18 Mar 2018

President Lt General Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama has officially opened Giants Club Summit.

Speaking at the event held in Kasane, President Khama urged the international community and all relevant stakeholders to make a quantifiable contribution in preserving endangered species.

He said international community must broaden the scope of high value tourism to areas, which, through private sector contribution and international development aid, can be transformed into marketable and sustainable tourism.

He said protection of habitat ensured that elephants continued to live while reducing conflict with humans and bringing about co existence.

President Khama said Botswana had developed numerous policies aimed at maintaining balance between space, people and wildlife.

He said the value of elephants was directly quantified through revenue that tourists contributed to the lives of people in tourism areas.

President Khama appealed to the international community to follow in the footsteps of the EU and support regional anti poaching efforts, through training.

He further said anti poaching strategies were expensive, requiring contribution by all.ENDS