The Natal Museum is part of a co-ordinated effort to educate people in the Amangwane and Amazizi mountain areas of the northern Ukhahlamba Drakensberg about the significance of rock art and how and why it should be conserved.

Over the past 8 months the Museum's Archaeology and Anthropology department has participated in several cultural and rock art appreciation workshops for school teachers which form part of a rock art appreciation programme aimed at increasing community awareness of rock art. The Museum is also taking part in the activities of the Mnweni Rock Art Monitoring Group. This includes visits to vulnerable rock art sites and the documentation of these sites.

The Mnweni area of the Amangwane and the neighbouring Amazizi mountain areas, which adjoin the Ukhahlamba Drakensberg World Heritage Site are rich in rock art, much of it well preserved. But there is also competition for the traditional use of rock art sites as shelters for shepherds and kraals for cattle and goats. Over the past ten years the Amangwane and Amazizi mountain communities have pioneered a two-pronged approach to rock art management in their areas.

Bergwatch and a group of volunteer community members have facilitated this work in two ways. On one hand, they have compiled a database of all rock art sites in the area and a list of shelters used by shepherds.

On the other hand, they have asked for assistance in educating the community about the significance of rock art and how to care for it. This includes successful negotiations with shepherds, some of whom have voluntarily vacated shelters they have been using for many years as well as the rock art appreciation programme mentioned earlier.

In the process these communities have shown that it is possible for people and paintings to co-exist and the advice of heritage institutions is now being sought to help formulate community rock art management plans.

Bergwatch, an NGO formed to protect the unique natural and cultural diversity of the KZN Drakensberg has spearheaded this process. With the help of the Maloti Drakensberg Transfrontier Park Project, the Farmers' Support Group (UKZN), Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa, Amafa akwaZulu Natali and Amangwane and Amazizi mountain communities have initiated an holistic programme they call Amagugu Esizwe, (Treasure of the Nation) to record and manage all aspects of their natural and cultural environment, including rock art.

The Drakensberg is home to a rich and vibrant living cultural heritage, and includes thousands of precious and ancient national treasures paintings made on sandstone overhangs of the Little Berg. This rock art is a very fragile resource and is slowly disappearing as a result of natural damage from water and sunlight. In well-protected areas these weathering processes can be very slow; comparison of a photograph of certain paintings taken 50 years ago shows very little change in their condition. If the rock surface remains stable these paintings will last for many years to come.

The reality is that there are not enough officials to patrol all rock art sites in KZN and to enforce the law. Laws can only be enforced when society at large understands and co-operates with them. We can make our rock art last through a combination of legislation, education, recording and monitoring. Programmes like Amagugu Esizwe contribute to making this goal a practical reality.