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

According to personal interviews conducted with M. Mashotja, T. Madipa, and
Letileng Mmika in 2004, from the Department of Agricultural Research in Maun, on
the impact of fires in the Okavango Delta, the greatest impact caused by the
uncontrolled burning of the Delta area is the loss of habitat and grazing areas for
wildlife. The fires in the Okavango have increased in frequency due to increased
human presence in the area. This increase is also apparently due to the increasing
absence of bulk grazers such as buffalo, who would tend to reduce grass biomass
(OPWT, 1998).
Burning of the grasslands and the leaves on the lower extremities of trees results in
elephant pushing such trees over in order to reach the edible leaves higher up on
the tree. The tree is not necessarily killed when it is pushed over, but a subsequent
fire does usually kill the tree. The destruction of trees by fire is often blamed on
elephants (OPWT, 1998).
The increase in fires in the Okavango Delta is now part of a vicious cycle where the
decline and absence of animals which should be cropping the grasslands renders
the grasslands under-utilised and fire prone. Fires are then set for convenient
hunting, in the process destroying fodder and trees - causing further degradation to
habitats and in turn, wildlife declines. Fires also serve to concentrate animals,
causing further habitat degradation of unburned areas (OPWT, 1998).
The recorded impacts of fires in the Okavango Delta include:
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Destruction of forests, reed and papyrus beds;
Killing of mature and seedling trees through repetitive annual scorching and
debarking;
Termination of plant re-growth;
Reduced biomass and diversity in plant populations;
Invasion of unpalatable pioneer plants, e.g., Wild Sage (Pechuel-Ioeschea
leubnitziae or 'Mokodi');
Transformation of woodland to scrubland;
Reduced biomass and bio-diversity of wildlife;
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