A management plan for the Okavango Delta - Botswana

Gland, Switzerland, 26 July, 2001 (IUCN) - Several organisations and donors working in Botswana met recently to discuss a project to develop a management plan for the Okavango Delta. Besides agreeing on the need for the plan to coordinate activities in the Okavango, the meeting also confirmed the leading role of IUCN in the development of this Management Plan. An appraisal mission to finalise the proposal is scheduled for October this year and the project itself is likely to start early next year.

The Okavango Delta is one of he largest and most important inland wetlands of the world, covering 15,000 km2, with 2500 species of plants, 65 fish species, 20 large herbivores and over 450 species of birds. With 6,864,000 hectares, it contains the largest Ramsar site in the world.

The Delta receives its water from the highlands of Angola and the Okavango river passes through Namibia before it enters Botswana in Ngamiland. The Delta includes swamps, grasslands, intermittently flooded areas and dry lands. The Delta is home to over 140,000 people, 50% of whom live in villages with less than 500 inhabitants, living off the goods and services the delta provides. Their livelihoods are closely interwoven with the diversity of natural resources.

Increasingly, the Delta is under pressure. Increasing population numbers have led to the unsustainable use of a number of natural resources. Water resources are increasingly used for medium-scale irrigated agriculture, mining and domestic use upstream of and around the Delta. Unmanaged and uncontrolled expansion of human activities and the unclear ownership of resources are threatening the livelihoods of the Delta's inhabitants. "If these threats are allowed to persist, they will result in fundamental and irreversible changes in the basin's water balance, the character of the delta, and the productivity of the basin as a whole", Ruud Jansen, IUCN Country Representative in Botswana said.

To address these pressures, an integrated floodplain and water resources management plan is required, based on a comprehensive analytical framework, sound scientific analysis and broad participation of all stakeholders. The plan should determine the development options for the Delta, put these in the regional developmental context and define a strategy for actionto implement the preferred option. "The goal is to arrive at the best management of this unique and precious wetland for the benefit of nature, the entire water system and the local communities, in collaboration with all stakeholders", Ruud Jansen added.

The Delta management planning exercise will contribute to the work of the Okavango Commission (OKACOM) in the development of a river basin management plan including Angola, Namibia and Botswana. During a meeting in Luanda last week the three countries agreed on basing the OKACOM Secretariat in Luanda for the next three years after which it would rotate to Botswana (Namibia hosted the Transboundary Diagnostic Assessment phase which was completed last year).

The role of IUCN in the development of this plan is recognition for IUCN's longstanding experience in sustainable development and its active presence in Southern Africa and Botswana. The project will work together with many local, regional and international organisations that bring their specific expertise; these include the Government of Botswana, the Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre, the University of Botswana, the permanent Okavango Commission (OKACOM), the Kalahari Conservation Society, Conservation International and various community-based organisations (CBOs).

For further information, contact:
Elroy Bos, Communication Assistant
Wetlands and Water Resources Programme
Tel. (++41) 22 999 02 51
Elroy.Bos@iucn.org

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