24 Jun 2014

The listing of the Okavango Delta is not just about Botswana, but about Africa as a whole. 

The Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Mr Tshekedi Khama, said this at the cocktail session to celebrate the listing on Sunday evening (June 22).

He expressed his gratitude once more to Turkey and the United States of America for shifting their positions around to allow Botswana to be the 1 000^th site to be listed.

“The challenge Botswana now faces is to live up to the expectations of our listing, that is to protect the Okavango Delta to the extent that we have done so far,” he said.  The inscription, he said reinforces other initiatives such as the resource based community management programme.

Still at the cocktail session, director of national museum, Mr Gaogakwe Phorano explained that the listing process had been a long journey that involved consultations with all the 36 villages around the site. 

He also said to ensure that the site was kept pristine and natural; the government of Botswana had to make the difficult decision to stop all mining in the core area.

“For a third world country such a Botswana that is a big sacrifice but like the minister said earlier in an interview, we believe that Okavango is an economy on its own so this will be worth it,” he said.

Mr Phorano reassured the gathering that the country would continue to work together with the riparian states, Angola and Namibia to preserve the delta. Okavango delta joined Tsodilo hills as sites that had been listed in Botswana. ENDS