07 Dec 2015

Members of Botswana Guides Association (BOGA) have hailed government for her continued support in promoting the tourism sector in the country.

They praised the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism (MEWT) during the BOGA 15th anniversary celebration for responding positively to some of their pending grievances and concerns.

BOGA chairperson, Mr Kenson Kgage noted that the association has enjoyed a great support from the ministry. He also revealed that government appreciated the key role played by the association in promoting citizen empowerment in the tourism industry, hence its continuous support.

He announced that the ministry has agreed that their temporary camping sites would now be on permanent basis and praised government for that decision.

The tourism operators wanted to increase their camping sites and the ministry was unable to assist them due to the set carrying capacities prescribed in the protected areas. BOGA was formed in 1998 and launched in 2002. Its mandate is to spearhead citizen empowerment in tourism.

For his part, MEWT deputy permanent secretary, Mr Felix Monggae said government acknowledges that there awee challenges that must be addressed with stakeholders and that some of the challenges had been there for a long time.

He cited an example of members’ needs to increase camping sites noting that they were provided with temporary camping sites to satisfy their clients.

He said the department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) would continue to monitor and evaluate the utilisation of the sites to ensure they meet set environmental and up keeping with conditions.

Mr Monggae commended the association for a job well done in promoting citizen participation in the tourism sector, noting that since their establishment, the association has met very little resistance in propelling citizen empowerment and involvement in the industry as it shares the commitment with government.

He said the association has brought about rapid improvement in the lives of the nation’s citizens, while also making major commitments to its natural resource conservation for the well-being of its future generations.

“We are very much interested in the future as we are currently facing numerous challenges in the management of natural resources and as you are beneficiaries of these resources, I would like to believe you are concerned by the escalating regional poaching of the mega species,” he added.

He challenged the association members to solicit ideas as they discuss their future on how as a nation could prevent the scourge from reaching Botswana. Mr Monggae informed the gathering that they were running a wildlife based tourism, hence the need for members to contribute towards the conservation efforts.

For conservation to be successful, he revealed that there was need to address,not just the imperatives of the natural environment, but also of the economic and social environments.

He said it has been proven on numerous occasions that conservation policies and action could not succeed for long unless nations and communities use their resources efficiently, distribute the benefits equitably ad empower their citizens actively and inclusively. ENDS