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

development which emphasise the participation of all stakeholders in
decision making, especially rural communities (Mbaiwa, 1999; Mbaiwa,
2002).
• The legislation and the policy do not address the role that can be played by
the local communities living in and around protected areas in the utilisation
and management of wildlife resources. The failure to involve the local
communities in the management of protected areas has partially been
instrumental in conflicts occurring between the local people of Ngamiland
District and wildlife management (Mbaiwa, 1999; Mbaiwa, 2002).
• One of the major problems with the Wildlife Conservation Policy is that it is
mainly consumptive in nature, and hence helps to accelerate the already
declining wildlife population in the country. The policy needs to shift from
being consumptive at both subsistence and commercial levels to a non­
consumptive approach in face of the declining wildlife resources. According
to Chief Tawana II of the Ngamiland district, a consumptive approach to the
declining wildlife species can lead to the devaluation of the product, and
there is therefore a need to shift the policy from being consumptive to that
which promotes economic-based conservation (such as the use of wildlife in
the photographic tourism industry). Since management policies have a top­
down rather than a bottom-up approach, they only appeal to rich foreign
investors who are able to establish wildlife-based ventures in the area.
These industries are meant to realise quick profits from the use of wildlife
resources, which might, in the long run, prove detrimental to the local
environment, especially wildlife species in demand by safari and game
hunters (Mbaiwa, 1999).
5.4.2.9 The Tourism Policy of 1990
The Tourism Policy of 1990 aims at diversifying the economy of Botswana. It
recognises that revenues generated by tourism should be returned to the rural
economy and that wildlife is essential to the tourist attraction of Botswana (Lawson,
1992; Mbaiwa, 1999; Mbaiwa, 2002). It outlines initiatives to decentralise the control
of wildlife to districts and local communities to promote rural development in which
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