09 Feb 2016

Coordinator of TOCaDI, Mr Galefele Maokeng, has implored the communities from the six villages that had been designated as member communities in the Lake Ngami Conservation Trust to rally behind their newly formed trust.

He said most trusts collapsed due to lack of support from the affected communities.  Mr Maokeng told a meeting at Sehithwa kgotla that some of the challenges that contributed to the collapse of the trusts were poor management and embezzlement of funds.

He said the communities should consider themselves lucky to have secured funding from Office of the President to kick start the trust’s operations noting that other trusts were struggling to secure funds and investors.

He also explained that, as the trust takes over control of the lake, according to the Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) regulations, the trust would take all the responsibility of management, conservation and issuance of licences.

CBNRM is a concept based on the ideas of the community participation in the management of natural resources through democratic decentralisation that would lead to development and poverty alleviation while also resulting in the sustainable use and conservation of natural resources in question.

He added that fishing is a thriving business which many could make a living out of and urged the communities to form committees to assist the trust to monitor and ensure environmental compliance.

For their part, some residents called on the trust to suspend all those people who are currently employed such as public servants from fishing activities as they pose unfair competition to the communities.

They made the plea after a presentation by the trust chairperson, Mr Frisco Gabokakangwe who informed them that they suspected that most of the public officers have been issued with fishing licences most of which would expire December 2017.

 He said he had over 100 registered licences and they have realised that most of the people from the six villages have no licences.

An official from Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Mr Kaelo Nkile explained that the funding from Office of the President was not meant for poverty eradication project but it was to assist the trust to start operations.

He said there was an advice that since the initiatives were overlapping and equally benefitted the community, the trust could come up with projects geared towards eradicating poverty among the communities.

He said the trust was advised that it could venture into some form of income generation with an aim to create employment for the residents adding that it was also suggested that part of the lake could be exploited for vegetable production. Ends