24 Sep 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has reportedly caused delays in completion of the Community Management Plan of Protected Areas for Conservation (COMPACT) project.

The P4 million project, which started in 2018, was supposed to have been completed by April this year, but had to be suspended to observe the COVID-19 protocols.

COMPACT is an innovative model for engaging communities in conservation and shared governance of the World Heritage sites. It aims to demonstrate how community based initiatives can significantly increase the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation in protected areas.

The project is being piloted in the Okavango Panhandle from Etsha 1 to Gudigwa.

It is implemented by the government through, the Department of Museum and National Monuments, in partnership with United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) through the Global Environment Facility, Small Grants Programme (GEF/SGP), UNESCO and Flanders.

In an interview, (UNDP) national coordinator, Ms Abigail Engleton confirmed that they experienced delays due to the pandemic but appreciated that they had been granted a one-year extension to April 2021. Ms Engleton said a lot had been achieved so far, noting that consultations with local communities, local authorities, key stakeholders at district, regional and national levels had been successfully done.

She also noted that the COMPACT strategy was almost done and currently awaiting approval and submission to relevant authorities,  adding that once approved, they would go back to the community as the beneficiary to launch and implement it as expected.

COMPACT project, she said was a good model as it encouraged active participation of the communities in management of their prestigious resource, the Okavango Delta World Heritage Site.

Ms Engleton said since the site was also recognised as a Ramsar Site, they wanted the communities as the custodians to be recognised as key actors  in the process of identification, management and sustainable development of the site for the betterment of their lives

COMPACT harnesses the power of synergy, supporting a cluster of activities including the provision of small grants, capacity building activities, networking and support with marketing.

Through the project, Ms Engleton said communities were expected to apply for small grants and venture into projects which would equally benefit their livelihoods.

“Through this project, we want to make a huge impact in the lives of the Panhandle community as reports had indicated that they were poverty stricken. Soon we will capacitate the communities on how to formulate sound proposals because they will be competing for the small grants,” she added.

She said the project would target community trusts, women and youth groups, non-governmental organizations among others.

Ms Engleton also appreciated that the communities had requested for the setting up of a local consultative body for easy monitoring and managing of the resource.

She wished the community could fully take advantage of the project as their intention was to utilize the funding on identified actsvities. Ends