Okavango Delta Management Plan

Analysis of the First Consultation Meeting with the Tourism Sector

Hot Spots Identified by the Tourism Sector to be

Addressed by the ODMP

Hannelore Bendsen

Research Fellow
Participatory Planning

University of Botswana
Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre
June 2004
 Table of Contents

Problem Area: Hydrology and Salvinia .............................................................................................3

Hydrological Model..........................................................................................................................3
Information about Hydro Power Plant Project at Popa Falls............................................................3
Control of Boat Traffic and Salvia ...................................................................................................3
Maun Water Supply Development Project versus Tourism Development.......................................3

Problem Area: Veterinary Fences, Control of Traditional Land Use in CHAs in the Delta ............4

Problem Area: Wildlife and Game Reserve Management.................................................................4

Biodiversity.......................................................................................................................................4
Effective Control of poaching ..........................................................................................................5
Enforcement of regulations and maintenance of facilities in Moremi Game Reserve .....................5

Problem Area: Data Management and Research ...............................................................................5

Research Needs.................................................................................................................................5
Data Management:............................................................................................................................5

Problem Area: Fishing .......................................................................................................................6

Problem Area: Tourism Development ...............................................................................................6

Problem Area: Enforcement of Land Use Plans and Land Use Regulations....................................6

Problem Area: Waste Management and Pollution.............................................................................7

Problem Area: ODMP........................................................................................................................7

Problem Area: Consultation Process, Communication, and Stakeholder Participation ...................7

 Problem Area: Hydrology and Salvinia
Institution responsible for action: DWA

Hydrological Model
The hydrological models for the Okavango Delta failed to consider some of the relevant factors
influencing the flood regime.

Are factors like the hydrological gradient and the roughness of the surface that impact flooding
speed and dewfall going to be considered in the present modelling?

During high floods the water does not stay in a confined channel but spreads into the floodplains
and bypasses the gauging station at Mohembo where the inflow is measured. Will this fact be
taken in to consideration when analysing inflow data for modelling?

Information about Hydro Power Plant Project at Popa Falls

Is Namibia still intending to build a hydro power plant at Popa Falls?

During a stakeholder meeting that took place in 2003 in Maun, Nampower had promised feedback
on the results of the pre-feasibility study of the construction of a hydro power plant at Popa Falls
via their web side. Have any results been communicated to the ODMP and has the website been
set up as promised during the meeting?

Control of Boat Traffic and Salvia

Many boats brought into the district bear the danger of infesting the water of the Okavango Delta
with aquatic weeds. Instead of reducing the number of boats used by tourist camps in the Delta the
number of boats from outside should be restricted.

The police in Seronga has acquired a new turbo fan boat that makes a lot of noise, requires a wide
waterway and makes enormous waves, which erode the riverbanks. It is difficult to control in deep
water. In a collision with a BDF boat a soldier was killed. Are there any regulations to control the
use of boats on the main stream?

Maun Water Supply Development Project versus Tourism Development

There is currently a severe conflict between the tourism activities and the water development
project for Maun carried out by the DWA in NG 34. The program to draw water from the Gomoti
aquifer is well advanced and is jeopardizing and compromising the only successful community
joint venture agreement in Botswana. I am fighting this on behalf of, and at the request of, the
Sankuyu community, the Chief and the Trust, who do not have the means of communications that
I have. It has been established and reported to the officials, by the director of the HOORC, that the
E.I.A. is inadequate and is not representative of the situation. This program of water draw-off
should be stopped until a real E.I.A has been established and the technical, financial and ecologic
implications of other alternate sources re-investigated. The seriousness of the negative impact this
water draw-off will have on the area cannot be understated. The Sankuyu community has operated
in the area with its joint venture partners extremely well and is a “model” to all other community
held concessions. This water draw-off negates all their efforts and will render the Gomoti area and
NG34 an inoperable photographic safari area and punishes the community with a huge loss of
revenue through concession fees, employment and safari activities.

Problem Area: Veterinary Fences, Control of Traditional Land Use

in CHAs in the Delta
Institution responsible for action: DAHP, TLB, DWNP

Access to the Delta is not properly controlled. The living conditions of the staff working at the
buffalo fence are appalling and need to be improved in order to motivate them more to do their job
effectively.

Will the buffalo fence be relocated, up-graded, extended further north, or left as it is?

Staff of DWNP should also monitor the gates at the buffalo fence.

People enter the Jao concession area through the gap in the buffalo fence. They fish with nets and
are poaching on horseback and by mokoro. Also cattle are crossing the buffalo fence into the cattle
free zone and get killed by predators. The owners are killing predators to protect their stock. The
lion population, which we have been monitoring for 5 years in the CHA, has been reduced by
50%. Also feral dogs are found in our concession area and are sharing the same habitat. A physical
division between human land use and wildlife would be necessary to avoid these conflicts.

At the Kudum-Nxaraga entrance gate a lot of fish and reeds harvested in the Moremi Game
Reserve are brought out of the Delta.

There is no control over the utilisation of natural resources by traditional land users in private
concession areas. Veld product harvesting is not monitored and does not always comply with the
resource use proposals laid down in the technical plan of the concession holder.

Communities are losing perspective in that they see the land and resources in this area as theirs
and not as a national asset.

The buffalo fence is not properly maintained. Couldn’t government allocate private game ranches
as a buffer between communal land use and wildlife areas?

Have the Okavango Panhandle Management Plan and the recommendations of the Veterinary
Fences Study been implemented?

Problem Area: Wildlife and Game Reserve Management

Institution responsible for action: DWNP

Biodiversity
Birds: Apart from the Slaty Egret, the African Skimmer is another endangered bird species that
needs to be considered in the ODMP, as its nesting sites, the sandbanks of the Panhandle, are
being eroded by overloaded boats and high speed boat traffic.
Effective Control of poaching
DWNP does not have enough control over the Okavango Delta. Examples are the white rhinos,
which were reintroduced and got shot by poachers. The people at the buffalo gates need transport
to be able to follow up cases. Perhaps some of the activities of the DWNP should be privatised to
work more efficiently.

Enforcement of regulations and maintenance of facilities in Moremi Game Reserve

On one occasion Mr Dacey observed game scouts feeding vervet monkeys.

At the Kudum-Nxaraga entrance gate a lot of fish and reeds harvested in the Moremi Game
Reserve are brought out of the Delta. The DWNP should control the harvesting of veld products
and fish in Moremi more strictly.

Drifters Adventours is paying BWP 200,000.00 entrance fees per year. Part of the money should
be used to maintain the infrastructure in the Moremi Game Reserve.

Problem Area: Data Management and Research

Institutions responsible for action: HOORC, Project Management Group and all ODMP
Institutions

Research Needs
Rather than elephants, lions and buffalo are species, which need more research and consideration
in the ODMP. Two PhDs are just being finalised on elephants in the Okavango Delta. This
information will be available to the ODMP without charge.

All the individual research results on the Okavango Delta should be compiled to get an overview
and should be made available in some central place for all stakeholders to access?

Concessionaires can supply information relevant to the ODMP, however, an independent agency
needs to integrate and analyse the data and give feedback to the private sector.

Data Management
Data gaps need to be identified and clear directions and criteria for data gathering need to be set in
order for the private sector to make meaningful contributions to the ODMP.

The lion population, which we have been monitoring for 5 years in the Jao CHA, has been reduced
by 50%.

The lion population in the adjacent concession area where our company is operating has increased,
so maybe we should work together on monitoring lion movements and numbers. We need to
monitor wildlife on a larger scale.
 Problem Area: Fishing
Institution responsible for action: Fisheries Department

Why has the tourism sector as one of the stakeholders not been involved in drafting of the new
fishery management strategy? Will fishing at night with spotlights be still permitted since now the
Department of Fisheries is under the DWNP?

Lodge and camp operators were not consulted during the preparation of the panhandle
management plan and hence some unrealistic recommendations were made on fishing charges.
Will the suggested fishing fees (BWP 30.00 for citizen, BWP 50.00 for non-citizen per day and
BWP 200.00 for commercial fisherman per year) be pursued?

There is no control of the activities of the commercial fishermen along the rivers in and outside of
the national parks. The fish are being destroyed as the fishermen are not selective in size or specie
and deplete the rivers of all fish. I have noticed a decline in the fish populations in the Boro river
system over the last 4 years with more fishing camps being established on the riverbanks. When
there is going to be some policy?

A suggestion would be that safari operators be granted the powers to govern this fishing practice
in their concessions as the authorities seem to be unable to manage the fishing industry.

Problem Area: Tourism Development

Institutions responsible for action: TLB, DLUPU, NWDC Tourism Office, Department of
Tourism

The areas open for mobile operators are very limited; many plans do not have provision for them.
Hence places like the Moremi Game Reserve are congested while other parts of the Delta are
under-utilised.

Due to the constantly changing flood levels many access roads are built in the Okavango Delta.
The Delta is damaged by this the large amount of access roads. It might be better environmentally
to allow the re-utilisation of old abundant airstrips.

Problem Area: Enforcement of Land Use Plans and

Land Use Regulations
Institutions responsible for action: TLB, DLUPU

The original management plan for the Okavango Delta (1991) had zoned one part of the Delta as a
special wilderness area where no infrastructure developments would be allowed. The Tawana
Land Board has either changed or never enforced this recommendation. Will the ODMP be a
legally binding document for allocations by Tawana Land Board (TLB)?

Who will enforce the guidelines and regulations of the ODMP?

Which institution has the power to endorse management recommendations of the ODMP?
To guarantee that the implementation of the ODMP is endorsed an appropriate plan management
authority is needed. Successful approaches from other wetlands in the world should be used as
examples.

A mechanism need to be put in place to ensure that the project recommendations are implemented
and that all participating Government institutions are obliged to carry out the proposed activities.

If communities mismanage a concession area allocated to them it should be repossessed.

Problem Area: Waste Management and Pollution

Institution responsible for action: NWDC, Tourism Department

All the camps in the Delta are transporting their solid waste to Maun. Couldn’t some of this
rubbish like cans and glass be recycled?

Regulations for HATAB campsites in Moremi are strictly controlled. However, litter is not
collected and removed at a regular basis from the public campsites in the Moremi Game Reserve.

Problem Area: ODMP

Institution responsible for action: Project Management Group

It might be beneficial to set aside funds for the project secretariat to function and follow up issues
beyond the lifetime of the present project.

Does the ODMP have the power to increase the protected status of the Delta?

Will the idea of opening international borders to allow wildlife migration be considered in the
ODMP?

Problem Area: Consultation Process, Communication,

and Stakeholder Participation
Institutions responsible for action: HOORC, Project Management Group and all ODMP
Institutions

To facilitate the dissemination of information between all the stakeholders it is essential to get a
project communication specialist in place as soon as possible.

Will there be an ODMP web site in the internet?

It would be helpful if all stakeholders would get the ODMP planning document with a plan and a
time line of all the activities envisaged in order to follow up the process and participate actively.

Stakeholder have not been given feedback on the planned Popa Falls hydro power plant project as
promised during the consultation meeting held by Nampower.

The exclusion of communities from this meeting is disappointing.