Viewed from space, the world-famous Okavango Delta looks like a large pan attached to a handle – the Okavango River. The ‘pan-handle’ area includes villages along the western and eastern banks of the river – those on the west are located near a tar road that connects Namibia with northern Botswana. Those on the east have a dirt road that connects with the west over one river crossing, which until very recently (a bridge built in 2022) involved crossing the Okavango River using a pontoon.
A Community Leaders Network (CLN) has been established, bringing together over 50 representatives of local communities engaged in Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM).
“Local people’s rights to make a living by sustainably using their land and wildlife are enshrined in international and national laws, and cannot be undermined by one-sided views. They are not up for debate”
This article by Masego Madzwamuse and Liz Rihoy, was published 01 March 2019 in mmegi – an online and weekly print English language newspaper in Botswana. It is part of a number of opinion pieces on the Elephant Debate.
For decades Botswana has maintained an enviable international reputation as an ‘African miracle’ due in large part to its robust democracy, sound governance systems and representative and accountable