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

Experience shows that some animals, particularly elephant, are simply intelligent
enough to realize that their lives are being threatened. Hence many of the elephants
outside of protected areas have already moved into 'safer areas' in northern
Botswana, leaving hunting areas with lower elephant population densities and
causing the congestion of protected areas (OPWT, 1998).
Harassed and wounded elephants, and other animals, constitute a danger to both
hunters and local communities living within hunting areas, as they do not exhibit
normal behaviour. In addition, the majority of the inhabitants of Ngamiland District,
due to cultural beliefs, do not eat elephant meat. As such, trophy hunters have left
approximately 70 tons of surplus elephant meat out in the field in the Okavango
region to rot each year since 1997. This amount will probably reciprocate with
increases in the elephant hunting quota (OPWT, 1998).
Hunting, when done scientifically, could be a sound management tool where animals
are over-populated and congested. It has a negative impact where populations are
dispersing, in decline, or of a low abundance - as in the case in the Okavango Delta
and Ngamiland District (OPWT, 1998).
7.2.1.5 Lack of Community Participation in Wildlife Management
Approximately 4459 people, less than one percent of the Ngamiland population, are
involved in wildlife management activities in the District. Sixty-eight percent of the
Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) in the Okavango have no community
participation. The local communities who are not involved in the wildlife industry see
the Delta as being wasted, and as they represent the majority of Ngamiland's
population, naturally pose a threat to the long-term survival of the Delta (OPWT,
1998).
7.2.1.6 Lack of Planning, Co-ordination and Communication
Joint decision making, co-ordinated planning and management are severely lacking
with regard to the Okavango Delta and its resources. Government departments often
act in isolation, without consulting other stakeholders. Environmental Impact
Assessments are still an alien concept and there is very little consultation with local
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