Wildlife Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow’*, brought together five high schools to promote wildlife conservation, environmental awareness and cooperation between neighbouring communities and conservation authorities.
Madlangempisi High School finished second and received E20 000, while Madzanga High School took third place and walked away with E10 000. The participating schools were Madlangempisi, Malibeni, Madzanga, Sikhunyane and Mavula high schools.
The initiative sought to encourage learners to understand the importance of protecting wildlife and natural habitats, particularly because some of the participating schools are situated near game reserves where poaching activities have been reported.
Delivering a speech on behalf of RES Managing Director Nick Jackson, Group Public Affairs Manager Ishmond Fakudze said the competition provided learners with an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of conservation through creativity and knowledge.
He said the initiative was part of the company’s commitment to protecting wildlife while strengthening relationships with communities living near its operations and surrounding game reserves.
Fakudze explained that wildlife and livestock protection were closely linked to education, community development and good neighbourly relations. He further highlighted the scale of the challenge by revealing that RES recovered 3,360 snares on its farm last year.
During the same period, 158 game animals died, two cattle were killed through snaring and eight poachers were arrested.
These figures, according to Fakudze, demonstrated the need for continued efforts to prevent poaching and promote responsible behaviour among communities living close to wildlife areas.
He said the competition was designed to equip young people with knowledge that they could share with their peers, families and communities, thereby extending conservation awareness beyond the classroom.
Through poetry, artwork, presentations and quizzes, learners were encouraged to become conservation ambassadors and promote the protection of wildlife and natural habitats.
Fakudze said the activities were intended to help learners understand why preventing poaching, protecting habitats and using land responsibly were important for the future.
He added that the initiative reflected RES’s values of Integrity, Delivery and Respect by encouraging practical action, environmental responsibility and consideration for neighbouring communities
Fakudze emphasised that conservation efforts could not succeed through the work of one organisation alone, noting that partnerships between the private sector, government institutions, traditional leadership, schools and communities were essential.
He thanked Big Game Parks, particularly Hlane Game Reserve, the Eswatini National Trust Commission through Mlawula Game Reserve, the Eswatini Environment Authority (EEA), the Royal Eswatini Police Service and the Ministry of Education and Training for supporting the initiative.
He also acknowledged the traditional leadership of Nkambeni and Madlangempisi, together with the SAKHELENE Community Leagues Management Committee, for promoting dialogue and cooperation.
According to Fakudze, incidents involving poaching, damaged fences and unauthorised entry into protected areas remained serious concerns. He noted that some incidents had resulted in arrests and fatalities, underlining the need to strengthen relations between conservation stakeholders and neighbouring communities.
However, he stressed that these challenges should not define the relationship between RES and the communities around its operations.
He said conservation and good neighbourliness needed to complement each other, with the aim of reducing incidents, building trust and establishing lasting cooperation.
Fakudze added that involving learners in conservation education was one way of encouraging a generation that understood the value of protecting wildlife while maintaining positive relationships with neighbouring communities.
Speaking on behalf of teachers, Madzanga High School Principal Sphasha Dlamini said schools had been deliberately selected because learners lived near game reserves and could encounter poaching activities while travelling to and from school.
She said this made learners an important group to target with conservation education, as they could help spread awareness among their peers and in their communities.
Dlamini urged learners to respect the environment and allow wildlife to continue living in its natural habitat.
“It is enough; let the environment live as the Creator intended,” she said.
She appealed to RES and its partners to continue supporting conservation education initiatives, explaining that sustained engagement would help learners appreciate their role in protecting the environment.
Representing the EEA, Zandisile Howe highlighted the legal framework governing environmental protection in Eswatini.
Howe said the Eswatini Environment Management Act of 2002 provided a foundation for protecting the environment and ensuring the sustainable management of natural resources for both present and future generations.
She warned that poaching threatened biodiversity and undermined efforts to ensure that natural resources remained available for future generations.
The competition’s activities provided a platform for learners to demonstrate their knowledge of these environmental concerns while communicating conservation messages through different forms of expression.
The participating schools competed in written quizzes, poetry, artwork presentations and oral quizzes, allowing learners to demonstrate their understanding of wildlife protection in both creative and educational formats.
At the conclusion of the competition, the three top-performing schools received cash prizes, while all participating principals, teachers and learners received tokens of appreciation in recognition of their involvement.
Congratulating the winners and other participants, Fakudze said every contribution to conservation mattered, regardless of the position a school achieved in the competition.
He encouraged learners to continue promoting conservation awareness in their schools and communities, stressing that protecting wildlife required collective responsibility.
Fakudze said the initiative should inspire continued efforts to safeguard wildlife and natural habitats while strengthening partnerships between RES, conservation organisations, schools and neighbouring communities.
He reiterated that protecting wildlife today was a shared responsibility and that cooperation among stakeholders was necessary to secure a sustainable future.
