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

CHAPTER SEVEN
Natural Resource Utilisation and Management in the
Okavango Delta Region
7.1 Introduction
Due to the role that tourism and wildlife are expected to play as alternative engines
of growth to the mining and beef industries, wildlife utilisation as a commercial and
economically viable land use option is bound to gain increased importance in
Botswana. However, wildlife species numbers have already declined significantly,
and face increasing competition for rangeland resources from the growing livestock
industry and increasing human population. As such, the real challenge lies in
creating a balance between the need for wildlife and other resource conservation in
Botswana, and meeting the resource requirements and needs of future generations,
without placing the country's economy or environment at risk (Mbaiwa, 1999).
As many of Botswana's natural resources are under threat, it is important for the
country to find ways and strategies to protect these resources, while at the same
time utilising them for commercial gain. Such policies and projects must also ensure
the socio-economic development of the local communities, and must take into
consideration the needs and values of the local people. Community participation is
an aspect of human development where people are closely involved in the
economic, social, cultural and political processes that affect their lives. Community
participation in natural resource management should, therefore, be regarded as a
process that empowers local people and ensures their increased access to and
control over such resources, and the socio-economic and political matters that affect
their lives. It must also be seen as an approach to rural development which shifts
from top-down, to bottom-up, from centralised government to local participation, and
from blueprint to learning process (Mbaiwa, 1999).
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