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

The people of the Okavango Delta and surrounding areas utilise a wide variety of
natural resources. These include, amongst others, vegetation resources for food,
fuel, medicine and building materials, fish resources for food and raising cash
incomes, wildlife for subsistence hunting, and more recently, for community-based
tourism ventures.
This chapter focuses on the present day use of natural resources by the local
communities in the Okavango Delta. It presents an appraisal of the critical issues
relating to current natural resource utilisation and management structures in the
Okavango, with particular reference to tourism's impact upon the Delta's natural
resources. Lastly, it provides an overview of the Community Based Natural
Resource Management (CBNRM) programme, implemented in the Okavango Delta
in 1995.
7.2 Wildlife, Fish and Vegetation Resources in the Okavango
Delta
7.2.1 Wildlife Resources in the Okavango Delta
Wildlife used to exist in most of Botswana in abundance and although the country
still has large numbers of animals, populations have declined. There are presently
around 160 species of mammals, 550 species of birds, 157 species of reptile, and
38 species of amphibians. The expansion of human settlements is a contributing
factor to the decline in numbers, as is illegal hunting, a shortage of water and a loss
of grazing land. The species most affected by decline are wildebeest, zebra and
hartebeest. For example, in the Makgadikgadi area, it is estimated that numbers
have decreased by 30 percent over the past decade. However, despite this general
decline, some animal populations have remained either stable or, in some cases,
increased. The most notable case regarding the latter is that of elephants, whose
population has increased from 40 000 animals in 1991 to 105 000 by the end of
2001 (Keatimilwe, 1992; OPWT, 2004).
There is a close and mutually beneficial link between the Okavango region's wildlife
resources and the tourism industry. It is the wildlife, as well as the areas other
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