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

However, Rey was anxious to establish a reserve in the north of the country, and
proposed in 1932 that most ofthe Chobe District be protected. Rey used existing
legislation to declare all game animals in the area protected, and that there would be
no hunting in it by anyone for three years. In 1933 the area was slightly enlarged
and it remained a non-hunting area until 1943 (Campbell, 1997).
5.4.1.16 Game Reserves
In 1958 the proposal for the creation of a game reserve in Chobe was once again
raised. Finally, in 1960, the Chobe Game Reserve was established with boundaries
designed to exclude settlements at Machenje, Kavimba and Kachikau in the west, at
Kasane and Kazungula in the east, the Serondela sawmill, and the Colonial
Development Corporation's land west of Mpandamatenga (Campbell, 1997).
After pleas from prominent persons, such as Laurens van der Post, that the
Protectorate Administration do more to protect the Bushmen from land
encroachment, a survey was carried out in the eastern Ghanzi District. In 1961, the
entire area of some 52 000 square kilometres was established as the Central
Kalahari Game Reserve. It was called 'Game Reserve' because the Administration
was reluctant to call it a 'Bushmen Reserve', even though it was initially planned as
such. Unfortunately for the resident Gcwi and Gxana clans, the original proposals for
their subsistence were thrown out and they found themselves with rights neither to
hunt nor keep livestock, but only to be able to enter the Game Reserve and live
there without a permit. However, as nobody was appointed to manage the Reserve,
life continued there as it had in the past (Campbell, 1997).
In 1963 residents of Maun, including the Tawana Regent, Mrs. Moremi, attempted to
establish the first game reserve on tribal land. After some negotiation, the Batawana
tribe living in the area agreed to set aside some 2 000 square kilometres in the
northeastern Okavango Delta, which was declared the Moremi Wildlife Reserve. The
exact location was chosen for its accessibility, varied swamp and dryland habitats,
visible river boundaries - the Khwai and Mogogelo Rivers, and lack of human
population. Not wanting government to administer their reserve, the Batawana
agreed to the creation of an administrative body to do this, the Fauna and Flora
Preservation Society of Ngamiland (Campbell, 1997).
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