29 May 2017

Some members of the Okavango Wetlands Management Committee from Ngamiland District will embark on an exchange trip to Namibia early July.

The trip, which is sponsored by Okavango River Basin Commission (OKACOM) is meant to share, discuss and exchange ideas on issues pertaining to wetland management with an aim to improve livelihoods of communities and management of natural resources.

The main objective of the committee is to implement action plan of Okavango Delta Management Plan (ODMP) which promotes sustainable and efficient use of natural resources to benefit local communities, while conserving the environment at this globally recognised site.

Okavango Delta is part of the Okavango River Basin and is managed through a tripartite agreement between Angola, Botswana and Namibia known as the OKACOM Agreement of 1994.

The OKACOM advises the three riparian states on the best possible use of the rivers’ natural resources.  

It also commits the member states to promote coordinated and environmentally sustainable regional water resource development, while addressing the legitimate social and economic needs of each of the riparian states.

An official from Department of Environmental Affairs, Mr Jobe Manga revealed that some of the topics for discussion are conservation agriculture, fisheries regulations, aqua-culture, livelihoods strategies and Salvinia weed.

He said due to budget constraints, they had decided to sponsor officers from departments which play a critical role towards the implementation of the ODMP.

Since the committee membership includes some community cluster members, Mr Manga said representatives from Shakawe, Seronga and Gumare clusters had been included as part of the delegation due to proximity to the Namibian border to their place.

He said after the trip, they would organise a meeting where the delegation would brief those who did not go about what transpired at the exchange trip and share best practices learnt.

Meanwhile, the committee welcomed the exchange trip proposal and the selection of the delegation.

They hoped that the delegation would learn best practices on how to integrate livelihood needs for communities living around the wetlands communities and also promote sustainable use of natural resources. ENDS