Africa-Press – Botswana. Private sector has been implored to consider investing in natural resources.
Speaking during a recent workshop on the Maun climate change loss and damage which targeted those in the tourism businesses specifically nature based tourism operators department of Environmental Affairs coordinator, Mr Jobe Manga said the private sector’s role should be visible and deliberate in conservation of the resources saying Botswana’s tourism was largely influenced by the availability of water which in turn attracts wildlife and associated activities.
Mr Manga underscored the need to change the narrative and advocate for the proper use of the wetlands. According to the Ramsar Convention, he said wetlands were vital for human survival and were among the world most productive environments.
“Contributions of these environments ranges from government revenue to reduced unemployment, to income for private companies and to sustenance of local communities,” he explained.
Mr Manga further said that in Okavango and North West districts, 669 tourism facilities had been recorded across all tourism categories in 2022 producing employment statistics that stood at 41 884 with a wage bill of over P2 billion and a total turnover of over P1 billion.
The importance of the environment, he said goes beyond economic benefits as socially it was a source of food, fresh water and building material while to nature, wetlands contributed to biodiversity conservation, ground water recharge and carbon sequestration,
In addition, he said research confirmed that wetlands were estimated to sequester twice as much as carbon in the soil than all tropical forests.
Despite all ecosystem services provided by the Okavango Delta as the sole Ramsar Site, Mr Manga said climate change proved to be a real threat largely experienced in two aspects being temperature and precipitation.
“Botswana Climate Risk Country Profile by World Bank Group has revealed that Botswana observed considerable temperature increases since 1970s and average temperatures had increased by 1.5 degrees celsius with central, arid parts of the country’s interior observed to have increased by as much as 2 degrees celsius while on the other hand precipitation for Botswana remain highly variable and characterised by below normal rainfall and more frequent droughts,” he said.
Mr Manga said vulnerability of the country was made worse by high level of rural poverty and its dependence on key sectors most likely effected by climate change, such as tourism sector.
He cited that as an endeavour to push back, government introduced a number of initiatives including the international and regional cooperation.
He further explained that Botswana was signatory to various Multilateral Environmental Agreement such as Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, Convention on Biological Diversity and UNFCCC and also part of the Okavango River Commission.
Mr Manga also mentioned that the funding for environmental protection and sustainable use of natural resources through NEF and other funding mechanisms, citing that NEF alone had recently funded 16 projects across the country.
These projects among other things, he said were meant to fight effects of climate change adding that the money was availed to community trusts, non-governmental organizations (NGOs,) and community based organizations among others.
Mr Manga also revealed that commitment of the ministry to diversification of tourism product and finding alternatives to traditional sources of livelihoods was evident noting that it was done through the involvement of local communities and other stakeholders.
He said as part of the National Development Transitional Plan (NDTP), government had approved P7 million to fund Access and Benefit Sharing related project in the Okavango Panhandle. The project is aimed at enhancing the capacity for genetic resources research and development, to promote beneficiation and value addition and to protect traditional knowledge in Botswana.
The workshop was organized by Botswana Society for Human Development (BSHD) under the theme “Increasing environmental awareness, fostering climate resilience among nature based tourism operators.
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