BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE- Despite being one of the smallest country in Africa, Eswatini has been hailed as a home for geosites.
A geosite is a site of geological interest and Eswatini sites have been said to have a potential to attract tourists.
This is according to ResearchGate, in an academic paper that was written by renowned scientists Thomas Schluter from the University of Eswatini and Andreas Schumann from Makerere University.
The academic paper states that despite being one of the smallest countries in the world, the Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), is characterized by many locations, which are due to their geoscientific significance to be termed as geosites, and which are here in an overview presented and briefly explained.
Explaining this, the scientists state that each of them can be assigned to a specific scientific approach such as a landscape, a geological, a geomorphologic, an archaeological (prehistoric), or a mining heritage site.
“Eswatini yields remarkable landscapes like the Mahamba Gorge and the Sibebe Monolith, it exhibits worldwide one of the largest granite-formed caves (Gobholo), and possibly the oldest dated rocks in Africa (Piggs Peak gneisses), as well as beautiful and scientifically relevant rock painting sites (Nsangwini, Sandlane, and Hholoshini) and three abandoned mines in the Barberton Greenstone Belt (Forbes, Ngwenya, and Bulembu).
“The latter have contributed largely to the infrastructural development of the country. The geotouristic value of the respective sites is evaluated and commented, and it is assumed that in future these and other, here not yet mentioned geosites, may contribute to income-generating processes for the country and the local communities,” reads the paper by Schutler and Schumann.
Backing this information, environmentalist and archeologist Bob Forrester, in an interview with this reporter, said the Northwest part of Eswatini was rich in geosites because of its location. He explained that Eswatini was placed in one of the three areas in the world which showed early signs of life.
“Out of the three places, Eswatini is the only accessible one. Another place with proof of early life is in Australia underground and the other one is in Canada and it’s under a sheet of ice.
“This then should explain why Eswatini is the most popular with regards to geographical sites of interest,” he said.
Forrester said the whole of Malolotja lay within the areas which show early signs of life.
Some Geosites in Eswatini:
- Sibebe Rock
- Ngwenya Mine
- Barberton Greenstone Belt
- Mahamba Gorge
- Gobholo Caves
- Northern Hhohho rock paintings
