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

According to Lovemore Sola of Conservation International in Maun, the seasonal
flooding of the Delta makes many areas, including most of the tourist facilities,
inaccessible by road vehicles for a number of months throughout the year. To get
around this problem, an increasing number of tourist operators are constructing
private airstrips at their facilities, which has greatly increased the number of small
aircraft moving in and out of the Delta. Previously, the seasonal flooding of the Delta
made much of the area inaccessible to tourists for approximately 4 to 5 months of
the year, which gave the ecosystem and its resources time to regenerate from the
negative impacts of having tourists in the area. However, with the increase in
airstrips and small aircraft in the Delta, and lately with the growing use of helicopters,
the area is becoming increasingly accessible to an increasing number of people, all
year round.
The proposed expansion of Maun airport to accommodate more tourists and larger
aircraft means that the volume of tourists and traffic in the Okavango Delta will
increase. While the expansion of the airport will bring greater economic benefits, it is
also likely to result in greater negative impacts on the Delta's environment. Tourist
destinations such as the Okavango Delta need to have clearly defined carrying
capacities and limits of acceptable change in order to promote sustainable tourism
development (Mbaiwa, 2002).
Noise pollution from small engine aircraft in the Okavango is exacerbated by noise
from motor boats in the area. Referring to the Xakanaxa area in the Moremi Game
Reserve, Roodt (1998) states that a total of 32 power boats, of which 26 belong to
safari operators are licensed for use in the area. There are also an estimated 110
motor boats owned by the various tour operators in the Panhandle area. The fast
movement of such boats creates wakes that disturb nesting birds and flood nests on
river banks, frightens mammals and reptiles that live in or near water and causes the
erosion of river banks, particularly in the Panhandle area. Crocodiles and
hippopotamus seek undisturbed areas and the presence of too many tourists in the
Okavango Delta disturbs these species. Roodt (1998) states that hippopotamus,
which were present in large numbers in the Xakanaxa lagoon seven years ago, have
already moved out of the lagoon with the increase in tourists and boats in the area.
Local fishermen in the Panhandle area also report that boat noise is disturbing fish
at nesting sites. The problem of noise pollution in the Okavango Delta demonstrates
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