UNDP-GEF Project Writeups

UNDP-GEF PROJECT WRITEUPS

A partnership funded by GEF and implemented by UNDP

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Basic Project INFO

FOCAL AREA:
Biodiversity
PROJECT TITLE:
Building Local Capacity for Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in the Okavango Delta (Also known as Botswana Wetlands)
PROJECT NUMBER:
RAF/00/G33
COUNTRY:
PROJECT STATUS:
PROJECT DOWNLOAD (WORD)

Building Local Capacity for Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in the Okavango Delta (Also known as Botswana Wetlands)

Facts and figures

The Okavango Delta is a globally important wetland situated in northern Botswana, the largest Ramsar site in the world and a popular tourist destination. The Delta is a major refuge for globally significant biodiversity, which includes birds, with 448 recorded resident and migratory species and is designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA). The wetlands also support the highest frequency of large mammals per unit area in the world, including important populations of predators such as the African Wild Dog and cheetahs, which are threatened elsewhere. They are also home to a diverse aquatic and terrestrial flora – including 208 aquatic and semi-aquatic species, 675 herbs and grasses and 195 woody species – and 71 recorded species of fish. The area is also noted for its population of hippopotami, crocodiles and antelopes.

The Okavango River has its headwaters in Angola, and flows through Namibia into Botswana, where it drains into the Kalahari Desert. The wetlands provide important natural resources and ecological services to local communities, including fish, building materials, and grazing lands as well as the environment for the lucrative tourism industry. Botswana has adopted a ‘high-cost, low-volume’ approach to tourism, mostly in exclusive hunting and photo safaris.

The ecological integrity of the Okavango Delta remains largely intact, but human induced threats are growing. These include threats stem from production activities, such as development of tourism infrastructure, and unsustainable local use of veldt products and wildlife. There is an urgent need to balance competing uses of water and other wetland resources by production sectors, while providing for biodiversity conservation objectives.

An estimated 120,000 people rely to varying degrees on the wetland’s resources as part of their household economy. About 47 percent of communities living in and around the Delta already live below the poverty line. “Goods and services’ provided from the wetlands contribute some $1,200 annually to household economies. Degradation of the wetlands would therefore have severe negative implications for community welfare.

Project description

The project, which was officially launched in 2006, is working to secure the long-term biological diversity of Botswana’s wetlands and at the same time contribute to the conservation of wetland biodiversity in participating regional countries as well as globally. It is designed to support implementation of the Okavango Delta Management Plan (ODMP) by lifting barriers to mainstreaming biodiversity conservation objectives into three production sectors: water; tourism and fisheries; all of which are dependent on the ecological services and goods provided by the Okavango wetland system and which dominate resource use within the delta.

The project will work with rural communities and tourism practitioners and in collaboration with local and central government institutions to create community and private sector-based management models for the wetland ecosystems of the Okavango delta and develop best management practices for conservation.

SELECTED PROJECT ACTIVITIES/RESULTS

The project will help create an enabling environment at systemic and institutional levels by providing technical support to regulatory bodies; reviewing tourism concession leases and, after conducting an economic analysis of ecosystem goods and services and the distribution of their benefits, drawing up model agreements which ensure an equitable sharing of benefits.
The project will help strengthen the Okavango Wetlands Management Committee (OWMC) as well as industry associations – such as the Fisherman’s Association, BOWMA (Botswana Wildlife Management Association), HATAB (Hotel and Tourism Association of Botswana), and Basket and Weaving Cooperatives – and NGO ‘watchdog’ organizations.
The project will work closely with stakeholders including: the Tribal Land Board and District Councils (who reinvest tourism resource royalties in human development projects); the Department of Water Affairs and the Ministry of Environment; NGOs with natural resource management projects in the Okavango area – such as KCS, TOCaDI, IUCN, UB-ORC; private sector partners in the tourism industry – including locally-based community lodges, fishing groups and craft producers, who derive their income from tourism.
In the water sector the project is developing hydrological models which include biodiversity parameters for the Okavango Delta, strengthening institutional capacity to regulate water resources harvesting and establishing a wetlands monitoring and risk analysis system.
The project is also working with the tourism sector to improve the tourism grading and certification system and ensure that biodiversity objectives are integrated into tourism design, management and ratings. It is working with established tourism operators in the region including Okavango Wilderness, Orient Express, Desert and Delta, and Kerr & Downey. The project will also fund a tourism information facility at Botswana’s international airport to alert arriving tourists to key conservation issues. In areas where veldt resource harvesting conflicts with tourism activities the project will encourage participatory management and appoint an arbitrator to deal with conflicts. The project will also encourage the tourism industry to re-invest in wetland biodiversity and assist operations in improving their waste management facilities
The project will work to resolve user conflicts and introduce biodiversity friendly management into sport, commercial and other fishing operations. Two demonstration sites will be created to help improve fishing practices and the project will lobby for the incorporation of biodiversity safeguards into national regulations on aquaculture development.
The project will form close links with complementary initiatives operating in the area including the SIDA-funded Every River Has Its People project (http://www.everyriver.net); the UNDP-GEF Environmental Protection and Sustainable Management of the Okavango River Basin project (http://www.irbm.co.bw) ; and the Integrated River Basin Management project (http://www.irbm.co.bw/) funded by USAID.
Within each of the six participating countries (Rwanda, Nigeria, Malawi, Liberia, Burundi and Botswana.), the project will help integrate national Important Bird Area (IBA) networks into the National Protected Area network; thus contributing to a consolidated, cohesive and sustainable PA system thought the Okavango Delta.
The project will also build capacity in local constituencies for sustaining IBA conservation and develop local and national capacity to identify, monitor and reduce threats to IBA sites and facilitate information, skills and lessons sharing across the implementing NGOs and the wider conservation mechanisms.
At a national level, identification of gaps in the Protected Area system will be followed with capacity development for national IBA work, development of a strong local community constituency for conservation, and on the ground conservation work. Advocacy (local, national and international) for the inclusion of unprotected IBAs into the formal Protected Area system will form an important element of project activities. At the regional level, the participation of other countries in West and Southern Africa will help strengthen the protected areas system throughout Africa.
The project will fund the appointment of a senior biodiversity coordinator at the Tawana Land Board, as part of the project’s work to strengthen the board’s capacity to regulate tourism concessions and reduce impacts on biodiversity,

Communications

A mechanism for two-way flow of biodiversity information will be established between stakeholders in regulatory bodies and population sectors in the delta. Information kits, including guidance and financial information, will be developed.
Multiple communications channels will be used to reach the diverse local communities including radio, tribal fora, the ward administration system and other outreach programmes.
The project will assist the Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana to increase information exchange between members through its newsletters and website. (http://www.hatab.bw/)

Training

Training and capacity building activities are a core area of the project and are focused at various levels from communities to national institutions. At the local level, community capacity for natural resources management will be built up and training will be provided in sustainable practices for resource users such as fishing communities.
At a higher level, district and regulatory agency capacity for environmental planning and management will be enhanced while other government institutions and some NGOs will receive staff training and other operational support. The capacity building drive aims to ensure that sectoral planners have a common understanding of biodiversity conservation principles and to ensure the continuation of activities after the end of the project.
The project will conduct training for Department of Water Affairs staff to ensure that biodiversity objectives are included in planning and assessing water-related developments.
Training in monitoring and adaptive management will be organized for members of the Okavango Fishermen’s Association.

Legal

The project will supply technical and legal support for a review of the tourism concession lease arrangements.
The project will help establish usufruct rights (the legal right to use and derive profit or benefit from property that belongs to another person, as long as the property is not damaged) for fisheries under the Tribal land Act.

Partners

The project is funded by GEF, with co-financing coming from the Government of Botswana, World Conservation Union (IUCN), (http://www.iucn.org/); Kalahari Conservation Society (http://www.kcs.org.bw/) , and private tourism companies operating in the Delta (Okavango Wilderness Safaris (http://www.wilderness-safaris.com/conservation/) , Orient Express (http://www.orient-express.com/) , Desert and Delta (http://www.desertdelta.co.za/) , Kerr and Downey (http://www.kerdowney.com/)

The Project will be implemented through a partnership between the Government of Botswana, Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism (http://www.gov.bw/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=64&Itemid=40) , the Harry Oppenheimer Research Institute of the University of Botswana (http://www.gdnet.org/middle.php?oid=211&zone=org&action=org&org=3246) , the Ngamiland District Council and several private sector companies.

This page updated April 19, 2007