21 Sep 2026

As a premier tourism hub, Maun can no longer afford to leave its cleanliness to periodic campaigns or government intervention alone.

This was a call by different speakers during the launch of a new community-wide waste management initiative on Friday.

The launch, held ahead of World Cleanup Day, brought together government officials, the private sector, civil society and community members in a district-wide cleanup.

With a major financial boost of P300,000 comprising P100,000 each from Chobe Impact, Kalahari Insurance Brokers and Hollard Botswana, alongside 50 new refuse bins from Wild Entrust and its partners, the initiative aims to turn environmental awareness into permanent behaviour change.

Speaking at the launch, Wild Entrust principal secretary, Mr Montshiwa Montshiwa stated that the newly distributed bins were merely tools rather than the movement itself.

“The bins are not the movement rather the movement is what happens around these waste bins, therefore we need to make use of them,” he said, noting that success depended on everyday choices, from children choosing not to litter to adults maintaining shared spaces.

The initiative targeted schools, sport clubs, families, community leaders and visitors with the intention of making responsible waste disposal part of everyday life.

To measure its impact, Wild Entrust had undertaken a baseline survey to establish whether the initiative was changing attitudes towards litter and increasing people’s sense of responsibility and pride in their shared environment.

Minister of Sport and Arts, Mr Jacob Kelebeng commended the community for responding to the national call for cleaner surroundings, saying their participation demonstrated that they had heeded President Advocate Duma Boko’s National Clean-Up Campaign.

Mr Kelebeng urged residents to maintain the same spirit beyond organised events by ensuring that cleanliness became a daily practice both at home and in public spaces.

For his part, Chobe Impact manager, Mr Ibo Madandume, said maintaining cleanliness required dedication from individuals because “visitors need to see this place at a certain standard and it starts with cleanliness.”

Similarly, Hollard Botswana head of sales, Mr Pako Morapedi explained that the company’s participation reflected its shared value framework, noting that “frameworks only matter when they are translated into action and supporting a cleaner, greener and safer environment is consistent with our company’s responsibility to contribute positively to society beyond its products and services.”

Meanwhile, management of the 50 new bins would be coordinated by Wild Entrust, which had engaged local company, DM Environmental, to undertake regular collection and emptying.

Though Feed the Bin had blossomed into a community-wide campaign, its message had its roots in environmental education.

The concept was developed through Coaching Conservation’s work with children in Ngamiland, drawing inspiration from vultures, which naturally cleaned up what was left behind in ecosystems. Since 2022, Wild Entrust had used the lesson to reach about 5 000 Standard 6 children annually, encouraging them to become part of what it called Nature’s Clean-Up Crew.

With World Cleanup Day providing a global platform for environmental action and the national clean-up campaign providing a call for collective responsibility, stakeholders said Maun had an opportunity to demonstrate that lasting cleanliness started with simple choices made every day. ends