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

5.4.2 Present Day Natural Resource Utilisation and Management in
Botswana
After independence in 1966, most natural resource management strategies
continued to be based on old British Colonial policies and institutions, or at best,
partially modified by the new post-colonial leaders of Botswana. As a result, the
Botswana Government has made little effort to formulate and adopt development
policies that are relevant within the context of local community interest and
environmental sustainability (Mbaiwa, 1999).
Additionally, wildlife policies and institutions in Botswana have continued to be
formulated and adopted without the involvement and participation of all major
stakeholders, especially the local communities (Figure 5.8). There is a general lack
of knowledge amongst local communities regarding government natural resource
policies, which makes them less likely to co-operate with the government in the
implementation of resource utilisation and management programmes (Mbaiwa,
1999).
5.4.2.1 The Fauna Conservation Act of 1967
In 1967, the Fauna Conservation Act was passed, which was the first post-colonial
wildlife law in Botswana. While the 1967 law retained most sections of the 1961
Fauna Conservation Proclamation, it replaced the customary laws or decrees and
introduced the Tribal Hunting Regulations. These were separate hunting regulations
for each tribal group and territory in the country, including Ngamiland District, and
under this law tribesmen were required to pay in order to hunt (Mbaiwa, 1999).
The law had significant impacts on the livelihoods of the local communities
throughout the country, as many of them could not raise the necessary fee to allow
them to hunt. The local communities also interpreted the fee as a way of denying
them the opportunity to utilise wildlife resources provided freely in their local
environments. However, the law also made exceptions. It contained provisions for
remote area dwellers to continue hunting freely, without any restrictions, except for
conserved animals, as long as the hunting was done for consumptive purposes only,
by individuals or households (Spinage, 1991; Mbaiwa, 1999).
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