06 Jan 2016

Lake Ngami Conversation Trust board members are working round the clock to prepare for the opening of the fishing season in March.

Fishing was suspended for a year at the lake to give the trust time to come up with solutions to address environmental concerns caused by fishermen.

The decision to suspend fishing was also meant to give time to the newly formed trust to finalise all the logistics and get ready to take control of the lake.

The trust, which is based at Sehithwa, was supposed to start operation last year March but failed because it had no resources to open an office.

In an interview with the trust chairperson, Mr Frisco Gabokakangwe explained that the board was doing its best to ensure the fishing season starts by March.

He said temporary measures would be put in place to allow fishermen to continue with their businesses, adding that “we could not close for more than two years because we understand that fishing is a source of income for communities.”

He said efforts have been made to speed up some developments, noting that they managed to establish an office and that it would be operational by next week. He said the Botswana Tourism Organisation has issued a purchasing order for office equipment.

Mr Gabokakangwe urged fishermen to get ready for the fishing season, adding that the trust would set some rules and regulations to control fishing at the lake.

He also said fishermen would be required to pay a fee which would be announced after the board has finalised all the logistics about how to manage fishing at the lake.

The chairperson also explained that their goal was to put up more developments at the lake. He said there was a delay by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment study(EIA).

The trust is expected to carry out developments such as the construction of a lodge, camp and fishing sites while the UNDP, through the Sustainable Land Management (SLM) project, was expected to conduct an EIA before construction commences.

The Sustainable Land Management project is a five-year project funded by the UNDP.  Its objective is to mainstream land management in range land areas of Ngamiland District for improved livelihoods. The UNDP rescued the trust after it sent a proposal requesting funding to drive its mandate.

It was reported that other organisations such as the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, or KAZA TFCA, had shown interest to support the trust towards infrastructure development. KAZA is the world’s largest conservation area spanning over five countries of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is centred around the Caprivi-Chobe-Victoria Falls area.

The goal of the KAZA TFCA is to sustainably manage the Kavango Zambezi ecosystem, its heritage and cultural resources based on best conservation and tourism models for the socio-economic well-being of communities and other stakeholders in and around the eco-region through harmonisation of policies, strategies and practices. Ends