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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Introduction The Okavango Delta, located in north western Botswana, is a renowned natural wonder of international biodiversity significance that also plays a key role in the economy of Botswana. A large inland delta, the sink of the Okavango River, the delta is listed as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. The Okavango Delta Management Plan (ODMP) is being developed in order to ensure the delta’s long term conservation and its provision of benefits to society. The ODMP project is trying to assess the fundamental linkages and interdependencies between the hydrological functioning of the Delta, its ecology and the economy these support. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) is supporting the development of the ODMP, as part of the Water and Nature Initiative in Southern Africa. This includes carrying out an economic valuation study of the Okavango Delta in conjunction with Botswana’s Department of <strong>Environmental</strong> Affairs (DEA). The overall objective of this study is to determine the economic value of the environmental goods and services of the Okavango Delta in order to evaluate the implications of a number of management and resource allocation options for the area. The report also provides recommendations that have a sound economic basis, which will help ensure future sustainable use of the Okavango Delta. While this study is not comprehensive, it will provide much of the information required by building on the considerable existing volume of relevant work that has been carried out on the Okavango Delta. Study area The Okavango Delta, situated at the northernmost edge of the Kalahari sandveld in north western Botswana, is the largest inland wetland in the world. From its headwaters in Angola, the Okavango River feeds the delta with 5-16 000 Mm 3 (million cubic metres) of water per annum. This study was confined within the boundaries of the 55 599 km 2 Okavango Delta Ramsar Site, which encompasses the entire Okavango Delta (wetland area) and the surrounding upland areas. The study area is, for the most part, a vast, gently undulating plain, apart from the slightly elevated areas in the extreme west. The semi-arid region is characterized by cold, dry winters and hot, wet summers with rainfall occurring mainly from November to March. With an average rainfall of only 500mm per annum, evaporation is 5 – 6 times higher and accounts for 95% of the delta’s water loss. From where it enters Botswana, the Okavango River flows in a south easterly direction for just over 100 km (this section being known as the ‘panhandle’) before fanning out into the delta proper. The delta’s ecosystems range from perennial swamps to dryland areas, which include a large arid island (Chief’s Island) in the middle of the delta. Although the zonation of land types has been described in different ways, the ODMP, which describes the entire Ramsar Site, recognise five land categories: water, normally flooded, seasonally flooded, occasionally flooded and rarely flooded areas. The pattern of flooding is roughly inverse to the pattern of rainfall. Floodwaters reach the panhandle in about April, and take several months to spread through the delta, reaching Maun in about August to October. As the floodwaters proceed, the inundated area expands from about 5000 km 2 to between 6000 and 12 000 km 2 , depending on the size of the flood. Very little contribution is made by local rainfall. There have been changes in the distribution and amount of flooding over time, possibly due to increased evaporation, declining rainfall in the catchment, and tectonic activity. The soils are predominantly arenosols in the delta and Kalahari sands in the dryland areas. There is no significant agricultural potential in the Ramsar site. Vegetation of the delta is a mosaic of perennial swamps, seasonally-flooded open grasslands, woodlands and palm-fringed islands with forests. The delta is surrounded by mopane woodlands to the north east and acacia woodlands to the south west. The delta is a low nutrient system, although there are areas of relatively high productivity. Overall faunal diversity is fairly high, with about 80 species of fish, 115 species of mammals and over 500 species of birds, but few species are endemic to the area. Local level diversity and densities are ii
# # # # # # # # # # typically quite low. Nevertheless, the delta supports a high biomass of large herbivores, mainly due to the high numbers of elephant. Within the Ramsar site, wildlife populations are concentrated in the delta, primarily in Moremi Game Reserve, which is managed by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP). Several species are largely confined to the delta’s permanently wet areas. Within the Ramsar site, all but 4.6% of land is under tribal land tenure, the remainder being state land. Usage rights are granted to Botswana citizens either communally or to individuals, usually for residential purposes, ploughing or boreholes. These rights are typically passed on through generations. In addition, citizens and non-citizens can acquire 50-year leases for commercial and industrial developments. Land cannot be sold, but the improvements or developments can. Ngamiland District is divided into 52 Controlled Hunting Areas (CHAs), of which 37 fall within the Ramsar Site. These are zoned as livestock, wildlife or multi-purpose (pastoral/arable/residential) areas. About half the study area, mainly within the delta, is under wildlife utilisation, with 9.4% in protected areas and 41.8% designated as Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs). WMAs can be either commercial (leasehold) or community-based (managed by community trusts), and can be for wildlife utilisation or photographic purposes. The remaining 48.8% is communal land area containing settlements, arable lands (mainly subsistence fields) and dominated by grazing lands. The distribution of cattle is limited by a cordon fence, with most of the delta being a cattle-free zone. Originally populated by the San, there is considerable ethnic diversity in the study area. The main groups are the Bayei, primarily fisher-farmers, the Hambukushu, primarily fishers, the Batawana, mainly livestock and dryland farmers, and the Baherero, primarily pastoralists. Refugees from Angola have also settled in the area in recent decades, introducing basket-making skills. The population is concentrated around the edge of the delta, along main roads. Half the population is in Maun and the remainder is largely concentrated around the Panhandle. There are at least 67 settlements, most of which contain fewer than 1000 people. In 2001 the population was about 111 000 people in 18 300 households. Children make up 53% and the elderly only 6%. Life expectancy is dropping mainly due to HIV/AIDS and 55% of households are female-headed. Most people are rural and poor, and have diversified production systems to reduce risks in an unstable environment. For the purposes of this study, the study area was divided into five zones, based on consideration of settlement patterns, land use and natural resource characteristics (Figure I): Shakawe # # # # # # # # # # # # Kauxwhi # # # # # # # # # # # # # Ngarange # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Panhandle # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Central Sepopa # # # # # # # # # # Jao # # # # # # # ####### # # # # # # # Jao # # # # # # # # # # # # # Gumare # # West # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ## # # # # # # # # # # # # # Nokaneng # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # South-East # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # South-West # ## # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Toteng # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Sehithwa # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Shorobe Figure I. Five zones defined for the study area # Sankuyo Maun # # iii
Page 1: Economic value of the Cover Okavang
Page 5: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project was f
Page 9 and 10: household demographics, the relativ
Page 11 and 12: are harvested annually in the study
Page 13 and 14: 3. Wise use, based on Ramsar planni
Page 15 and 16: 5.4.5 Palms........................
Page 17 and 18: 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background The O
Page 19 and 20: • inform economically efficient p
Page 21 and 22: 2 STUDY AREA 2.1 Location and exten
Page 23 and 24: Maunachira-Khwai) and thence into n
Page 25 and 26: 2.2.5 Soils The soils of the delta
Page 27 and 28: Figure 2-3 Land use categories for
Page 29 and 30: # # # # # # # # # # Shakawe # # # #
Page 31 and 32: 3 VALUATION FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLO
Page 33 and 34: other variable relevant for policy)
Page 35 and 36: 3.3.2.1 Focus group discussions and
Page 37 and 38: A total of 430 households from 12 v
Page 39 and 40: Income and Expenditure Survey, a ne
Page 41 and 42: WMAs pay a lease to the local gover
Page 43 and 44: Table 4-3 Estimated direct gross ou
Page 45 and 46: Table 5-3 Average numbers of dwelli
Page 47 and 48: Table 5-6. Average number and produ
Page 49 and 50: 5.3.2 Cropping Some 75% of househol
Page 51 and 52: N W SW SE C Table 5-15. Average val
Page 53 and 54: general consensus was that pottery
Page 55 and 56: Reed mats are used by a few househo
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price, and the resource generates s
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large quantities. This is a very im
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N W SW SE C Table 5-34. Estimated h
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Table 5-39 Relative proportion of d
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Mosepele (2005) recorded a fairly c
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The regulation of hunting stripped
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5.5 The contribution of delta resou
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6 INDIRECT USE VALUE 6.1 Indirect u
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6.3 Indirect use values in the Okav
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estimate the net carbon sink of Aus
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Valuable migratory wildlife species
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External wildlife uses In order to
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Sanitary facilities are poorer. Alm
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Service Table 6-12. Summary of esti
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8 THE VALUE OF THE OKAVANGO DELTA I
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Table 8-2 Summary of the direct eco
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Ramsar site Wetland Rentals & royal
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The SAM can also provide an indicat
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9.3 Description of selected scenari
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9.3.4 Scenario 4. Wise use plus ups
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9.4 Parameters under different scen
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10 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
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11 REFERENCES Abril, A & Bucher, E.
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Mbaiwa, J.E. 2002. The socio-econom
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12 GLOSSARY Abstraction - pumping w
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Profit - the difference between 'gr
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14 APPENDIX 2. TOURISM OPERATIONS I
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69 Wilderness Dawning 70 Wilmot Saf
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FINANCIAL/ECONOMIC MODEL - HIGH QUA
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16 APPENDIX 4. THE SAFARI HUNTING E
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Table A5.1 Structure of a Social Ac
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The sum of this column is the total
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generation and household expenditur
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