05 Jun 2019

 Botswana’s attendance of JCK diamond fair in Las Vegas and visit to San Francisco was opportune for the country to engage the international community on government’s decision to lift the hunting ban.

  This was said by Minister of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism Mr Kitso Mokaila on the sidelines of the presidential delegation’s visit to Stanford University. 

 On May 23 government announced its decision to lift the ban on elephant hunting, a move that has displeased many in the international community especially in the US and UK.

Mr Mokaila said the delegation took the opportunity to explain to Botswana’s position and commitment to conservation adding that the message was carried from Las Vegas through to San Francisco.

In San Francisco,  he said, they had occasion to engage people in conservation, tourism and travel agencies to understand their take on the decision to lift the hunting ban.

Mr Mokaila said they interacted with different players and opinion leaders who wanted to know and understand government’s decision and reasons for lifting the ban.

He   said the people they had engaged had seen the sense of Botswana government decision.

“This has been a good trip for us - protecting our diamonds and looking after our tourism sector - two big revenue earners,” Mr Mokaila said. 

He said it would be ideal to take the campaign to the rest of the world. ENDS