Final Evaluation of the - UNEP

the plans themselves are rather ambitious and not always related to indigenous vegetation. For
example, the Lenao la ga Kwalabe Conservation Trust envisages many activities such as
crossbow hunting, campsites, water development, abattoir construction, ecotourism,
harvesting and marketing of veldt products, fodder production, land conservation and beekeeping.
The total cost is estimated at one million Pula: there was no indication as to the
source of funding. There is a real danger of these substantial management plans being shelved
to gather dust unless there is a firm commitment from the Botswana Government to help
source funding and move the project into a second phase. A consultant was recruited to
evaluate the chances of these trusts being sustainable after IVP closed. For example, on Lenao
la ga Kwalabe Conservation Trust, he concludes: “In contrast to the Trust members
themselves, the consultant is not very optimistic with regard to the implementation of the
projects put forward by the community and its representatives” (Leutlwetse, 2007).
66. There are a number of conditions that pose an especially difficult challenge to the
development of CBRM in Botswana. Livestock owners gave up herding their livestock
around Independence. Livestock roam free all day (and frequently at night). Livestock from
private ranches use the communal resources first before retreating to the dry season reserves
of their own ranches. This arrangement is not of course reciprocal. Sustainable management is
not feasible under these conditions because there is no control of grazing. In the dry season,
the pastures grasses are depleted well before the beginning of the next rainy season because of
overgrazing and over-exploitation of other resources (tree products etc). There is no
functional (community-based or otherwise) management authority at any of the sites, which is
why Development Plans have been drawn up.
67. Range management requires control over the timing and movement of livestock. This is
generally done with either fences and/or traditionally, herders. Fencing of range is not
financially viable whereas fencing for cropping is, even if it reduces plant biodiversity as land
is cleared. To get people to invest in herding their animals will require a quite radical change
in current practices. IVP recognized early on that users of communal land would not be able
to manage or protect “their” resources unless the government transferred control and
management rights to them. All of them clearly wished to be so empowered. The biggest
potential constraint to the achievement of the Project Objective in Botswana was that the legal
framework was not developed for the empowerment of community managers and that there
are no clearly defined, easily applicable legal mechanisms for doing this. Only the
government could empower community managers, and the Government of Botswana has only
recently identified the specific legal instruments that will be used to empower community
managers at each pilot site. Maps of the pilot communities’ lands have been produced by local
government services.
68. IVP dedicated much time and resources to the development of Community Action Plans
(CAPs) and to the identification, funding and development of small projects identified by the
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