UNEP - BIODIVERSITY PLANNING SUPPORT PROGRAMME

A country case study

BOTSWANA: INTEGRATING BIODIVERSITY

INTO THE TOURISM SECTOR

by Mary C. Kalikawe,
Department of Tourism, P/bag 0047 Gaborone, Botswana.
e-mail: botswana [email protected]

A presentation made to the UNEP International Workshop on Best

practices and Country Case Studies
Mexico City 29 – 31 March 2001
Introduction: Abstract brief overview of Botswana

Botswana is a country in southern Africa covering an area of 582 000 sq. km. It has
an estimated population of 1.5 million people. Botswana has been the fastest growing
economy in the world during 1970 to 1990 with an average annual GDP growth rate
of 13 percent. This rate has somewhat slowed down in the last 10 years. It is presently
nearly US$ 3000 per annum. Reasons behind this impressive record include the
country’s rich mineral deposits, especially high quality diamonds. Though tourism
growth is at its infancy, the Government of Botswana views the tourism industry as an
important engine of economic growth; this commitment is demonstrated by the
recently produced Botswana Tourism Development Master Plan.

In terms of biodiversity Botswana is a land of contrasts. It has world famous wetlands

in the north and the arid Kalahari Desert in the centre and southwest. Both these
contrasting areas have famous protected areas, the Okavango Delta is the largest
inland delta in the world and is a Ramsar site, and the Chobe National Park which has
large numbers and varieties of game. Chobe harbours one of the largest elephant
densities in the world. To the south, Botswana has the first formally declared trans-
boundary park in Africa, the Kgalagadi Trans-frontier Park. There is a transitional
ecological area in between these two national parks, the Central Kalahari Game
Reserve which is one of the largest game reserves in Africa. There is also a unique
huge prehistoric lake, the now dry assemblage of salt pans called the Makgadikgadi
and Nxai Pans National Park system which harbours an important habitat for
migratory birds. There is the hard veld to the east along the Limpopo River.

Botswana’s tourism development is concentrated on wildlife and the wilderness

experience and the country is the third most popular tourist destination in Southern
Africa.-- after South Africa and Zimbabwe. Tourism development is regulated by
government through the Department of Tourism and the Department of Wildlife and
National Parks. The tourism industry is mainly run by the private sector with a large
component of expatriates. There are great efforts to incorporate the local community
based organisations and local individuals through training and tourism awareness
creation. Further efforts are geared towards diversifying the tourism product into
cultural, historical and other manmade attractions.

Threats to biodiversity include growing human population, overexploitation of wild

animals and fuel wood, expanding agriculture, frequent and unpredictable drought,
infrastructural developments such as expansion of hotels and tourism facilities, soil
erosion leading to desertification, uncontrollable fires, poor inventory and knowledge
of species some which are probably endemic, and conflicts with local people resulting
from livestock predation and crop raiding by wild animals.

Botswana’s National Conservation Strategy Coordinating Agency is in the process of

developing a biodiversity conservation strategy and action plan. Botswana is already
signatory to a number of international conventions that support biodiversity
conservation and sustainable tourism. There are a number of local and international
NGOs, which work directly with community based organisations, which have helped
to ensure that tourism development does not compromise biodiversity conservation.
Botswana has been practising a policy of high cost, low volume tourism due to the
ecologically fragile nature of its tourism attractions. With diversification into other
non-wildlife based tourism, this policy is being revised.

Proposed strategies and solutions include the conscious inclusion of the Botswana
biodiversity strategy into the Botswana Tourism Development Master Plan;
enhancing the growth of local participation and benefits of the tourism sector which
will lead to sustainable resource use. There is need to continue with institutional and
responsibility reorganisation to give local communities a larger stake in the tourism
sector, and enable government departments to be better extension service providers.
Reform will also cause those who utilise the environment in the name of investors to
plough back their returns into Botswana. There is opposition to the common
procedure where transactions by tourists coming to Botswana are finalised and paid
for outside the country. Little if any money comes to Botswana and even less goes to
the districts to be reinvested there. To the indigenous people, the net economic
benefits of tourism are potential rather than actual.

1. OVERVIEW OF PRESENT STATE OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

IN
BOTSWANA

1.1 Relative importance in the national economy

Botswana, the third most popular travel destination in Southern Africa is home to one
of Africa’s great wildernesses and some of its most striking beauty. Most attractive is
the Okavango Delta the world’s largest inland delta and the Chobe National Park to
the north of the country, both of which have an astonishing proliferation of wildlife.

The tourism industry in the country has developed over the years more through the
initiative of private investors than through concerted government efforts. The major
tourism attraction to the country has been its wilderness and wildlife.

In 1990 Botswana’s government began to encourage tourism, conscious of its over-

dependence on a few key industries namely diamonds and beef. The government has
since pumped more money and human resources into the tourism industry as part of
an economic diversification programme. At present tourism is referred to as
Botswana’s future engine of economic growth.

The tourism sector has experienced strong growth in recent years. The Botswana
Tourism Development Master Plan document gives the following analysis. The
number of holiday visitors increased by some 90 percent from 106,800 in 1993 to
203,172 in 1998. The tourists come mostly from South Africa, Europe mainly from
United Kingdom and Germany and from the USA and Japan. At the same time the
number of rooms for tourist accommodation increased from an estimated 1,780 rooms
in 1993 to an estimated 2,375 rooms in 1998 (+33 percent).
In 1997, an estimated P1.1 billion (1 Pula = US$ 0.2) was spent by the tourists who
visited Botswana. Of this gross visitor expenditure, it is estimated that some P605
million was retained outside Botswana and that a further P175 million represented
(first-round) leakage due to imports.

It has been estimated that the initial injection of visitor expenditure, (minus the
monies retained outside Botswana), would lead through successive waves of spending
to an ultimate contribution of around P800 million to GDP in 1997. This represented
some 4.5 percent of GDP in 1996/97, or 7 percent of non-mining GDP. It is likely that
this proportion increased further in 1998.

Credits on the Travel Account of the National Bank amounted to an estimated P495
million in 1997 representing 4.5 percent of the total exports of goods and services.
This would suggest that, even allowing for its relatively high import content, ‘tourism
was the third largest export sector, after diamonds (P7,654 million) and vehicles
(P748 million), and ahead of copper-nickel (P343 million) and beef (P243 million).

Direct employment in core tourism-related occupations is estimated to have amounted

to 9,900 persons in 1998, or some 4.5 percent of the total number of paid employees
in Botswana. Without tourism, the unemployment situation in the main tourist areas
(such as the north and northeast) would undoubtedly be considerably worse.

Tourism related import duties are estimated to have contributed P30 million, followed
by licenses and fees (P11.2 million), sales tax on hotels and lodges (P10.4 million in
1998/99), lease rentals and resource royalties (P5.2 million). Excluding income taxes,
total tourism–generated revenues would be P64million.

There are increased land board rentals and council fees paid by tour operators. These
are direct financial contributions to their communities.

1.2 Relative priority in national planning policy

The Government of Botswana’s position on tourism is contained in the Tourism

Policy, Government Paper No. 2 of 1990. The general objective of the policy is to
obtain, on a sustainable basis, the greatest possible net social and economic benefits
for Botswana from their tourism resources, scenic beauty, wildlife and unique
ecological, geological and cultural characteristics.

Specifically, the objectives are to increase foreign exchange earnings and government
revenues; generate employment mainly in rural areas; raise income in rural areas in
order to reduce urban drift; generally promote rural development and to stimulate the
provision of other services in remote areas of the country; improve the quality of
national life by providing educational and recreational opportunities, and project a
favourable national image to the outside world.

There is relevant legislation that regulates the tourism industry. They include Tourism
Act, 1992, as amended; Tourism Regulations, 1996; Tourism (Licensing order), 1996;
Finance (Tourism Industry Training Fund) Order, 1996; Casino Act, 1971.
 1.3 Institutional structure of tourism government planning and policy

Within Botswana’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry lies the Department of

Tourism (DoT) which administers the Tourism Policy and Botswana’s Tourism Act.
Its responsibilities are as follows:
♦ The DoT pursues the primary policy objective of maximising utilisation,
on a sustainable basis, of existing natural resources in order to increase
social and economic benefits to Botswana.
♦ More specifically, DoT is responsible for formulation and execution of
programmes designed to promote tourism in Botswana;
♦ Provision of the National Advisory Council on Tourism of such
information, advise and assistance as it may require;
♦ Provision to the Tourism Licensing Board of information, advice and
recommendations on the licensing and grading of tourism operators;
♦ Research and development, including the collection and analysis of
statistical data;
♦ monitoring of tourism operators for adherence to the terms and conditions
of licenses, particularly with respect to progress made by the operators in
pursuing localisation and other high-quality services to tourists;
♦ Creation and maintenance of an up to date inventory of Botswana’s tourist
assets and of a system to ensure that these are prioritised for development
and protection.

Although the overall structure of the Department of Tourism follows regional

standards and specific national requirements, e.g. The Financial Assistance Policy
(FAP), at the moment the Department has not yet achieved an acceptable level of
effectiveness or the potential for development and growth. However, the necessity to
improve this situation has been recognised by government through consultation with
the stakeholders, and the intention to establish an autonomous institution, i.e. a
National Tourist Board has resulted in a study to lay the foundations of such a body. It
is envisaged that the restructured Department of Tourism will be concerned primarily
with legislation, policy and control and the proposed National Tourist Board will
focus on product development and marketing.

1.4. Dominant types of tourism practiced

Frequently mentioned motives for visiting Botswana among long-haul international

tourists are to experience nature, adventure and visiting a far away, exotic country.
Wildlife, the waters of the Okavango and Chobe, the wilderness of the Kalahari and
Makagdikagadi Pans are Botswana’s outstanding tourism assets. Botswana’s wildlife
is regarded as one of the best, if not the best in Southern Africa, both in terms of
variety and numbers. The main tourism assets include, as mentioned before, the
abundant wildlife in the Okavango Delta and in the Chobe National Park. Chobe
National Park is renowned for very many large elephant herds. Abundant wildlife is
also found in the private game farms to the east of the country in the Tuli block and in
the Ghanzi farms to the mid-west of the country. Abundant wildlife, including
migratory birds, is also found in community conservation areas and wildlife
sanctuaries that are managed by the local communities. These include the Mokolodi
Nature Reserve near Gaborone, the Khama Rhino Sanctuary in the central district and
the Nata Sanctuary towards the north. The Nata Sanctuary serves to protect the
migratory pelicans and lesser and greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus minor, P. ruber)
which come in numbers that vary in some years between 50,000 to 1.5 million. There
are three wildlife educational parks in the country namely the Gaborone Game
Reserve, the Maun Wildlife Educational Park and the newly opened Francis Town
Game Park. Other attractions include the spectacular red sand dunes of the Kalahari
Desert in the southwest. Visitors are also fascinated by the wilderness that
characterises the grass and salt pans of the desert. The Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, home
to the Nata Sanctuary are said to have once been a huge prehistoric lake. The flat
featureless grey-white surface which seems to stretch to eternity offers tourists a
sensation of emptiness and space over an area the size of Portugal. There are
archaeological sites of attraction that include the mysterious Tsodilo Hills on which
3500 paintings (up to 1000 years old) have now been recorded on an area of nine sq
km of rock in a 22 sq km area.

In general product packaging includes circuits around the Makgadikgadi and Nxai
Pan National Park, the Okavango, then Chobe and Victoria Falls just across the
border in Zimbabwe.

Cultural, archaeological and historical attractions do not at present play a remarkable

role as components of the present tourism product. The Department of Tourism is
looking further into diversifying the tourism product from being purely wildlife based
to include these and other attractions such as casinos, native folklore, heritage and
conventions.

Botswana culture is frequently expressed to the visitor in various forms. The

traditional homesteads and the kgotla, the seat of the village chief and the village
meeting place, enshrines traditional democratic principles which are so cherished and
have been carried on into the present day government practice which believes strongly
in public consultation as its decision making procedure. A number of countries have
sent their officials to learn about this democratic set up. Botswana’s democratic
principles are used to explain why it has remained a peaceful country even at times
when all its neighbours were at war. Culture is also expressed in traditional dance and
music which have a uniqueness of being so captivating but devoid of any musical
instruments. There are also crafts mainly the high quality baskets of varying intricate
designs and a variety of decorative ostrich eggshells. Visitors have also been intrigued
by Kalahari Bushmen (the San) who are known to be the oldest ethnic group that
inhabited Southern Africa. They are known for their hunting prowess, as well as their
music, dance and their rock paintings. Very few Bushmen now live their traditional
lives, and most are in the process of acculturation to the Tswana and western cultures.

Historical attractions include the story of David Livingstone a missionary explorer

who came to Africa in 1840. Livingstone’s contact with Botswana is documented in
his travel diaries, which describe how he camped amongst the Bakwena tribe. The
Bakwena’s paramount chief Sechelle befriended him and told him of the great thirst
land beyond – the Kalahari – and a lake in the north that reached the Tswana
territories – Lake Ngami. The chief eventually converted to Christianity at a place
called Kolobeng near Gaborone.
 1.5 Participation and degree of interaction of different sectors and
stakeholders in the tourism process: Public, private, NGOs, local communities,
universities etc.

As Botswana’s tourism product is overwhelmingly dependent on its abundant

wildlife, The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) played a leading
role in the development and management of tourism over the past decades. It still
administers the National Parks of Botswana. In the private sector, the Hotel and
Tourism Association of Botswana (HATAB) is the most representative organisation
and therefore is consulted by the government on policies, legislative issues and
government regulations that affect its members. As an association of businesses it has
a legitimate interest in marketing, product development and diversification,
conservation issues and specific needs of its members such as manpower and training.

Government has resolved that to be able to diversify tourism, communities should be

more involved. The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) through its
community liaison officers (responsible for Community Based Natural Resources
Management Projects (CBNRM)) is involved in the planning of product
diversification.

The University of Botswana recently introduced tourism education in its Department

of Environmental Science and the University operates the Harry Oppenheimer
Okavango Research Centre (HOORC) which is presently working on the management
plan of the Okavango Delta.

At the Southern Africa regional front there is the Regional Tourism Organisation of
Southern Africa (RETOSA) together with the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) sector coordinator for tourism with its head quarters in Mauritius
and a SADC wildlife unit with head quarters in Malawi. To elaborate on this, there 14
SADC countries. These include Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa,
Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. RETOSA operates within SADC. The
various countries have been assigned sectoral responsibilities whereby Mauritius is
responsible for Tourism. The primary role of SADC is to help define the regional
priorities, facilitate integration, assist in mobilising resources and to maximise the
regional impact of projects. The approach is to address national priorities through
regional action. Each member state has been allocated a sector to co-ordinate, which
involves proposing projects for inclusion in the sectoral programme, monitoring
progress and reporting to the Council of Ministers. The SADC Programme of Action
is made up of all the programmes and projects approved by the Council of Ministers.

As is the case with all human activities, developing tourism and alleviating threats to
conservation areas requires the involvement of those most affected by the various land
use alternatives in the decision making process. Botswana is lucky in this sense in that
it thrives on democracy and the principle of consultation. Botswana consults
stakeholders in all decisions on national development, tourism included. As such,
national planners are guided by this system of consultation. An example is the
government proposal to dredge the Boro River which flows out of the Okavango
Delta for providing water to other communities devoid of water and far from the
delta. The neighbouring community and other agencies concerned with conservation
of the delta rejected this project. The contractor who was already on the site had to
collect his equipment and leave. Greater detail on this project is provided later in this
report, as it is used as an example of best practice in linking tourism development and
biodiversity conservation planning.

There are a reasonable number of private sector organisations, aid organisations and
NGOs that operate in Botswana. Besides government’s support through coordination
of the National Conservation Strategy Agency (NCSA), the country with the
assistance of the European Union (EU) has had programmes on the conservation of
the Kalahari ecosystem, and wildlife tourism and the environment. The United
Kingdom’s Department of International Development (DIFD) has assisted with
support to the renewable natural resources (RNR) sector addressing poverty
alleviation and environmental degradation. This has been designed to improve the
understanding of the issues addressing sustainable RNR and poverty strategies, to
strengthen the government’s capacity for planning and appraisal of policies and
programmes in the sector, and to strengthen Botswana’s institutions so that they may
implement the government policies effectively. The World Conservation Union
(IUCN) has influenced, encouraged and assisted societies to conserve the integrity
and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and
ecologically sustainable. The IUCN coordinates and manages the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) Natural Resources Management Project (SADC
NRMP) in partnership with SADC, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the
African Resources Trust (ART).

To date, NGOs and the Government of Botswana have staged several workshops,
seminars, panel discussions and various activities e.g., a World Tourism Day
observance, to raise the awareness of environmental biodiversity and tourism. Various
private sector organisations give services as consultants in environmental planning,
tourism planning, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Geographical
Information Systems (GIS), sensitivity analysis and sociological surveys. They
provide database and framework for resource monitoring and use and engineering
designs. There are other NGOs that will be mentioned later under other headings.

Botswana is blessed in that it has a healthy economy that can afford preliminary work
such as EIA studies on development projects, and it is effective in enforcement of
policies and laws.

1.5 Education and training of tourism (at different levels)

Training has been identified as one of the primary concerns for development of
tourism in the country and as a bottleneck for further expansion. The DoT structure
has an Education, Training and Public Awareness section which is mandated to
facilitate education and training sufficient to meet the needs of the sector, at all levels,
for all occupations, and in all parts of the country. The long-term objective is to make
Botswana self-sufficient in all matters of education and training for the development
of human resources for the hotel, catering and tourism sector. Botswana should be
enabled to acquire the necessary skills and qualifications to occupy positions at all
levels, including management levels, eventually reducing foreign exchange leakage
and dependency on expatriate staff.

In 1998, the number of people directly employed in Botswana’s tourism sector was
estimated at 9,900. When taking into account the high labour turn over for the hotel
and catering sector in Botswana, additional and replenishment annual manpower
needs can be estimated at 1600 persons per year for the period 1997-2003 (Botswana
Tourism Master Plan 2000)

Knowledge about tourism in general is limited within major parts of Botswana

society. This is of particular economic significance, as it will affect the role that the
sector can play in the future development of the country, especially in rural areas. In
light of this problem national tourism awareness programmes have been initiated that
address society as a whole. These are as follows:
♦ Public Tourism Awareness:
-Tourism Development Report
-National Tourism Week in relation with World Tourism Day
-Promotion of Cultural Heritage
-Promotion of Domestic Tourism
-Rural Communities awareness
-Assistance to Tribal Authorities
-Production and Dissemination of Tourism Awareness Material

• Tourism Awareness in Schools

-Tourism Awareness Module for Secondary Schools
-Tourism Career Guidance Module for Senior Secondary Schools
-Promotion of Domestic (scholastic) Tourism

• Awareness in the Tourism Industry

-Customer Relations Module for Hotel, Catering and Tourism (HCT)
workers
-Cultural Awareness Seminars forb HCT Management
-Language/Cultural tape for HCT Management

•Visitor Awareness
-Environmental and Cultural “Do and Don’ts” Guide
-Cultural Events

All forms of recognised training in tourism include environment conservation as a

major module. In schools, wildlife clubs members visit national parks where they
appreciate the joys of tourism and learn about conserving biodiversity. At the
University of Botswana the Department of Environmental sciences offers a module on
the Geography of Tourism.

1.6 Compliance with existing international guidelines on best practice for

sustainable tourism

Avoiding mass tourism.

Tourism in Botswana operates under the deliberate “low volume – high value” policy
adopted by Government. All mechanisms in place try to limit the maximum number
of tourists allowed in a given area. For example, the entry prices (for non-residents) to
protected areas are very high (BWP 150 per person per day) and the maximum
number of beds in any lodge that exist in any Game Reserve and National Park is only
24. An important reason for the deliberate “low volume – high value” policy is the
fragility of the attractive ecosystems such as the Okavango, Chobe and the Kalahari.

Botswana is signatory to a number of nature conservation treaties.

(i) The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held
in Rio de Janeiro, brought the topic of biodiversity conservation to a better
understanding by many people. Botswana like other countries placed this
subject on its agenda of critical issues. The country participated in the
UNCED process, which resulted in Agenda 21. Agenda 21 provided a
blueprint for addressing current global needs for the environment and
challenges of the next century. The Convention on Biological Diversity was
signed during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, 1992 and came into force in
1993. It defines biological diversity as “the variability among living organisms
from all sources, including inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic
ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes
diversity between species and of ecosystems.” Biological diversity does not
just refer to the biological diversity of species and the protection of threatened
species but covers the whole spectrum of the natural environment. Botswana
produced a national report named “National Report on measures taken to
implement the Convention on Biological Diversity” in 1998. So far work is
still continuing on production of the country’s biodiversity strategy and action
plan.

(ii). The World Heritage Convention is the convention concerning the protection
of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (Paris, 1992). This convention
recognises the obligation of all states to protect unique natural and cultural
areas and recognises the obligation of the international community to help pay
for them. Botswana became a signatory to this convention in 1999 and it has
submitted a dossier requesting Tsodilo Hills to be listed under world heritage
sites.

(iii) Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as

Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar 1971). This was ratified by Botswana in 1996.
Its objectives are to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of
wetlands now and in the future, recognising the fundamental ecological
functions of wetlands and their cultural, economic, scientific and recreational
value. Currently the Okavango River system has been pronounced a Ramsar
site of international importance.

(iv) Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora

and Fauna (CITES 1973). In Botswana this was agreed to in 1997 and
enforced nationally by the Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act with
the aim of protecting certain endangered species from over exploitation.
(v) United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries
Experiencing Serious Drought and or Desertification, particularly Africa,
1994. This was ratified in 1995.

(vi) Agreement of the Action plan for the Environmentally Sound

Management of the Common Zambezi River System, 1987. This was
signed in 1987; its objectives are to coordinate the efforts of parties in the
sound management of the water resources and the environment of the common
Zambezi River System. Botswana has also entered into regional agreements
through SADC in its efforts to address the conservation and sustainable use of
biological diversity.

(vii) The Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals or the Bonn

Convention 1979. This convention obligates parties to protect endangered
migratory species and to try to conclude international conservation agreements
for the conservation of vulnerable species that are not yet endangered. The
convention precludes commercial taking of listed species; it also encourages
member states to conserve and restore habitat areas for migratory species.
Botswana has begun discussions on this convention but has not signed.

1.7 Brief description of main ecotourism attractions of Botswana

In view of Botswana’s topography as well as its socio-cultural background, the

tourism potential is more or less confined to the country’s natural attractions in terms
of ecology, scenery, heritage sites, geology, fauna, flora, etc., as well as to those of
cultural, historical and archaeological appeal.

Flora: There are a total of between 2600 and 2800 species of flora in Botswana
(World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 1991). The level of floral endemism in the
country has been described as low, ranging from virtually non-existent to 17 species.
The richest floral areas are found in the northern part of the country, particularly
within the Okavango and Chobe river systems. Most attractive is the complexity of
the Okavango Delta ecosystem, which has a diversity in vegetation species of both
aquatic and terrestrial nature. The Delta is made up of swamp islands and flood plains
each with its own distinctive vegetation. The most common species associated with
the swamps include Cyperus spp., Phragmites australis among other aquatic species.
Woody vegetation most associated with the Delta include Phoenix reclinata,
Hyphaene petersiana, Ficus sycomorus, Comberetum imberbe and Syzygium
cordatum on the islands. Grasses and sedges dominate the flood plains. The wide
range of Botswana habitats, from the arid dunes of the southwest to the permanent
swamps of the Okavango is reflected in a great diversity of animal species (mammals,
birds, amphibians and reptiles) that occur in the various habitats. Of particular interest
are the numerous wild edible plants, which rural residents, particularly the Bushmen,
make considerable use of. Over 250 edible plants species have been recorded.
Numerous research projects have been conducted examining this fascinating topic,
highlighting the extensive botanical and taxonomic knowledge of the people who
utilise wild fruits and vegetables of the desert.
Mammalian Fauna: The number of mammalian taxa that occur in Botswana stands at
162, including 39 taxa of hoofed mammals (Perisodactyla and Artiodactyla), 38 taxa
of carnivores and 7 taxa of primates. Most large mammals are found in the western
part of the country with a greater diversity occurring in the northwest. Mammalian
numbers in the eastern part of the country have declined as a result of displacement by
human settlement and its associated activities. There are 26 species of mammals that
are protected under the Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act of 1992. Five of
these species of mammals are considered globally threatened. They are:
Wild dog Lycaon pictus
Black rhinoceros Diceros bicornis
Square-lipped rhinoceros Ceratotherium simum
Brown hyaena Hyaena brunnea
Cheetah Acinonyix jubatus

The elephant, which has become a top species of debate at CITES meetings due to its
endangered status in many other countries, occurs in huge herds in Botswana. The
Chobe National Park is perhaps the only place in the world where so many elephants
can be seen at one time. Pfotenhauer (1994) gives the following description:
Botswana has the largest contiguous population of savannah elephant left in the
world. During the dry season, the Chobe river area has one of the highest densities of
elephants in the world – six per sq km. Their numbers are estimated to be between 47
000 and 60 000, with an average annual birth rate of about five percent, the maximum
for the species. The population is spread over vast areas of northern Botswana and the
animals move freely across the national borders to the Caprivi in Namibia and into
southern Zimbabwe. Besides the rhinoceros which can only be easily seen in the
sanctuaries of Khama Rhino Sanctuary and the Mokolodi Nature Reserve, the rest of
the big five namely elephant, buffalo, lion and leopard occur in big numbers. The
buffalo range is however restricted to the far north and northeast of the country both
due to ecological habitat limitations and the veterinary requirements to separate
buffalo from cattle for purposes of restricting transmission of foot and mouth disease
from buffalo to livestock.

Avifauna: Botswana is a bird lover’s paradise. There are 496 main species of birds
occurring in Botswana that are represented by 285 non-passerine and 211 passerine
species from 47 and 25 families respectively. Although none of these birds are
endemic to Botswana, 64 species are found only in Southern Africa. Twenty percent
of the avifauna is composed of migrants from the Palaearctic and other African
countries. In addition approximately 65 species of rarely observed birds have been
identified in Botswana. There are 21 protected species of birds in Botswana six of
which are considered globally threatened:
Wattled Crane Grus carunculata
Cape Vulture Gyps coprotheres
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus
Black-cheeked Lovebird Agapornis nigrigenis
Slaty Egret Egretta vinaceigula
Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni

In Botswana the Ostrich, the largest bird in the world is adapted to the changing
environment and will be seen almost everywhere, even within close proximity to
settlements and in areas where cattle graze.
Wildlife tourism in the north and northeast, is close to its carrying capacity limits
already. An ecotourism strategy is being developed which will aim at product
diversification by identifying product components in new geographical regions, in
particular the parks in the centre and south of the country with their still under-
exploited potential for wildlife and wilderness oriented tourism. The unique wildlife
will remain the outstanding tourist attraction for the international and regional
markets.

A number of non-wildlife sites exist, but the vast majority are totally underdeveloped
in terms of access and visitor oriented presentation. Currently, very little information
has been published about potential tourist attractions. Therefore a comprehensive
inventory, and in particular an assessment in terms of potential use for tourism has
still to be carried out.

Some pilot sites that have been identified include:

i. Moremi Gorges on the Tswapong Hills. Tswapong Hills is a plateau outcrop
with a variety of fascinating ecology in the various gorges that indent the
plateau. One of the gorges known as Moremi Gorge has flowing water streams
and small lakes, which can be seen as one acends the plateau. It is planned to
re-introduce wildlife, establish a cultural village and tap the tourism potential
of the Moremi Gorge a National Monument.
ii. Kaingo community based organisation (CBO) in Matshumo and Mosu.
This community is planning to exploit the tourism potential of Kubu Island (a
National Monument) in the Makgadikgadi pans area. On this dry pan (a
prehistoric lake), some areas have shorelines with pebble beaches, spits and
bars. One such place is Kubu Island, a small rocky out crop with thick gnarled
baobab (Adansonia digitata) trees. There is evidence that Kubu was once a
nesting site for large numbers of birds. There are also stone wall ruins which
are the remains of the homes of district governors, probably relatives of the
Great Zimbabwe kings whose empires stretched into Botswana.
iii. Molema CBO and Lentswe - le- Moriti in the North and Central region.
Here there is management of resources by communities near the Limpopo
River, which is one of Botswana’s major ephemeral rivers. They are
developing fenced game farms for game harvesting and photographic tourism.
iv. In the Kgatleng, Kweneng, Ngwaketse region and Kgalagadi region there are
sites like Matsieng Footprints. This site has attracted tourism interest because
it is associated with a Tswana folktale, which claims that the first ancestor of
the Botswana climbed out of a hole at this site followed by wild animals and
cattle and he left behind his footprint which can be seen today and some rock
engravings.
v. There is the D’Kar Community Trust in Ghanzi district which is involved in
development and management of the Dqae Qare Game Farm (7500 hectares
freehold farm) for cultural tourism and craft marketing.

The fact that new developments will mainly take place in the rural and remote areas is
supporting the participation of communities in tourism, thus creating possibilities for
employment and income. Because of the complex character of the sector, a range of
potential community involvement opportunities are being considered besides the
provision of local-style accommodation and catering, e.g. handicraft production,
folklore shows such as traditional dancing and guide services.

2. OVERVIEW OF PRESENT STATE OF BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

AND PLANNING

2.1 Relative priority in national planning policy

The Government of Botswana recognises the need to include environmental issues

such as conservation of the biodiversity in the planning and policy formulation
process in order to achieve sustainable development. This is contained in the National
Development Plans (NDPs). The minister responsible for environment stresses that it
should also cover policies, programmes and projects.[the previous sentence doesn’t
make sense, author should delete or rewrite] The principle is that, environmental
issues are now being incorporated in terms of reference of policies and projects and
these should address not only detrimental effects on the environment but also should
consider if the policies could help in the attainment of environmental goals.

It is realised that the planning process cannot be complete without incorporation of

environmental issues in its economic and physical aspects. Presently this is not the
case as the current draft regional plans for the mid-term review of NDP 8 and the
plans for development of new agricultural areas do not take environmental issues into
consideration. Ministries, districts and towns therefore need guidelines and
operational goals in order for them to address this matter. It is imperative to develop a
better understanding of the environmental costs related to our economic activities.
Botswana is one of the few countries in the world that still possesses an impressive
diversity and abundance of wild fauna and flora. This is reflected by the occurrence of
more than 150 different species of mammals, around 500 species of birds, numerous
species of reptiles, amphibians, insects and plants. The Government of Botswana has
demonstrated considerable commitment to maintaining the country’s rich heritage by
setting aside 18 percent of the country as National Parks and Game Reserves. An
additional 21 percent has been dedicated to Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs)
where the primary land use is wildlife utilisation.

There are concerns about the drop in numbers of wildlife with the present day factors
including drought, population growth and human encroachment, an expanding cattle
industry, the restriction of wildlife migration routes due to livestock disease control
cordon fences and illegal hunting. Botswana’s government recognises the severity of
this situation and a number of measures have been put in place to reverse this trend.
These include provision of water to compensate for the loss of access to permanent
water bodies, protection of wildlife migratory routes by the designation of certain
areas as Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) and the use of wildlife friendly
fencing. The role of conservation education in creating awareness among people
about the necessity of maintaining the country’s biodiversity has been addressed by
introducing conservation education in school curricula and the development of ex-situ
facilities such as natural history collections and botanical gardens. The government in
conjunction with stakeholders has embarked upon a process of developing a
comprehensive strategy for wildlife management in the 21st Century.
Botswana has ratified the Ramsar Convention and focuses efforts on the Okavango
Delta, the largest designated Ramsar wetland site in the world. However, there are
still ecosystem issues surrounding the Delta that have to be resolved. These include
the need to develop an overall management plan for the Delta. The pan handle is a
fragile area and if it were to be degraded the delta would die off. The pan handle
should therefore be given protected area status. There are regional conflicts in the
Okavango Delta ecosystem due to extensive border fencing by Botswana and
potential water withdrawals by Namibia. The Okavango Delta lends itself to the
concept of trans-boundary conservation and management. It is important therefore to
redesign the fences to maintain essential wildlife corridors and to have trans-boundary
cooperation with up-stream neighbours to maintain the integrity of the Okavango
River Basin Delta. The government recognises these concerns and an Ad Hoc Fencing
Committee was formed in 1997, which came up with some recommendations some of
which have already been accepted by government. These include retroactive
environmental impact assessment study of some of the fences. A scoping exercise has
been undertaken. An environmental audit of fences that have already been constructed
as well as an EIA of those sections of fence still being planned is to follow. The EIA
will advise on which of the current fences are essential for disease control and how
minimisation of conflicts between fencing for effective disease control, and the
maintenance of seasonal and drought related movements that are essential for wildlife
could be achieved. This will ensure that the benefits of fences are maximized while
the disadvantages are minimised.

2.2 Institutional structure of biodiversity government planning and

policy

In 1983 the Government of Botswana accepted the need for the preparation of a
National Conservation Strategy (NCS). This need emerged from close cooperation
between the government and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)
in the preparation of the Clearing House Mission Report. The Clearing House Mission
Report reflected the importance attached to identifying policies and other measures,
which, would ensure, whenever and wherever possible, the sustainability of all future
development.

The Government of Botswana therefore decided on the establishment of new

institutions to coordinate implementation of the NCS. The NCS Advisory Board and
NCS Coordinating Agency were thus established. Also introduced were
Environmental Liaison Officers (ELOs). The NCS Advisory Board and NCS
Coordinating Agency were established within the Ministry of Local Government,
Lands and Housing. The National Conservation Strategy (NCS) Agency was set up in
1991 and the NCS (Advisory) Board was appointed by Cabinet in 1992.

The 17-member NCS Advisory Board, which is chaired by the minister of the newly
formed Ministry of Lands, Housing and Environment is composed of senior
representatives of his ministry, the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning,
the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of
Minerals, Energy and Water Affairs and the Ministry of Education. Also represented
are the chairman of the Botswana Association of Local Authorities (BALA) and the
chairman of the Botswana Association of Tribal Land Authorities (BATLA). The rest
of the membership includes non-governmental organisations; the chiefs, the
University of Botswana; the media; the business community; and eminent private
individuals. The NCS Advisory Board, as the name suggests, has advisory powers and
its primary function is to coordinate the implementation of the NCS. In carrying out
its functions the Board aims at complementing rather than duplicating the activities of
existing organisations.

The primary function of the Board is to coordinate the implementation of the NCS.
The Board also performs the following functions: Provides guidance to organisations
and individuals; advises organisations on review of policies; prepares the biennial
State of the Environment report; coordinates review of legislation; promotes the
implementation of EIA legislation and advises and supports line ministries and local
authorities.

The NCS Agency the secretariat, is the executive arm of the Board. The Agency
services the Board by organising the Board’s affairs and coordinating the execution of
its decisions and liaising with other organisations to ensure that the NCS goals and
objectives are achieved.

The Environmental Liaison Officers (ELOs) within each of the central and local
government ministries/departments are responsible for ensuring that their
organisations comply with the NCS Act once passed, and for liasing closely with the
NCS Co-ordinating Agency. It is envisaged that, at the district level, liaison officers
will also be designated. The importance of ensuring development of the necessary
links and regular liaison between ministries, departments and local authorities was
thus well recognised when formulating the NCS.

2.3 Perceived degree of participation of the country in the Convention on

Biological Diversity (CBD), and perceived benefits of being a part of
CBD

As has been mentioned before, Botswana is party to several environmental

conventions one of which is the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which
was ratified in October 1995. The National Conservation Strategy Agency directly
coordinates implementation of the requirements of the CBD. Some of the
requirements of the Convention are: to identify components of biological diversity
essential for conservation and sustainable use; monitoring through sampling and other
techniques, the components of biological diversity thus identified, paying particular
attention to those requiring urgent conservation measures and those which offer the
greatest potential for sustainable use; identifying processes and categories of activities
which have or are likely to have significant adverse impacts on the conservation and
sustainable use of biological diversity, and monitor their effects through sampling and
other techniques; maintaining and organising by any mechanism, data derived from
identification and monitoring activities undertaken as above.

As an obligation for all contracting members of the convention, a National Biological

Diversity Authority (NBDA) was established. This committee, which is comprised of
members from both government and non-governmental organisations, including the
University of Botswana, assists the Government of Botswana and the NCS Agency in
advising on all scientific and technological matters pertaining to the CBD. It also
advises on plans, programmes and strategies in implementing the convention. The
environmental research and monitoring division of the NCS Agency provides the
secretariat to the NBDA.

The NCS Agency, through the assistance of the UNDP, and the collaboration of the
NBDA, produced the first edition of the country’s report on biological diversity, for
the Fourth Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. The next
phase of this project will be the Botswana Biological Diversity Strategy and Action
Plan (BSAP). Through this BSAP, the country will take stock of all its biological
resources, assess potential threats, assess the damage done (loss) and come up with a
strategy and plans that can lead to sustainable utilisation of biodiversity. A funding
proposal to the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) for the project has been finalised
with UNDP.

A view at the NCS Action Plan reveals that the national policy on natural resources
conservation and development is to be implemented through an action plan, which
should be monitored as part of the National Development Process (NDP). A Swedish
(SIDA) consultancy drew up the Action Plan between 1996 and 1998. The action plan
specifically formulates and describes the different measures to diversify Botswana’s
economy through the use of the natural resource base. It identifies the natural
resources that have significant potential to create employment and incomes
particularly where there are limited formal employment opportunities. The action plan
also defines specific policies and instruments of a macro-economic nature that should
serve as incentives and dis-incentives in the quest to improve the conservation of
natural resources. These measures include fiscal and subsidy policies as well as other
innovative measures hitherto unused for conservation purposes. It also proposes
specific pieces of legislation and provisions, which could play a positive role in
promoting environmental rehabilitation and a strong role in stopping degradation. It
also proposes amendments and where appropriate, new legislation or the
consolidation of existing legislation and provisions.

Ironically though, Botswana does not yet have an approved National Biodiversity
Strategy and Action Plan. Presently different sectors have their own projects outlining
strategies and action plans addressing components of biodiversity.

The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) has a multi-pronged strategy
to achieve its policy objectives of improving its conservation of wildlife resources and
encouraging and promoting sustainable utilisation by local communities and the
private sector. DWNP realises that conservation and sustainable utilisation of the
wildlife resource is dependent upon the result of scientific and objective research.
Areas of concern such as the management of the country’s large elephant population
and its habitat will continue to receive attention as set out in the Elephant
Management Plan of 1990 which is currently undergoing review. The national
protected area system will continue to be managed to maintain and enhance biological
diversity for their aesthetic and ecological value as well as to provide a reservoir of
wildlife species for wildlife utilisation schemes in surrounding wildlife management
areas. The current NDP 8, lays emphasis on the implementation of management plans
for protected areas.
Wildlife Conservation Policy of 1986 is the blueprint for the management and
utilisation of the wildlife resources. Proposed Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs)
that have not yet been gazetted will be afforded this status. Management plans will be
implemented to encourage investment by the private sector and participation in
wildlife utilisation by local communities. Revised Ostrich and Crocodile Management
Plans have been drawn up to encourage and regulate the sustainable utilisation of
these species..

The natural history division of the national museum has already begun to develop the
national botanical garden. The plan that has been put forward for additional funding
outlines the development of the garden to an ex-situ facility, at which plants and some
animals can be studied in a concentrated area. The visitor will be able to get detailed
information on the flora and fauna. Research projects relating to biodiversity and its
management will be undertaken on species in the garden. Another project outlined in
NDP 8 is the creation of a new history centre in the botanical garden. The centre
should cater for research, documentation and storage of Botswana’s existing and
growing natural history collections. The aim is to collect and store specimens of all
species existing in Botswana. It is to become the national reference collection for
natural history, which should serve the needs of other institutions working with issues
related to biodiversity.

The Ministry of Agriculture is currently working on a national forest policy, which

defines basic principles and goals for conservation, development, management and
sustainable utilisation of forestry resources to meet social economic and
environmental needs. Forests, woodlands and trees contribute towards (i) the
improvement of food security at the household and national levels since about 53
percent of the total energy consumption is generated from wood; (ii) meeting rural
subsistence needs by providing construction material; (iii) generation of income
through handicraft production, honey, fodder for livestock and wildlife; and, (iv)
increasing agricultural productivity and conservation of the environment by protecting
soil erosion, conserving wetlands and biological diversity as well as sequestration of
carbon dioxide.

On an annual basis, there is a national tree planting day carried out in various parts of
the country where various communities plant over 100,000 trees. The various trees
range from fruit trees (both indigenous and exotic), shade trees, soil reclamation
species and ornamental trees. Past efforts to conserve forestry resources include the
gazettement of one percent of the country as forest reserves. Some indigenous trees
have been protected which include some timber species such as Mukwa (Pterocarpus
angolensis), Rhodesian teak (Baikieae plurijuga) and Tsaudi (Guibourtia
coleosperma) and some fruit trees such as Baobab, African Ebony (Diospyros
mespiliformis) and Mozinzila (Berchemia discolor).

There is, however, a growing threat to the maintenance of biological diversity as a

result of increased human pressure. Effective strategies have to be sought to counter
these threats not only by developing and sustaining the system of protected areas but
also by fostering other conservation measures outside protected areas to maintain and
enhance species and ecosystem diversity.
There is a national Action Programme to combat desertification and drought (NAP)
which followed the ratification of the United Nation’s Convention to Combat
Desertification and Drought (CCD). Its objective is to combat desertification and
mitigate the effects of drought in countries experiencing serious drought and/or
desertification, particularly in Africa, through effective action at all levels, supported
by international cooperation and partnership arrangements, in the framework of the
integrated approach which is consistent with Agenda 21 with a view to contributing to
the achievement of sustainable development in affected areas. Ratification of the CCD
resulted in the Ministry of Agriculture being identified as the focal point for the
implementation of the NAP. A national task force was put in place in 1997 which also
started consultations.

Conservation of the Okavango River basin has been mandated to the Okavango River
Basin Water Commission (OKACOM). Owing to its isolation and the history of
conflict in Angola, the Okavango River Basin has remained remarkably unaffected by
human influence. Aside from relatively small extractions in southern Angola and the
Caprivi Strip in Namibia, the Okavango’s hydrology is largely unaltered. The
Okavango has therefore continued to support a healthy ecosystem including a large
population of people living in villages surrounding the delta. Recent events, however
show that the delta is vulnerable. It is an unstable and complex ecosystem, situated
downstream of two countries who may want to extract water from it or use for some
other developments. More importantly, the delta lacks the protection of a
comprehensive management plan guiding decisions of upstream neighbours.
Fortunately two recent developments offer Botswana an unprecedented opportunity to
secure the future of the delta. In 1997 the Permanent OKACOM launched a multi-
year, basin wide research and planning process, and Botswana inducted the Okavango
Delta into the Ramsar convention for wetlands of international importance. The main
goal of OKACOM is to produce a comprehensive management plan for the basin, and
the Ramsar convention commits Botswana to developing a management plan for the
delta.

Botswana being a party to the Convention on Biological Biversity (CBD) has gained
in that the CBD espouses the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable
use of its components. This mirrors the commitment of the Government of Botswana
to ensure that the development and diversification of the country’s economy is
predicated on the sustainable utilization of her natural resources. The major benefits
that accrue from the development of the wildlife and other renewable natural
resources include the creation of economic opportunities and diversification of the
country’s economic base. From the above, communities have increasingly become
aware of the importance of natural resources conservation.

With respect to agriculture, biodiversity - the totality of genetic resources, varieties,

and ecosystems - is the very foundation of life for the majority of rural people in
Botswana. The food security of communities is based on biodiversity in crops,
animals, forests and wildlife resources. The maintenance of yields and disease
resistance is based on the access to a rich genetic resource of crops and their wild
relatives, animals, forests and wildlife resources. The richness of biodiversity ensures
present and future stability of food supply as well as adaptation of natural ecosystems
to changing climatic conditions. However, the stability of genetic resources is
threatened by among other factors, the destruction of natural habitats, and the wide
spread introduction of uniform seeds/breeds, over-exploitation of veld-products,
overgrazing and desertification.

For the rural majority, loss of biodiversity threatens the sustenance of local
communities as biodiversity provides shelter, food, fibre, medicinal and other
products that ensure the survival and income of the majority of the rural population.
The rural population knows how to maintain biodiversity. When they plant, they try to
meet the nutritional requirements of their families by inter-cropping, and reduce the
risk of crop failure by cultivating a wide variety of crops or having mixed livestock.
The growing emphasis on market-driven transactions contributes towards the gradual
erosion of indigenous knowledge systems. The ‘wild’ relatives of cultivated crops
form an important part of the diet of rural communities, as these are part of their
ecosystem. The ‘wild’ vegetables are often seen on the table of many rural and urban
dwellers and contribute towards the food security and nutrition of the population.

2.4 Overview of the role of NGOs and local communities in biodiversity

conservation: Main activities, constraints, and achievements.

In Community Based Natural Resources Management Policy some of the major areas
covered include the following:
i. Forestry management: Although emphasis is placed on fuel wood
conservation, the concern is not strictly restricted to this area;
ii. Parks and people: To facilitate community involvement in natural resource
management people are encouraged to view parks and reserves as areas
belonging to communities as opposed to the government;
iii. Intellectual property rights: Communities possess indigenous knowledge
in natural resources, as such there is need for this to be protected, as it will
contribute towards equitable sharing of revenues;
iv. Capacity building: The capacity of the stakeholders should be improved to
ensure sustained community based natural resource management.

The involvement of NGO’s in biodiversity conservation and their collaboration with

local communities has been invaluable Some of the activities carried out by NGOs
in collaboration with local communities include Kalahari Conservation Society
(KCS). It was involved in the organisation of a conference on Women and the
Environment and in the Pre-feasibility assessment and study of Moremi Gorge,
Tswapong Hills, for the community. Skill Share Africa assists volunteers of
organisations such as Veld Products Research and development (VPRD), and
Environmental Watch Botswana. Forestry Association of Botswana (FAB) has
among its projects, a project on Community Based Woodland Natural Management.
Veld Products Research’s (VPRD) projects include the Community Based
Agroforestry Project. Thusano Lefatsheng is involved in ecological studies,
cultivation and management of grapple plant (Hapagophytum procumbens) in order to
enhance its sustainable use. Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre
(HOORC) is also running several programmes including a research project named
the Hydrology and Ecology of Flooding in the Okavango Delta, aimed at
understanding the effects of the seasonal flood on the structure and productivity of
both terrestrial and aquatic biota. Permaculture Trust of Botswana assists
communities with drawing natural resources management plans. Somarelang
Tikologo (Environment Watch Botswana) has as its overall aim, to monitor, protect
and increase awareness about Botswana’s environment and to encourage the prudent
use and conservation of the country’s resources. Conservation International (CI) is
an international organisation that has a project in Botswana. This project, established
in 1991, has the aim of conserving endangered ecosystems that are important either,
for their biological diversity or their importance to live systems. The focus of the
project has been training in conservation, environmental and support services to
communities in and around the Okavango Delta. Chobe Wildlife Trust was
established in 1988 to assist in the conservation of natural assets of northern
Botswana in particular, the Chobe National Park. Botswana Bird Club produces a
journal The Babbler, which contains papers and notes on any aspect of ornithology in
Botswana and bird records.

The government of Botswana cherishes devolving management and decision making

processes to men and women in the rural areas who live with Botswana’s resources
and who also have an interest in their utilisation and preservation. This is being
achieved through the many Community Based Organisations (CBOs) that have been
formed in the country. NGOs and these CBOs face similar challenges in their efforts
to conserve biodiversity. One of these challenges are uncontrolled fires, which occur
annually, at times burning out the resources that organizations are working to
conserve. Botswana’s dry and windy climate makes fires a fierce and frequent
challenge. Frequent use of fences, such as the buffalo fence around the delta,
presents a second challenge. The fence affects wildlife migration patterns and
communities located inside the fence such as Seronga and others along the delta pan
handle are cut off from wildlife and can not use of it. There are secondary businesses
associated with tourism in the delta area; these are craft shops mainly dedicated to
selling basket making. The resources they use to make baskets are on land that has no
legal tenure. There is therefore no security for these recourses in that someone can
walk in and take them rendering them no longer available. On the other hand there is
uncontrolled collection of the basket-making palm to unsustainable levels. The
communities have to be trained on how to collect the palm leaves without destroying
the palms. Other community activities include dug out canoes that are made from hard
wood trees that may take up to 50 years to replace. There is a move to use fibreglass
canoes in place of ‘Mekoro’ as they are popularly known in order to conserve these
trees.

2.5 Overview of National Systems of National Parks and Protected Areas:

Constitutional basis, administrative structure, and operational budget,
brief description of main protected areas, present visitation and
tourism aspects.

Chobe Conservation Trust.jpg

Parks were set aside by government primarily to preserve the diverse fauna and flora
of the country and secondly to allow for recreational and educational opportunities for
Botswana residents and visitors. Today 17 percent of the area of the country
comprises parks and reserves, though none are complete ecological units in
themselves. Further efforts into improving this situation has resulted in the recent
birth of the Kagalagadi Trans-frontier Park which is a trans-boundary national park
stretching across south-western Botswana into northern South Africa. More
information is given on this park at the end of this chapter in the section on best
practice case studies. Botswana has four national parks, and seven game reserves that
are administered by the government (DWNP). There are also private reserves and
wildlife sanctuaries. The Central Kalahari Game Reserve with a size of 52 800 sq km
is among the largest protected areas in the world. There is an additional 20 percent of
land designated as wildlife management areas. However there are significant
differences in the use of these areas for tourism. Unanimously, the Okavango Delta,
the largest inland wetland habitat of this type in the world covering up to 13,000 sq
km, is considered the most important attraction in Botswana together with the Chobe
National Park. The other national parks and game reserves, e.g. Central Kalahari
Game Reserve and Kalahari Trans-frontier Park (former Gemsbok National Park) are
less known and visited.

It is estimated that some 90 percent of all persons coming to Botswana for a vacation
come primarily for a wildlife-based vacation (Botswana Tourism Master Plan 2000).
This proportion varies according to country of origin, with visitors from South Africa
(20 percent) more likely to come for other vacation purposes such as sporting
occasions or special interest field trips. The majority visit national parks and reserves.
The northern parks and reserves attracted 95 percent of total visits by paying visitors
in 1998, with Chobe National Park (61 percent of the total) and Moremi Wildlife
Reserve (31 percent) the most visited individual protected areas. Analysis of country
of residence shows that visitors from Europe (excluding the United Kingdom) formed
the largest single category, accounting for 32 percent of the total visits. Next in order
of size were visitors from South Africa (18 percent), United Kingdom (10 percent),
North America (10 percent) and Australia/New Zealand (7 percent). Botswana
citizens and residents accounted for just over 6 percent and 9 percent, of total visits
respectively. Average length of stay has been estimated at 2.3 to 2.7 nights for visitors
to the central and southern parks and reserves, and slightly lower, 1.3 to 2.1 nights, for
the northern parks and reserves. As for revenue, in 1998, a total of P10.6 million was
collected in revenues from visitors to the national parks and reserves. Looking at the
visitor carrying capacity, a total of some 2,064-bed places are presently available
within the protected areas. These are provided in a range of accommodation,
including permanent and non-permanent lodges, mobile campsites, public camp
grounds, wilderness camp sites, observation hides and educational group camp
grounds. The number of permitted bed spaces in all forms of accommodation is 3,804
(according to DWNP). However it is noted that some sites within the protected areas
already experience extremely high levels of utilisation during the peak season,
especially the Chobe National Park and Moremi Game Reserve.

The Government of Botswana has promulgated various policies and legislation to

guide and control the use of wildlife and wildlife areas. These include the Wildlife
Conservation Policy of 1986, The Wildlife and National Parks act of 1992, the
Tourism Policy of 1990, the Tourism Act of 1992, as well as the National
Conservation Strategy of 1990.

Threats to the parks include devastating fires that may account for the disappearance
of up to 80 percent of woodlands allowing encroachment of undesirable fire resistant
species of vegetation. Measures to control fires should be put in place early every
season. There are also problems with water for the parks. Moremi Game Reserve in
the Okavango is the only park with sufficient surface water. The Chobe National Park
only has approximately 70 km of permanent water in the form of Chobe River. Other
than this no surface water exists in the Chobe National Park; water is therefore
pumped by machines to the surface from deep aquifers underground resources. This at
times results in the lowering of the water table. Observations have shown that some
perennial surface springs and water holes are now dry, indicating the need for a
comprehensive monitoring exercise.

3. OVERVIEW OF LINKS BETWEEN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AND

BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION AND PLANNING (BCP)

3.1 Description and critique of existing national strategy, plan or

policy applied to any interaction between tourism development
and biodiversity conservation and planning – i.e. national
biodiversity strategy and action plans (NBSAPs).

The Convention on Biological Diversity aims at committing all nations to conserve

biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable
sharing of benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources. The CDB also
recognises the sovereignty of governments over their biodiversity. It also recognises
that local communities have life styles that have a strong traditional dependence on
biological resources and the need to share equitably in the benefits arising form
biodiversity. Mujakachi (1997) outlines below the challenges associated with
addressing the Convention’s objectives:

Unlike many countries of the North where environmental issues that result
in processes leading to conventions are pushed by the public, in Southern
Africa such pressure is missing. Generally addressing environmental issues
in Africa has been the monopoly of government. Ratification of these
conventions is guided by other considerations such as the need to be part of
the global family or the desire to access funds that may have been
established to implement the convention. These conventions also depict
that national legislation should conform to the international regulations.

An additional challenge is the occurrence of larger populations of wildlife outside

protected areas. Hunting, harvesting, transfer and trans-boundary movement of
biological resources does take place but there is a level of absence and/or
inadequacies in legislative and regulatory mechanisms in place to address all these.
Therefore enforcement has been identified by the NCSA as a key area that efforts will
go into to facilitate efficient bio resource utilisation in situ and ex-situ.

The benefits of visitors to Botswana have been seen. An increase in tourism, however,
always carries the risk of harming the very attribute (i.e. natural resources) that attract
visitors in the first place, as well as putting pressure on the local infrastructure: roads,
airports, water supplies and public services. While it is evident that natural heritage
should be preserved for the appreciation and enrichment of generations to come for
their inherent value alone, it should just be as obvious that its preservation makes
overwhelming economic sense as well. When a tourism attraction goes into decline
because of overuse and neglect, it is a case of killing the goose that laid the golden
egg. Not only does it reflect short-sightedness in terms of potential profit, it also robs
the world of something irreplaceable in value that should be preserved to enrich the
lives of generations to come. Only proper planning, management, and control can
ensure that a resource will live up to its commercial potential and survive intact into
the future.

Mujakachi (1997) in his critique of western attitude to African conservation

endeavours, states that there is a growing tendency by international conservation
advocates to promote a concept of Africa as an idyllic and sacrosanct wildlife
sanctuary which is separated from the socio-economic realities of the continent. This
elitist and condescending attitude lowers the credibility of African conservation
efforts. Africa has become a battleground of the global conservation movement. At
stake is whether Africans can manage their wildlife or whether the task will be
usurped by a cartel of conservation organisations based in the USA and also in
Europe. The implication being that African people do not possess the proper
conservation ethics nor are they able to duplicate the First World managerial
efficiency. There is a strong international determination to preserve the wildlife in
Africa. The WWF/Tourism Concern’s definition of sustainable tourism carries the
same view about this. For WWF, sustainable tourism is tourism and associated
infrastructures that, both now and in the future, (1) operate within natural capacities
for the regeneration and future productivity of natural resources; (2) recognise the
contribution that people and communities, customs and lifestyles, make to the tourism
experience; (3) accept that these people must have an equitable share in the economic
benefits of tourism; (4) are guided by wishes of the local people and communities in
the host areas.

That being said, there are of course perceived problems that emanate from the local
situations. One of these problems is the lack of necessary linkages between the
various development sectors. For instance as Ngwamotsoko (1997) explains, in the
National Development Plans, the policies that guide decision makers and policies that
are affecting biodiversity conservation do not at all or are inadequate in
accommodating conservation interests. For example, policies governing water
resources and settlement allow fragmentation of the wildlife habitats, even within
protected areas through permitting the siting of hotels and camps next to the wildlife
watering sources. The Agricultural Policy while it recognises pesticide use against
quelea birds, locust, tse tse fly and other so called pests, the application methods to
avoid affecting non–target species of wildlife are not clarified. In the Tourism Policy
itself all conservation issues have been left to the Department of Wildlife and
National Parks and this is mainly in reference to conservation in protected areas. Also,
there is no wildlife liaison officer in the DoT. Other biodiversity conservation sectors
that are well reflected in the National Conservation Strategy Agency report, including
ex-situ conservation of botanical gardens, zoos and the potential detrimental effects of
introduction of exotic animal and plant species, are not addressed in the tourism
policy. DoT has no figures on visitor carrying capacities for the various tourism
attractions. Besides aerial surveys conducted by the DWNP to count and monitor the
distribution of large animals in areas where they are abundant, at the moment there
are no official inventories available to the visitor at the entrance of protected areas
which display the richness of the park’s biodiversity. The inventories could include
facts about the most abundant taxa and the presence of endemic species all of which
could go a long way in enhancing the visitor understanding, appreciation and
enjoyment of these areas.

3.2 Analysis of main perceived problems and constraints at the

national level (including negative linkages and threats of tourism
to biodiversity conservation).

3.2.1 Political

The political and economic stability of Botswana has been an essential advantage to
tourism development as it is related to a democratic social environment and provides
a favourable investment climate and comparatively no corruption. Safety and security
are important factors for tourism development as well, especially in view of the
situation in neighbouring countries. Bureaucratic procedures, however, do negatively
affect the planning and implementation of projects; for instance, it could be difficult
to obtain adequate land or to successfully apply for financial support.

Wildlife is recognised as an important natural resource in Botswana, however it is one

of the major land users and as a result competes for space with other land uses. Socio
–economic policies have at times led to programmes and projects that do not have due
consideration to the consequences on wildlife. Take for example the National
Settlement Policy, among the specific objectives of this policy are the preservation of
the best arable land and to achieve balanced development. The policy identifies
activities it will protect but it is silent on wildlife. Yet settlements are among the most
serious factors in wildlife conservation. Settlements have a close relationship with
water sources. In areas with river systems, settlements are near rivers or dams. Rivers
and pans are systems that provide water, as well as a great diversity of food varieties,
minerals and nutrients to both people and animals. In Okavango for example with the
hotels along waterfronts, ground seepage and contamination from sewerage systems is
a possibility. Such contamination may lead to eutrophication of the water. Pollution
may come from lead compounds from petrol in heavily patronised tourist areas. These
may accumulate in quantities large enough to be toxic to aquatic life. These
settlements and human activities obviously displace wildlife. The settlement policy
does not address this issue at the moment. Even in national parks tourist facilities such
as campsites and lodges are sited in ecologically sensitive areas such as along
waterways. This is a hindrance to the free movement of wildlife to the water, which is
an essential element of their survival.

3.2.2 Economic

Tourism in Botswana is still at infant stage and as such it seems to have only limited
linkages to other sectors of the economy. On international agreements and
conventions, Collingwood (1997) states that internationally and nationally there are
grounds for concern. Funding levels for wildlife conservation and management are
inadequate and they are not maintained. Beyond finance there is still a great and
unsatisfied need for technical support and above all for capacity development (in
general the follow up of the 1992 Rio agenda for actions is not impressive). He goes
on to say closer international partnerships needs to be developed, not just in the
donor/recipient relationship, but South/South and North/North. The aim must be to
prevent biodiversity conservation and management from being crowded out by other
competing priorities.

The curio industry is a big consumer of hard woods and palm leaves that are used to
make baskets and carvings. Occasionally these, when not harvested sustainably, cause
localized or extensive over-harvesting of rare indigenous trees. There is a loosely
structured co-operative which acts as a middleman. It buys crafts from artisans and
transports an sells them to a store in Maun - the main town near the Delta which is the
major tourist stop. Another middleman is a church organisation which operates on the
same lines. The crafts in some cases have proved to be a crucial source of income
especially for the elderly and female households.

Tour operators in many cases arrange to have their payments done abroad. As was
mentioned before of the gross visitor expenditure there is some considerable amount
that is retained outside the country and another amount that represents leakage due to
imports. As such what is reaped from the environment to create an attractive tourism
product does not all get ploughed back so as to be able to pay for manpower plus the
training required and other facilities that are needed to sustain posterity of biological
diversity. Payments by tourists should be done locally so that the local people can
benefit.

3.2.3 Social

There are land use conflicts that exist between tourism (i.e. mainly wildlife) and other
sectors, like agriculture. Although not to be overrated, negative impact issues can be
brought in to the country by tourism or they can be enforced (drugs, crime, etc.) and
negatively influence the social fabric, possibly rising negative perceptions on tourism
in the indigenous population. This would result in a bad attitude towards tourism and
conservation efforts supported by benefits of tourism. Negative perceptions by
Botswana might also arise if the imbalance of ownership and management within the
sector continues.

People have been displaced to create natural resources conservation zones such as
during the creation of Makgadikgadi Game Reserve and other national parks. In
Botswana the government has been encouraging the indigenous San people to relocate
from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve to a settlement outside the reserve but this is
an issue that has caused long drawn debates.

3.2.4 Technical (managerial)

An unbalanced industry development is the major threat to tourism development in

Botswana. This is so especially in view of the fragile natural environment in national
parks, game reserves and wildlife management areas. There has been easy
transferability of licenses whereby large companies that have money have swallowed
smaller ones. This creates a monopoly by the big giants and the local people cease to
see the benefits of conservation. Over-utilisation of limited resources, e.g. land and
water, can lead to conflicts but also to destruction of assets. If carrying capacity
ceilings are not respected, certain areas may even experience, at least temporary, signs
of “mass” tourism. Tourism development is at a relatively youthful state of
development. This is characterized by a somewhat dangerous dependency on the
single product of wildlife, offered in a restricted part of the country. This at the
moment is manifested in an absence of professionalism in terms of knowledge of
conservation ethics and also to some extent poor customer service due to a high
percentage of untrained staff in the industry.

Another managerial challenge is that most recreational hunters, many of them tourists,
prefer to hunt rare species e.g. lion. To get the desired trophies they may even
illegally kill conserved species.

3.2.5 Human resources.

There is at present limited awareness about the opportunities of tourism and a general
lack of entrepreneurism in Botswana. The local population is as such not much
involved in the activities of this sector . This has left an apparent dominance of
foreigners in both ownership and management of tourism companies. The benefits to
the community therefore are small because locals are employed in junior jobs and are
paid low wages. Sometimes negative views about tourism are created because locals
are made to feel that they interfere and their presence is shunned in front of tourists.
The local people therefore need to be given opportunities for training and
advancement for them to realise the benefits of tourism and hence support biological
conservation.

3.2.6 Biodiversity conservation (at all three levels: ecosystem,

species and genetic)

Almost all human activities disturb the existing biological environment. Vegetation
degradation is caused by construction of hotels and camps, collection of fuel wood for
heating water and cooking and for making campfires. Carelessness may even cause
the fire to burn extensive areas of vegetation. This can alter the vegetation itself and
consequently the fauna composition. Human settlements cause the natural habitat to
fragment. On some private game farms exotic species of animals have been
introduced and it is not easy to predict that they would not eventually cause extinction
of some indigenous species. Damage is also caused by vehicle pollution from
hydrocarbons, dust and soil erosion. In the national parks and reserves there are
degraded roads due to vehicle usage. These damaged areas become pools of water
during the rainy season or sometimes elephants fell trees across the road thus blocking
it, the drivers then open a new road to go around the blocked site. This destroys the
vegetation over a cumulatively large area. Pollution of the soil, water and the
atmosphere change environmental conditions that species are no longer able to
complete their reproductive cycles. It has been documented that artificial illumination
from campsites may affect some aquatic life forms.

During recreational activities, trampling has direct impact on the vegetation ground
layer. This leads to a decrease in species diversity. In addition plant picking,
uprooting and flower picking may also damage the vegetation composition. With
regard to animals, hunting, shooting and fishing may deplete local populations of
certain species. The mere presence of people can be sufficient to disrupt the activities
of animals especially breeding; this is particularly true for birds and large mammals.

In Botswana in situ conservation is commendable. However, as mentioned before,

most habitat types do not have an inventory or the knowledge of even the most
abundant taxa. Certainly many hundreds of species in Botswana have yet to be
described by taxonomists. Lack of inventory is most pronounced in the documentation
of invertebrate groups and the endemic species. In order to get the most out of its
biological riches, Botswana needs to catalogue, understand and monitor changes in its
biodiversity. There is at present though, limited fiscal and manpower capacity to fully
catalogue and develop the biological resources.

Research carried out by the DWNP since the late 1980s has revealed that some
wildlife species are under serious threat of extinction as their populations have
declined considerably. For example, wildebeest and hartebeest were reported to have
declined by about 90 percent. Most other species were reported to be in decline albeit
at a slower rate. The elephant has been the only species whose population has
continued to grow significantly. The issue of wildlife declines is complex since it can
neither be attributed solely to any one particular cause nor be redressed with a simple
solution. Man induced activities further complicate the picture. A number of negative
factors known to be contributing towards the negative trend are: changes in climate
especially recurring cycles of drought, rapidly increasing human population with its
growing demand for land, and expanding livestock husbandry and arable farming.
These affect wildlife by either reducing the carrying capacity of the land or by
hindering necessary animal movements and migrations.

The harvest of wildlife remains a real threat to the survival of this resource. There
continues to be hunting over and above the biologically sustainable quota. The
Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act provides for killing of wildlife, which
causes or threatens to cause damage to property, consequently many predators
including endangered species are killed in this manner. While this has been generally
welcomed by the affected communities, conservationists have heavily criticized it.
The abuse of hunting licenses also present a major challenge to law enforcement
authorities, as unscrupulous hunters have a tendency of killing more animals than
permitted.

It is also worth noting that the reported declines are in direct conflict with government
policies of sustainable utilisation of wildlife including the promotion of CBWM
programmes. The latter has the potential of fostering harmony between rural
communities and wildlife.

3.2.7 Examples of bad practices and failures

Institutional Capacity and Private Sector Participation: Although wildlife

management in Botswana has made positive strides through the implementation of
community based wildlife management programmes (CBNRMs), the management of
wildlife as well as other natural resources is generally perceived to be lagging behind
the dynamic and rapidly changing environment. There have been forums, which have
raised scepticism on the effectiveness of wildlife policies and programmes. There
have also been doubts about the capacity of the DWNP in managing these resources
and meeting the challenges of the 21stcentury. It has been suggested that a National
Parks Board be created to foster private sector participation at higher levels of
decision making.

Hunting and Habitat Loss: Thouless (1997) writes that there is no other sufficient
explanation to the main cause of wildlife declines in the Kalahari area than
overexploitation. Due to concerns about diminishing wildlife populations, commercial
and citizen hunting has largely been banned in both Kgalagadi and Ghanzi districts.
Most hunting that still occurs is carried out illegally, favoured species being Eland
(Taurotragus oryx) and Gemsbok (Oryx gazella). Because of the vast areas, the
effectiveness of anti-poaching operations is necessarily limited, although DWNP has
now intensified its efforts in this area. In the long term the greatest threat to wildlife in
unprotected parts of the Kalahari may be habitat loss, and there is continuing pressure
to erode the wildlife management areas in favour of cattle ranching. However it
appears that even if wildlife habitats are secured, recovery of populations in these
areas will be inhibited unless illegal hunting can be controlled.

Fires: There is the issue of fires, which destroy habitats and are a major
environmental problem. Problems arise from Botswana’s aridity, which makes it
difficult to control fires. People must be made aware of the damaging effects of fire,
and fire management policies must be established and implemented.

Fences and Cattle: One rather complex practise is the issue of livestock husbandry in
Ngamiland, the land of the Okavango Delta. The presence of cattle in this area has
now and again resulted into conflicts between biological conservation or its
sustainable utilisation, and measures taken by the veterinary department to contain
livestock disease. This conflict has in part been linked to the buffalo fence around the
delta. This fence functions to restrict contact between cattle and buffalo in an effort to
control transmission of foot and mouth disease from buffalo to cattle. There are also
three very long fences that were constructed in 1996 to try and stop the spread of
cattle lung disease (bovine pleuropneumonia), which had erupted in the cattle
population there. The fences were not effective in containing the disease outbreak and
the Ngamiland’s entire 350,000 cattle stock had to be exterminated. The buffalo fence
and the cattle lung disease fences have negative effects on the natural dispersal pattern
of wildlife in the area. Then there is the tse tse fly spraying in the delta to control the
disease that this fly causes to cattle. The chemicals sprayed could be fatal to many
organisms that live in the delta ecosystem. If there were no cattle all these cattle
disease control measures would not be necessary. It has to be noted, however, that in
Botswana tradition and culture, cattle denote wealth, power and provide food . Cattle
have such a high sociological value that their worth cannot be expressed in monetary
or other common expressions of value. As such the debate on the conflict between
cattle disease control and the conservation of biodiversity is a non starter or of limited
extent.

4. PROPOSED STRATEGIES AND SOLUTIONS

The following are proposed strategies and solutions for improving biodiversity
conservation and planning into the tourism planning sector:
4.1 Policy – oriented

There is need to improve the effectiveness of the Department of Tourism in linking

tourism development to conservation of biodiversity in Botswana. A clear policy
commitment should be reflected both in the Tourism Policy and in the links created
with the NCSA. A conservation liaison office should be created within DoT with a
mandate to link the department with other conservation bodies, and to carry out EIA
audits on tourism establishments measuring their mitigation of negative
environmental impacts and commitment to the conservation of biological diversity on
which the tourism industry is actually built.

The Tourism Policy should look into degradation factors such as the clearing of many
areas for building camping sites, airstrips, etc. In addition it should address collection
of wood for recreational fires and fuel, for building camps as well as for building dug
out canoes (mekoro). Clearing vegetation for boundary demarcation of animal
reserves and other tourist attraction areas should be regulated and monitored. The
siting of tourist hotels and camping sites next to rivers and water sources for wildlife
has many detrimental ramifications and alternative ways of recreational siting should
be found. The extraction of water from bore holes to provide water for recreational
purposes such as in swimming pools and other purposes that require large quantities
of water especially for tourist hotels may affect the water table in Botswana’s arid
areas and hence the biodiversity that depend on it. These and many other issues need
to be brought to light and addressed. There has to be buffer zones between protected
areas and human activities, e.g. game ranches or Controlled Hunting Areas (CHAs).
Fencing of protected areas and provision of water and other resources can alleviate
conflicts with livestock and people’s settlements. There is need to maintain visitor
numbers into protected areas below carrying capacity levels in order to have
sustainable tourism and not damage the resource that tourism depends on. Large
numbers of people in an area at any one time cause damage to the environment. It is
recommended that efforts should be made to spread the tourism season throughout the
year to avoid high peaks. Ecozoning (zoning of natural resources and habitats) should
be done to avoid environmental deterioration and for securing safe undisturbed
habitats for species vulnerable to human interference. Zones that are not so vulnerable
should allow higher visitor levels which they can sustain.

The Government of Botswana is doing well on a number of fronts and this

performance should be maintained. Land allocation programs and the control and
management of parks contribute positively to tourism. Botswana is land locked and
has boundaries with Republic of South Africa, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe,
dialogue and good relations have been maintained in cases of conflict such as cross
border poaching, violation of rules by tour operators from neighbouring countries and
problem animal control. The creation of the Kalahari Trans-frontier Park has set a
precedence for more ecological mindfulness in the demarcation of wildlife zones. The
fencing programme for veterinary disease control has accepted the concept of leaving
gaps to allow wildlife movement between national and international zones where ever
this does not compromise the livestock disease control efforts. Funding is pumped
into developing management plans for all areas. Efforts being made to diversify
tourism to cultural, historical and other manmade attractions will reduce imminent
pressure on wildlife areas.
4.2 Economic

As a result of government efforts to conserve natural resources, wildlife based

industries including tourism contributed about P271.8 million or 3 percent of the
gross domestic product in 1995. It is expected that tourism based on both consumptive
and non consumptive uses of wildlife will continue to grow and contribute to the
national economy. This is particularly important as wildlife based tourism has the
added advantage of generating employment in the rural areas. For these reasons, the
importance of wildlife to the national economy cannot be over-emphasised. A look at
NDP 8 shows that for both recurrent and development expenditure the share devoted
to wildlife conservation (assuming that this covers biodiversity in general) is around
0.7%. This figure includes all anticipated donor support. A fundamental review of
biodiversity conservation priorities and the funding, both available and still required,
for conservation initiatives, is imminent (Collingwood 1997). Coordination of
various stakeholders through the NCSA rather than duplicating and wasting individual
efforts would streamline and enhance the effectiveness of the limited funding that is
available.

However, donor financial support, worldwide is vital if conservation programmes are

to be funded adequately, in accordance with the Convention on Biological Diversity
and the programmes of Agenda 21. The less developed countries like Botswana
simply do not have the resources to follow these programmes through without
external funding. Fortunately many donors are working to address this issue.

Efforts to make conservation pay for itself should continue. The CITES down-listing
of the elephant, which is over abundant in Botswana, would be a tremendous
contribution, through the country’s renewed ability to once again trade elephant
products.

Conflicts of crop raiding and livestock predation arising fromcommunities living with
wildlife are a major economic set back to the communities. The same communities
should continue to be encouraged to conserve wildlife through strengthening
community based natural resource management and sustainable utilisation not only in
WMAs, but also inside national parks and game reserves. This is entirely consistent
with modern thinking of people in national parks and with the biosphere concept. This
could be a difficult subject for Botswana but continued reflections on it could bring an
acceptable solution to all the stakeholders. Communities should be involved in the
creation of protected areas. Examples of this exist in the creation of Moremi Game
Reserve and the protection of the Okavango Delta by the people of Ngamiland.

Strengthened localisation, better positions and more jobs for local Batswana, would
go a long way in stimulating harmonious co-existence of local people and wildlife and
other biological resources.

4.3 Technical/managerial – including mechanisms for intersectoral coordination

Several positive management trends should be encouraged; these include community

based protected area establishment and management, and trans-boundary cooperation.
Community based management has been encouraged through DWNP’s efforts to
relinquish its policing duties to communities, it now plays an extension role.
Historically parks were established authoritatively from above but now in Botswana,
wildlife sanctuaries are initiated and run by local communities. This has contributed
tremendously to conservation of endangered species such as the white rhinoceros
(Ceratotherium simus) and migratory birds such as flamingos and pelicans.

There is also cross border international cooperation; the Kgalagadi Trans-frontier Park
has a management committee, comprised of members from the Department of
Wildlife and National Parks and South African National Parks, which oversees
developments within the system. It has a management plan in place that provides
guidance on how the system can operate, and addresses different issues such as
problem animal control.

Another program that should be supported is the inventory of existing and potential
ecotourism attractions. The methodology being used for this project has involved the
establishment of a Geographic Information System (GIS) into which a range of data
will be fed. This will be easily sufficient to identify sites with a range of attributes that
make them potentially viable for ecotourism pilot projects. The GIS will include data
sets such as: sites of high archeological potential; national monuments; proximity to
protected areas (foci for tourists); CBNRM areas; proximity to major tourism routes;
water utilities dams; and villages with cultural attractions and areas of scenic value.
Experts collect archaeological, museum and national monument data. The results are
transferred onto the GIS and given attributes. CBNRM areas will be mapped on to the
controlled hunting area boundaries. Dams will be inserted into the GIS and protected
areas taken from national data. To be included as well are additional areas of interest
such as nature reserves and game farms.

Another technical area that could benefit from intersectoral coordination refers to the
fact that most habitat types do not have biological inventories. Taxonomists should be
employed to describe as many species as possible. Endemic species and other species
of world or regional importance could create important tourism attractions. All
National Parks, CBNRMs and private sanctuary operators should be required to post
an inventory of biological resources and a monitoring record of the species
abundance.

In defining the role of local, district and central government authorities (and private
and civil society) regulatory mechanisms have been observed to have a tendency of
being expensive and difficult to enforce, while excessive ‘red–tape’ can stifle
investment. Conversely, the lack of an effective planning and regulatory framework
can easily lead to ill-thought-out and unsustainable tourism development. The
challenge therefore is to find the balance between facilitating market-led tourism
development by harnessing the expertise and entrepreneurial drive of the private
sector, while at the same time ensuring that the necessary legislative, planning and
regulatory framework is in place to guard against unsustainable, ill-conceived, or
damaging developments.

Other suggestions that have been made include the creation of a National Parks Board
to foster private sector participation at higher levels of decision making. Others
suggest that certain activities of the DWNP such as administration and development
of tourist facilities in protected areas should be outsourced to the private sector to
improve management and customer satisfaction. It is further urged that the placement
of the DWNP in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is inappropriate.

Another recommendation is that the western and developed world should respect the
fact that existing protected areas, which hold much of the remaining wildlife in the
world, have been in the hands of local people for centuries. It is ironic therefore that
the developed world should be prescriptive and iron handed in what the developing
world should do to conserve its natural resources. Suggestions and agreements should
be reached on the basis of mutual respect. International conventions such as CITES
and the work of NGOs should operate under this principle.

4.4.1 Human resources (including education and training)

More resources should be injected in training adequate workers with the right skills
and knowledge to protect and make policies that are appropriate to the sustainable use
of Botswana’s biodiversity. More human resources should be made available to
support the anti-poaching operations and the general policing of compliance to
biodiversity conservation regulations.

Official information on policies, rules and conduct required to sustain biodiversity

conservation should be readily available to tourists visiting Botswana, to tour
operators and the local community. Public awareness campaigns using seminars,
videos, school curricular programmes, should be done to raise public awareness about
conservation and benefits of tourism. There is a course that was run from 14 August
–7th September 2000 in Botswana for the Southern Africa region. This course, on
biodiversity, biotechnology and law, was sponsored by the Global Biodiversity
Institute of Delaware in the United States of America. The course objective was to
provide up to date information and training in biological diversity and biotechnology
to scientists, lawyers, government officials, intellectual property professionals and
other stakeholders in Southern Africa to stimulate economic development and
biodiversity conservation. Such approaches should be frequently employed.

Technical and financial support should be provided for creating awareness of

programmes such as Chobe Enclave Conservation Trust and other CBNRMs to assist
people in making informed choices between their economic engagements especially
where there are serious conflicts between wildlife tourism and farming communities.
It must be noted, however that cultural practice will take a very long time to change.

4.5 Biodiversity conservation per se (at all three levels: ecosystem, species and
genetic)

It is recommended that there should be overall management plans for important

biodiversity conservation sites such as the Okavango Delta, only part of which is a
protected area. Efforts to continue seeking protected area status for areas such as the
Moremi Gorge on the Tswapong Hills, Tsodilo Hills and the delta pan handle should
continue and receive support. There should also be better coordination of land use
designation between protected areas, agricultural areas and settlements.
Environmental impact assessment of veterinary disease control cordon fences and
other means of providing animal migration and other movements and EIAs on other
tourism establishments such as hotels and airports should be a must and auditing of
their mitigation on environmental effects should be enforced. Trans-boundary
cooperation with neighbours and further explorations into the possibility of creating
more peace or trans-boundary parks to maintain the integrity of cross-border
ecosystems and genetic exchange should be considered critical issues in sustainable
biodiversity conservation and successful tourism development.

Preventative fire policy must be established to curb the frequency of dry season fires
that are often being set by people. These fires cause total removal of grass and ground
layer biomass in most habitats; they cause the progressive destruction of woody
vegetation including trees and the role of these as habitats for other organisms. These
fires also increase the rate of nutrient cycling with the ultimate loss of nutrients by
leaching in sandy soil environments leading to a lowering of graze quality and other
needed nutrients for a wide range of organisms.

There should be studies to determine the extent, trend and the biodiversity response to
factors like fire, drought, diminishing canopy cover, human and livestock
encroachment, predation, noise, and other human disturbances. This should aim at
describing thresholds of sustainability to such disturbances on the various species.

4.6 Examples of best practices in linking tourism development and BCP

A(i) Name of project or development: Chobe Enclave Conservation Trust

In Botswana there is the Chobe Enclave Conservation Trust project, which

aims at returning custodianship of natural resources to the people who live
with those resources.

A(ii) Exact location

The Chobe Enclave is in the far north of the country. It was the first one to
be issued with community management rights. The Chobe Enclave is
bounded by the Chobe National Park and the Chobe River that marks the
boundary with Namibia’s Caprivi Strip. It is made up of five villages
covering 306,000 hectares of tribal land of which 137,000 have been
gazetted as forest reserve. Of the 169,000 hectares available for farming
and grazing 91,000 hectares lie within the Chobe River flood plain and are
subject to periodic flooding. The five villages have a population of around
5,000.

A(iii) Management and coordination

The communities were initially introduced to natural resource management

through government and NGO support. They now manage their own
natural resources through community meetings and are running a tourist
 guest house project, a fish farm and manage a hunting quota. They have
five village based committees that have representatives on a board. They
have a constitution of their community trust that has given them legal
status and a set of rules.

A(iv) Description of main objectives, achievements, and constraints

The constraints have arisen from development of deep divisions within the
community over access to wildlife and to lands associated with it. There
was mistrust, but a number of key management decisions were made by
the communities such as considering wildlife to be a common resource and
to work together as a group of independent but connected communities.
The communities have also agreed to have community members
accompany each hunter to ensure that proper practice and procedures are
adhered to.

In the first two years they made almost US $ 12,000 the following year
$27,000 and then $65,000 in 1995. In 1996 they stood to make $100,00.
The trust made a decision to reduce the percentage of the quota that is sold
to hunters during 1997 in order to sustainably manage their resource. Links
were being made between resource conservation and benefits. It is no
longer the size of the quota which matters but the sustainability of the
benefits to be derived from it.

B(i). Name of project: Moremi Wildlife Reserve

B(ii) Exact location: Moremi Wildlife Reserve is situated in the

eastern reaches of the Okavango Delta.

B(iii) Management and coordination:

This can only be described by telling the story of how the reserve was
formed. Moremi'’s distinction is that it is the first wildlife sanctuary in
Southern Africa created by an African tribe on their own land. Moremi is
the only protected area within the Okavango Delta and as such it is of
enormous scientific and environmental importance. This reserve features
prominently in Botswana’s tourism portfolio. It has excellent wilderness,
scenery and wildlife including birds and fish besides large game.
The origins of the reserve go back as far as the 1896 great rinderpest ( a
deadly virulent infectious disease of ruminants especially cattle) which
reduced wildlife populations and hence the tsetsefly range. (Tse tse fly is
an African fly of the genus Glossina which causes disease especially
sleeping sickness. It thrives in areas where it can suck blood from wildlife
and livestock). Following the reduction of tse tse fly, man and his livestock
expanded into the Okavango Delta. Most communities disappeared due to
re-invasion by the fly in the late1940s. In 1961 the idea to form a game
reserve was born. A Fauna Preservation Society (FCS) affiliated to a
headquarters based in London was formed through the Batawana (one of
the local tribes). In 1963 the Batawana annual meeting approved setting up
a reserve in Moremi and FCS and Batawana elders fixed the boundaries of
 the reserve. Chief L. Moremi was reigning and the reserve was named
after him. Regulations for tourism in the reserve were drawn. There was
rapid increase in tourism in the area with 4.500 visitors in 1971. The
Department of Wildlife and National Parks took over its management in
1979. It took a very long time to come to an agreement on how to share the
revenues obtained from entrance fees between government and the
Tawana Land Board. Agreements regarding who can issue leases and
dictate conditions within the reserve have also been slow to develop.

B(iv) Description of main objectives, achievements and constraints:

The efforts of the people of the Okavango to conserve the environment and
the biodiversity within is shown by their resistance in a case where the
Government of Botswana’s Department of Water Affairs had developed a
project known as the Southern Okavango Integrated Water Development
Project (SOIWDP). The government was considering improving
agriculture in the area and providing water to areas far away that did not
have water. The idea was to dredge Boro River, which is the major
channel from the Okavango Delta that flows into Tamalakane and Boteti
rivers. The channel excavation was designed to reduce flooding so it could
expose more land for agriculture and this would also enhance the flow of
the river conserving water that is lost to evaporation so that communities
that have a water shortage can use it.

There was considerable opposition to the implementation of this project.

The local people said dredging the river would kill the river and the delta.
They referred to the dredging of the lower Boro in the 1970s, the creation
of Mopipi Reservoir and diversion of Boteti waters into the reservoir
which did not produce the intended results. They said this project was also
not going to achieve the goals and that there were better alternatives for
achieving the goals.

The government showed response to local concerns by suspending and

eventually cancelling the project. The contractor who was already on site
had to decommission and leave.

C(i) Name of project:

Kgalagadi Trans-frontier Park, launched on 12 May 2000, was the first
formally declared trans-frontier park in Africa (Trans-frontier parks are
sometimes known as Peace Parks). It will hopefully be a model for
conservation in the 21st century.

C(ii) Exact Location

The Kgalagadi Trans-frontier Park is located around the international

boundary of Kgalagadi District on the southwestern border of Botswana
and the Northern Cape border of South Africa. Contained within its new
boundaries is the 9,591 square kilometres formerly Kalahari Gemsbok
National Park in the Republic of South Africa and the 28,400 sq km
former Gemsbok National Park in Botswana. This is about 250 km north
 of Upington or 310 km west of Tshabong. The park is located on the
Kalahari Desert which is part of the largest continuous area of sand in the
world. The sand plains cover nine African countries: Gabon, Congo,
Democratic Republic of the Congo (in the north), Angola, Zambia and
Zimbabwe (in the centre), Botswana, Namibia and South Africa (in the
south). The sand can be well over 100m deep.

C(iii) Management and coordination

Plans to formalise the joint development and management of the two

contiguous parks were proposed in 1989 following a fact-finding study on
tourism developments in Southern Africa. As a result, in May 1991 the
Department of Wildlife and National Parks of Botswana received the
mandate to consult further on the matter with South African National
Parks. Initial meetings between the two conservation agencies led to the
establishment of the Trans-frontier Management Committee (TMC). The
Kgalagadi Trans-frontier Park (KTP) has been in de facto existence for
more than half a century. It has enabled Botswana and South Africa to
manage this vast area, located in the southern Kalahari, as a single
ecological unit. In recognition of this agreement, no barriers to wildlife
movement exist along the international boundary that separates the parks.

The TMC has been responsible for the co-ordination of the management of
the two parks and has worked towards the formal establishment of the
trans-frontier park. The management plan for the area was drafted by the
TMC and the policies and actions necessary to maintain the cohesiveness
and unity of the trans-frontier park were agreed upon. It provides the
policies for joint management of the area as a single ecological unit and
serves as a basis for the promotion of tourism. This plan is now being
implemented and will be regularly revised and updated. Tourists will be
able to move freely within the park and the TMC has produced a unified
set of regulations to govern visitor behaviour. The two parks operate
autonomously in the running of their own internal affairs and in the
development of their own tourist facilities as agreed in the management
plan. Both countries recognise the sovereign equality and territorial
integrity of the other. It has been agreed that entrance fees will be pooled
and shared equally by both countries but that other income (from
accommodation, camping, etc.) will be retained by the countries that
generates it.

C (iv) Description of main objectives, achievements and constraints

One needs to understand that the southern Kalahari represents an
increasingly rare phenomenon in the world: a vast ecosystem relatively
free of human influence. The absence of man-made barriers, except to the
west and the south, has made possible the establishment of a conservation
area large enough to maintain examples of two ecological processes that
were once wide spread in the savannas and grasslands of Africa. These
processes are: (1) large scale nomadic and seasonal movements of wild
life, and (2) predation by large free-roaming mammalian carnivores. These
two processes are extremely difficult to maintain except in the largest of
 areas, and their presence in the Kalahari makes it a valuable area for
conservation.

The overall objectives of the management plan of the KTP are as follows:
To preserve the diversity of organisms indigenous to the southern Kalahari
as functional elements of the ecosystem, with predators receiving priority;
to maintain those ecological processes which characterise the Kalahari
ecosystem; to provide facilities and opportunities for research and
monitoring to advance understanding of the physical and biological
processes of the Kalahari ecosystem; to provide educational and
interpretative programmes for visitors to foster a better understanding and
appreciation of the Kalahari ecosystem and to realise economic returns
from tourism while safeguarding the ecological integrity and pristine
wilderness of the Kalahari.

The benefits for South Africa and Botswana include the following:
Guaranteeing the long-term conservation of the valuable wildlife resources
in the southern Kalahari, thus helping to maintain the integrity of the entire
Kalahari ecosystem; pooling of expertise and experience on a good
neighbourly basis; raising the international profile of this important
conservation area through joint promotional campaigns, thereby enhancing
its status and potential as a tourist destination; maximising the tourism
potential of the park and surrounding areas, which will generate economic
benefits for both countries, especially to the local communities living
nearby; strengthening of political ties and the promotion of regional peace
and stability through mutual co-operation.

The constraints include fires that may burn in the park then go out of the
park threatening the surrounding people, buildings and other properties.
The two countries will cooperate in fighting of fires. Predators have been a
thorny issue for the surrounding livestock owners. This is a sensitive issue
as farmers resent their livestock being killed by lions and hyenas from the
Park. An electrified fence has been built to prevent the local lions and
hyenas from leaving the park in the particular troubled area. The
authorities are trying to establish a cooperative relationship between the
park and the surrounding communities. Movement of animals have been
affected by extensive fences that have been erected for varying reasons.
Movement of wildebeest, hartebeest and eland to the north of the park may
be curtailed by the possible construction of a fence to protect the Trans
Kalahari Highway from livestock and other animals to avoid fatal motor
traffic accidents. Botswana is trying to keep the land to the north of the
park open, without fences so that movement remains a possibility.

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