18 May 2022

Okavango Research Institute (ORI), in collaboration with Kwando Safari Company, has revived research talks to disseminate information on research undertaken by academics and some experts in the community.

The organiser of the research talks, who is also a large herbivore ecologist at ORI, Dr Emilly Bennitt, revealed in an interview recently that the initiative was aimed at making information accessible to members of the community.

She said through the initiative, they wanted to improve the communication and interaction with stakeholders for them to appreciate the information collected as part of the research that was being done at the institute. Dr Bennitt stressed that sharing results with the community was an ethical obligation.

She noted that the initiative was birthed five years ago, but was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We saw it fit to revive it this year and bring more experts because we believe that academics are not only experts, but we have others in the community who are more knowledgeable on different aspects of life,” she added.

Dr Bennitt cited experts in fishery, appreciating that some people had lived in the Okavango Delta for ages and were engaged in conservation daily. She said the intention was to bring everyone on board, even those with indigenous knowledge, to share ideas and topics of interest going forward.

The first research talk dubbed Conservation on tap was held on Tuesday at Okavango Craft Brewery premises and it brought together three experts from ORI namely, Dr Lin Cassidy - a social ecologist and land change scientist, Dr Mike Murray-Hudson - a wetland ecologist and Dr Piotr Wolski who is a hydro-climatologist, with the discussion focused on the floods.

The gathering learnt that the Okavango Delta was a flood-pulsed wetland which supported a large tourism industry and the subsistence of the local community through the provision of ecosystem services.

They also learnt that as the floodwater filtered through to the lagoons and grassy plains, the delta became an extraordinary hive of animal activity.

One of the panelists, Dr Mike Murray-Hudson explained that floods were highly dynamic as no flood was the same as the other. The 2011 flood, he said, was very high, while the 2019 one was the smallest flow on record.

Flooding in the delta, he said was very variable both at short and long term time scales, adding that change in the flooding in the delta resulted from either variation in hydrological inputs or change in distribution of water within the system.

Asked about this year’s floods, Dr Murray-Hudson pointed out that the inflows at Mohembo River were peaking right now and anticipated the arrival of the inflows in Maun in six weeks’ time.

He said the inflows would last longer as good rains were experienced in the eastern side of the delta.

Comparing this year’s floods to the previous year, he stated that the difference was slim, adding that there was uncertainty on whether they would reach Lake Ngami, as the lake depended mostly on spills deriving from Kunyere River and rarely from Thamalakane River which joined at Toteng.

But, he said inflows would not be disastrous as compared to the one experienced in 2019. 

Lastly, Dr Murray-Hudson thanked Kwando for partnering with ORI to give scientists a platform to share their findings and information, adding that disseminating research results beyond academic publications was particularly crucial for addressing certain social disparities.

ORI is a research institution under University Botswana based in Maun, whose vision is to be a leading wetlands research institute in Africa and the world, while its mission is to undertake engaged research and training on wetlands.

On the other hand, Kwando Safari is committed to the protection of the unique and precious eco-system in which they operate.

The company is also hugely invested in the empowerment and development of local citizens. Ends