Participación escolar

The Okavango Delta located in north-western Botswana (Figure 1.2). The Okavango Delta is formed by the inflow of the Okavango River whose two main

tributaries (the Cuito and Cubango Rivers) originate in the Angolan Highlands. The Okavango River flow across Namibia’s Caprivi Strip and finally drains into north- western Botswana to form a wetland known as the Okavango Delta.

Figure 1.2 Map of the Okavango Delta showing Khwai, Mababe and Sankoyo

The Okavango Delta is characterized by a conical and triangular shaped alluvial fan and covers an area of about 16, 000 square kilometers (Tlou, 1985). The geological formation of the Okavango Delta is a result of the active uplift (upwelling) associated with the African Superswell (Gumbricht & McCarthy, 2002). The upwelling caused the

flow of the Okavango River to split into several channels that form many islands, lakes and lagoons. Like the Nile in Egypt, the Okavango River and its Delta sustain life in an otherwise inhospitable environment. An oasis in what would otherwise be semi-desert, the Okavango Delta is characterized by large amounts of open water and grasslands, which sustain human life, and a variety of flora and fauna. For instance, there are 2000 to 3000 plant species, over 162 arachnid species, more than 20 species of large

herbivores, over 450 bird species (Monna, 1999), and more than 80 fish species (Kolding, 1996). As a result of its rich fauna and flora, the Okavango Delta became a Wetland of International importance in 1997.

The Okavango Delta is a major source of livelihoods for the rural communities who have lived in the area for hundreds of years. Over 95 per cent of the 124,714 people who live in the Okavango Delta directly or indirectly rely on natural resources found in the wetland to sustain their livelihoods (NWDC, 2003). Due to its rich wildlife diversity, wilderness nature, permanent water resources, rich grasslands and forests, the Okavango Delta has become one of the key international tourism destinations in Botswana.

The rich fauna and flora of the Okavango Delta makes it one the most threatened of all ecosystems in Botswana (Darkoh & Mbaiwa, 2005). Communities living in the Okavango Delta and relying on it to sustain their livelihoods partly contributes to this threat. The Okavango Delta, is therefore, a suitable site to investigate whether tourism can be used as a tool to achieve conservation and improved livelihoods.

The villages of Sankoyo, Khwai, and Mababe were selected as study sites (see Fig 1.2). The village of Sankoyo is located on the northeastern fridges of the Okava ngo

Delta. It has a population of 372 people (CSO, 2002). In 1996, Sankoyo established the Sankoyo Tshwaragano Management Trust (STMT) to coordinate community-based tourism activities. The government of Botswana allocated land to the people of Sankoyo to be used for photographic and hunting purposes. Khwai village is located on the southeastern fringes of the Okavango Delta and Moremi Game Reserve. Moremi Game Reserve borders the village in the south and Chobe National Park in the north. The majority of the people of Khwai (population 360) are Basarwa or the so-called “Bushmen”. However, other ethnic groups have since settled in the village, this including Batawana, Basubiya and other Basarwa from different clans. Mababe (population 290) is also located on the southeastern fringes of the Okavango Delta between Moremi Game Reserve and Chobe National Park. The people of Mababe are Basarwa and they have also lived a nomadic life of hunting and gathering until the last two or three decades.

The villages of Khwai, Mababe and Sankoyo were purposively selected for several factors. Firstly, I assumed that measuring the effectiveness of tourism

development in achieving livelihoods and conservation, analyzing changes in livelihoods options as well as analyzing changes in attitudes towards conservation and tourism development would require study sites where a long-term (at least ten years) ethnographic data set is available. I have long-term ethnographic data for the three villages dating back to 1998 at the University of Botswana. I have also closely observed and conducted several surveys in these villages in the last decade as part of my research duties at the Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre, University of Botswana. In

this regard, I have observed changes caused by tourism in the villages for the last

decade. That is, the CBNRM program was not yet implemented at Khwai and Mababe in 1998. It was only three years old at Sankoyo. The availability of longitudinal data

therefore, justified continuing the study to track changes associated with tourism development in the last decade.

Secondly, Sankoyo was the first village to have a CBNRM program in the Okavango Delta in 1995. It is also recognized by several studies (e.g. Arntzen 2003, 2007; Thakadu et al, 2005) as one of the villages where CBNRM has a significant impact on livelihoods. In this regard, data from Sankoyo were analyzed to determine whether there are any similarities or differences with data from Khwai and Mababe. In other words, Sankoyo epitomizes some of the best solutions to challenges of livelihoods, tourism development, resource use and conservation in CBNRM areas.

Thirdly, Khwai was chosen because it epitomizes the challenges and interactions between livelihoods, tourism and resource use. For decades, Khwai has been the center of resource conflicts between local communities and tourism companies especially with the three lodges found in the area, conflict between the Department of Wildlife and National Parks and the national government which suggested the relocation of the village to Mababe and Sankoyo areas (Mbaiwa, 2005). All these conflicts are a result of the fact that Khwai is located in a wildlife-rich site suitable for tourism development and wildlife conservation desired by government and tourism operators. In 1998, one of the Sociologists working with the Khwai community remarked, “Khwai village is sitting on a diamond”, meaning that the village is located in a relatively better area in terms of

abundance of wildlife and tourism potential. In addition, until 2006, Khwai was the center of resource conflicts between government and tourism operators on the one hand and the community on the other hence government threats of re- locating of Khwai to Mababe or Sankoyo areas. Because of Khwai’s advantage over the other two villages in terms of the tourism potential and seemingly contentious location and the prolonged resource conflicts, it was appropriate to select the community for this study.