15 Jul 2026

Concession areas in Botswana were officially designated in 1989 under the Wildlife Policy of 1986.

Responding to a question in Parliament on Monday, the Minister of Environment and Tourism Mr Wynter Mmolotsi said the policy recommended establishing Wildlife Management Areas and Controlled Hunting Areas to promote sustainable utilisation of wildlife, including through the Community Based Natural Resources Management Programme (CBNRM) and to prevent unregulated hunting by issuing hunting quotas.

The concession areas, he said, comprised CT1, CT2, CT3, CT4, CT5 and CT6 and that they have been in operation for over 30 years.

“It has been challenging to identify various previous owners over the years because the areas were administered under different ministries and land authorities,” he said.

However, the minister said C1 was leased out to Destination South, CT2 to Bottles Pan Safaris, CT3 and CT6 were currently unattached without owners, CT4 zoned as Nata ranches and CT5 was a mixed-use concession by Nata Conservation Trust and Tlou Safaris Lodge.

Regarding the amount raised through hunting quotas, Mr Mmolotsi said Destination South has not raised any funds as the lease recognised the area as a non-consumptive use or photograph area.

Bottle Pan Safaris, he noted, would be operating for five years and has since 2023, paid an amount of P9,936,113 in hunting quotas fees to the government.

The minister said CT3 was currently unattached with no owner, hence it had not made any money from hunting.

Mr Mmolotsi said the hunting quota for the CT4 concession was allocated under a special elephant quota though the area did not attract a suitable bidder following advertisement in 2023.

“Tlou Safaris Lodge has since paid Nata Conservation Trust the sum of P14,042,600 for the community hunting quotas in CT5 since the lifting of the hunting ban in 2019,” he said.

The minister, however could not divulge much on payments of lease rentals as they fall under the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture and also indicated that the same ministry signed all lease agreements.

He was responding to a question from the MP for Chobe, Mr Simasiku Mapulanga who had asked the minister to state the years in which the hunting concessions were established, the number of companies and individuals who won the license to hunt as well as the amount raised to date. ENDS