the role of tourism in natural resource management in the okavango ...

Botswana affords many possibilities for tourism investment and development. The
current National Development Plan (2003/04 to 2008/09), the five year plan for the
economy, has identified wildlife and tourism as a key sector for economic growth
and predicts that tourism will be a one billion Pula industry within the next ten years
(http://www.iiasa...htm).
Tourists are attracted to Botswana by relatively unpopulated and remote wetland
and thirstland environments, which support numerous and diverse wildlife
populations, as well as the proximity to other Southern African attractions such as
the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe/Zambia. Government policy is to limit the density and
environmental impacts of tourism through the licensing of a limited number of high­
cost safari companies who have exclusive access to the wildlife areas
(http://www.iiasa...htm).
The next section provides a general overview of the study site, the Okavango Delta.
5.3 Background Information on the Okavango Delta Region
5.3.1 Introduction
Owing to its isolation and history of conflict in Angola, the Okavango River Basin as
a whole, and the Okavango Delta has remained remarkably unaffected by human
influence. Apart from relatively small extractions in southern Angola and the Caprivi
Strip in Namibia, the Okavango's hydrology is largely unaltered. As such, the
Okavango Delta continues to support a healthy ecosystem with large populations of
countless mammals, birds, fish and other animal species (many of which require
large areas of undisturbed habitat). In addition, the Delta sustains tens of thousands
of people living in surrounding villages and supports a growing tourism industry
worth a reported US $ 200 million annually to the Botswana economy (Rothert,
1997).
Recent events, however, suggest that the Delta's halcyon days are waning. The
Delta is an unstable and complex ecosystem, located downstream from two
countries with plans to develop. More importantly, the Delta lacks the protection of a
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