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

• Problems with solid waste disposal: Although most campsites within the
Moremi Game Reserve are generally clean, there is sometimes a problem
with tourists leaving litter lying around. A bigger problem, however, is with
baboons and monkeys emptying rubbish bins in the campsites. The DWNP
provides baboon-proof bins in all campsites. However, many of these bins
get broken and the DWNP does not replace them, making them ineffective
against baboons, monkeys and other scavenging wildlife. Many bins are
also not emptied by the DWNP regularly and hence overflow, resulting in
rubbish lying around the campsites, which encourages the presence of
scavengers. Ablution blocks in many public campsites are also noted for
being dirty, with little attention or action being taken by the DWNP to
address this problem (Mbaiwa, 1999; Mbaiwa, 2002).
• Problems with the booking system for public campsites: The booking of any
public campsite under the authority of the DWNP has to be done through its
Parks and Reservation Office. Bookings are either done in Gaborone or
Maun, and this system is generally regarded as being ineffective. Attempts
to make bookings can be difficult as tourists are often told that campsites
are fully booked, only to find them empty once they visit the area. The mode
of payment is also difficult as visa or credit cards are used to pay a deposit,
but it is not possible to use such cards once in Maun or the Moremi Game
Reserve (Mbaiwa, 1999; Mbaiwa, 2002).
• Poor monitoring of tourist activities: There is a general failure by the DWNP
to monitor the activities of tourists once they are in the Moremi Game
Reserve. Concern has been raised about self-drive and mobile tourists who,
due to this lack of monitoring, are able to drive off road, or fail to deposit
their litter in the right places. In addition, DWNP is also criticized for failing
to provide tourists with the necessary information in the form of brochures
and guidelines on tourist activities, which is partly noted for causing off road
driving and poor waste management in public campsites (Mbaiwa, 1999;
Mbaiwa, 2002).
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