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

the backbone of the rural economy. In particular, livestock has been a major
contributor to the national economy (Sekhwela, 1990).
Botswana also contains large, open rangelands with a vast population of wildlife.
Wildlife, birds, amphibians, aquatic mammals, fish and plant life are considered
important natural resources in Botswana, as much of the country's tourism industry
is dependent upon such resources. Wildlife, fish and veld products also have a direct
and indirect impact on the socio-economic lives of many people living in Botswana,
particularly in the rural areas. The Okavango Delta is an important tourism resource,
and, together with the Chobe, Linyanti and Limpopo rivers, form an important
surface water resource. These waterways have significant biological, hydrological
and economic value to the country as a whole (http://www.lead.org ...htm; Mbaiwa,
1999).
Forest reserves in Botswana include the widespread potential for fuelwood
extraction and a small amount of saw timber in the north-east of the country. Areas
containing the particularly valuable mophane (Colophospermum mopane) trees
spread to the north east and north west region, while morula (Scherocarya birrer)
trees grow in the north and west. The baobab (Adansonia digitata) which can live to
a great age with a circumference of more than thirty metres is also dominant in the
north. There are several forest reserves in the Chobe district, the northern Nata state
lands and the area north of the Okavango Delta. Here, limited woodland stands
containing Rhodesian Teak (mkusi) (Baikaeia plurijuga) and mukwa (Pterocarpus
angolensis) are found (http://www.botswana-online... htm).
Botswana's forests and woodlands represent an important natural resource in terms
of providing the majority of the rural population with a wide range of benefits,
entailing the supply of wood for energy, construction, building and crafts; the supply
of non-wood forest products such as honey, bees-wax, fruits, medicine, fodder and
habitat for wildlife and livestock, and maintaining the environmental balance.
However, these resources have lately come under increasingly severe pressure
form over-exploitation, and other natural phenomena such as drought and fire. The
greatest challenge is to foster sustainable utilisation of these resources to ensure a
continuous flow of goods and services from these forests without irreversibly
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