24 Mar 2015

The Sankoyo Tshwaragano Management Trust, which is run through the Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM), is said to be a success story.

This was revealed by Kgosi Gothaa Moalosi of Sankoyo at a three-day symposium on Wetlands and wildlife in Maun recently. He said Sankoyo was a success story of CBNRM since it had changed the lives of its community from poverty to a better life since it started operating in 1996.

Kgosi Moalosi noted that the trust through CBNRM had instilled the spirit of conservation amongst the community as the people realised the importance of conserving the natural resources.

He further said the trust managed its resources better as compared to other trusts in the country, which he said was evidenced by the fact that they were left to continue managing their income while others were relieved by the council in the past years.

Furthermore, he said the trust took a step to connect standpipes to every homestead in Sankoyo, which started in 2013 and managed to build water system toilets for 20 homes. However, Kgosi Moalosi said their plan was affected by the expiration of their lease and the change of issuance of leases from Land boards to the Ministry of Lands and Housing.

He said since their lease took a long time to be renewed, hence the trust did not manage the water connections and building of toilets for the community in the given time. The trust, he said, managed to create employment for the community members through a campsite and also helped community members at times of bereavement.

However, Kgosi Moalosi said after the hunting ban by government, turning to professional photography was a slow exercise due to the transition of lease issuances, but they hoped the wait will be over soon.

He said as a result, they had not been able to do professional photography while awaiting lease issuance, adding that more than 100 people were affected by the transition from hunting to photography.

Meanwhile, the CBNRM coordinator in the Ministry of Environment Wildlife and Tourism (MEWT) Mr Boat Modukanele said that CBNRM policy will not die like cooperatives provided they received support from relevant stakeholders to be stable.

Mr Modukanele said institutionalisation of CBNRM was important for them to deal with challenges. He cited that trusts have long heard about the hunting ban before its inception but failed to prepare for the changes.

Another panelist, Mr Khumiso Rathipana of Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) in Maun pointed the need for CBNRM to have an Act. He said some decisions the CBNRM took had legal implications but they did not have legal advisors. ENDS