09 Jun 2016

The Botswana Forest Distribution Map depicts the forested areas, types and their distribution throughout the country, says the deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism. 

Speaking at the launch of the Botswana Forest Distribution Map, Mr Felix Monggae said the map was the first of its kind in the history of forestry in Botswana.

Mr Monggae said the Department of Forestry and Range Resources has been working hard over the past three years to accomplish the project and be ready to move forward with the new data set.

He said society was aware of the numerous socio-economic and environmental challenges besieging the country, hence the importance of developing sound measures to address the challenges.

“We should be aware that lack of information could limit the capacity of decision-makers in determining the action needed to generate good policies to manage natural resources at local, regional and international level,” he said.

Mr Monggae noted that forests and forest products were important to the livelihoods of many communities, adding that mapping technologies would help the country generate better and more useful forestry statistics and other land cover maps.The new tool and information, he said, would help the government to monitor national forest resources and make informed decisions regarding long-term forestry and investment policies.

The Ambassador of Japan to Botswana, Mr Masahiro Onishi said the launch was held as part of the project for enhancing natural forest monitoring system for the promotion of sustainable natural resource management.

Mr Onishi said the goal of the project was to develop a national forest management system made up of the Botswana Forest Distribution Map, National Forest Inventory and Forest GIS database. ENDS