26 Feb 2023

 The rate of compensation to farmers when their property has been destroyed by problem animals is on the table for review and is currently awaiting approval through relevant government structures.

This was said by Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Mabuse Pule when he was responding during minister’s question time in Parliament recently.

Mr Pule told Parliament that another proposal to the adjustments included the review of the list of species that attracted compensation.

To date, he said, wildlife compensation was fully paid for, with its budget allocation normally running between P25 million and P30 million annually, adding that the amount was not enough, looking at the situation on the ground.

“Additionally, the ministry is exploring alternative compensation models such as a problem quota that includes 20 elephants and 10 leopards to be hunted within an agricultural extension area during the 2023 hunting season,” he said.

Mr Pule, who was responding on behalf of the Minister of Environment and Tourism, said that was the first time such a quota was issued, and it intended to enable farmers or other users of the agricultural extension areas to sustainably and legally hunt problem animals which they had, to date, killed, but with no economic returns accruing.

He explained that the proposed model and policy shift was meant to allow farmers to derive an economic value from wildlife, which should enhance co-existence and thus reduce human-wildlife conflict.

He further explained that even though human-wildlife conflict was a living challenge in the country, there was however, no areas or villages in Botswana that had been displaced due to the situation and that the ministry was in fact, promoting co-existence between communities and wildlife.

He indicated that the ministry had also been working hand-in-hand with government agencies, research and academic institutions as well as private researchers, among others regarding the issue of human-wildlife conflict.

“The ministry even implemented several large-scale human-wildlife projects, some of which undertook systematic studies on human-wildlife conflict and implemented relevant interventions to mitigate the conflict,” he said.

He also said some of the lesson learnt from implementing such projects was that human and wildlife could co-exist where relevant mitigation measures were in place at household level.

Again, he said human-wildlife co-existence measures were the most effective when there was strong extension service delivery mechanisms as well as strengthened capacity of the rural targeted population.

“The ministry continues to innovate in this area in consultation with all stakeholders including the communities affected,” he said.

Member of Parliament for Kanye North, Mr Thapelo Letsholo had requested for an update on the state of human-wildlife conflict in areas outside the zones of wildlife in the country over the past decade.

Mr Letsholo also wanted to know the number of people displaced by wildlife and those who died as a result, as well as areas or villages most affected.

The legislator also wanted to know how such a displacement had affected the socio-economic wellbeing of those affected and ministry remedies in place.

He further enquired on whether there was any study on the conflict and lessons learnt, as well as any envisaged policy shift in compensation models. ENDS