03 Apr 2018

Botswana will continue to act to ensure that its heritage sites are protected and keep the environment as pristine as possible.

Deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism, Mr Thabang Botshoma said these words during the launch of a new initiative dubbed Community Management of Protected Areas for Conservations (COMPACT).

The COMPACT is an initiative aimed to effectively engage the local communities in the conservation of the Okavango Delta World Heritage Site.

He noted that government was aware of the inherent dangers that the heritage sites face, most of which are human induced.

He cited that one of the biggest threats comes from climate and stated that government was serious about the issues of environment management and sustainable development.

“This is showcased by a number of treaties and conventions aligned to environmental issues we have ratified.

We ratified the Convention on the protection of the World Heritage in 1998 and other efforts such as the Gaborone Declaration of Sustainability in Africa were well documented,” he added.

Mr Batshoma wondered what would happen to the Okavango Delta if the rains significantly reduce in the catchment areas upstream and if human activities upstream reduced water flow into the delta.

He said although the questions sounded far fetched, they were a reality that had to be dealt with urgently, adding that upstream, there were developments ongoing that threaten the delta already.

The situation, he said had been picked up globally and the US Senate passed a motion on it and that has galvanised Botswana and Namibia to engage Angola on the issue.

In addition, he revealed that Botswana was one of those countries that would be drastically affected by global warming resulting in the reduction of rainfall.  

With regard to that, Mr Botshoma said they had requested that Botswana host the 1.5 IPPC chapter authors from April 8-13.

He also pointed out that programmes such as Community Based Natural Resources Management were meant to ensure the communities remained at the centre of managing the environment they lived in so they derive benefits from it on sustainable basis.

“It is therefore appropriate that the COMPACT replication project in Botswana has been adopted and the project is intended to be at the Okavango World Heritage Site,” he added.

The aim of the programme, he said was to demonstrate how community based initiatives could significantly increase the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation in the co-management of globally significant protected areas by working to improve the livelihoods of local communities.

Mr Batshoma called all stakeholders to take advantage of the programme and ensure it enhanced the impact of the interventions for improving livelihoods of the people living adjacent to the delta.

For his part, UNDP Environment and Climate Change specialist, Dr Oduetse Koboto said the project was funded by the UNESCO to the tune of P150 million. He introduced the project as a co-management initiative in the delta, adding that the funds would be administered by Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme.

The project, he said emphasised a need to develop planning frameworks for the Okavango and a need for a holistic plan and vision for the delta.

In addition, Dr Koboto said the plan needed to be used to approach other development partners to contribute towards poverty alleviation. ENDS