Okavango Delta Management Plan - Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

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3.2 BIO-PHYSICAL PLANNING ISSUES Development planning in most human societies strives towards stability and predictability, which in the case of the <strong>Okavango</strong> <strong>Delta</strong> is in direct conflict with its inherently unstable nature. This is a major challenge for the management of ODRS. 3.2.1 ECOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS AND SERVICES Gumbricht and McCarthy, 2002, have succinctly summarised the functioning of the <strong>Okavango</strong> system by equating it to a physiological system. They have described it as follows; “The <strong>Okavango</strong> is a good example of a complex middle number geo-physiological system, which has many similarities with physiological systems. The <strong>Okavango</strong> Wetland with its distributary channels is like the bloodstream and lymphatic system, with fast turnover and transporting nutrients and other dissolved substances. The Islands Mosaic is like the internal organs, processing the nutrients and energy, keeping the balance of the “blood”. The Fan is the skeleton and the skin, the bodily envelope and backbone keeping the organs in place. What comes in via the Panhandle is like the food intake. The superswell and the climate it fosters is the general environment.” The seasonal flooding is recharging the groundwater aquifers which also causes a high biological production of wildlife and livestock as well as of veld products and fish. The shifts in flooding patterns, the duration and extent creates a <strong>Delta</strong> that is much larger than the annual flooded area; it provides fresh water to communities surrounding the <strong>Delta</strong> and facilitates molapo farming. Islands are important ecological function of the <strong>Delta</strong>, they create habitat mosaic which is responsible for the high biodiversity that is found in the <strong>Delta</strong>. The resultat high habitat diversity results in the internal ecological resilience of the <strong>Okavango</strong> <strong>Delta</strong> syste. Many islands form as a result of the subsurface precipitation of calciste and armophous silica which produces vertical expansion creating a topographic relief which is mainly due to transpiration from trees in riparian fringes (McCarthy et al., 1993). This process has resulted in the creation and growth of islands whereby salts are permanently removed from water. This process does also concentrate the remaining salts to centrums of islands where it sinks permanently to deep groundwater. These processes maintain the <strong>Delta</strong> as a fresh water system. The <strong>Delta</strong> does permanently remove organic matter and nutrients from the water and by that it is producing crystal clear waters of high quality. 3.2.2 BIODIVERSITY The <strong>Okavango</strong> <strong>Delta</strong> features as one of the world’s important biodiversity areas. In particular the numbers of plants, mammals, reptiles and birds are high (see Ch 2…..). This is firstly because of the flood pulse without which the seasonal floodplains with its entire flora and fauna would disappear, and the biological productivity would dramatically be reduced. The second process is the shift in flood distribution and size over different time scales. This creates a dynamic patch system of different nutrient levels and at different stages of biological succession. The major factor organizing the <strong>Delta</strong> habitats is the depth and duration of flooding. There is a typical gradient from permanent waters (streams and lagoons) and swamps, seasonal floodplains, occasional floodplains, riparian woodlands and dry woodlands. This pattern is repeated across the <strong>Delta</strong> resulting in a mosaic landscape. The habitat diversity is high and the habitat patches small causing a large edge effect which favours species dependent on more than one habitat. The largest habitat diversity is 73
found in the fringes of the <strong>Delta</strong> where the hydrological gradients are steepest. It is very likely that the total biodiversity is highest here as well. The biomass of large mammals in the <strong>Delta</strong> is 4-8 times higher than in surrounding drylands. This is caused by a much longer growth period of vegetation with a rainy season during summer and a flooding period during winter, and a higher nutrient status due to nutrient accumulation during wet periods and release during dry periods. The most numerous large mammals are Impala with 140 000 individuals, Buffalo and Red Lechwe with 60 000 individuals each and elephants with 35 000 individuals. The crystal clear waters favour fish-eating species hunting by the aid of eyesight such as otters and cormorants. There are more than 40 species of that kind in the <strong>Delta</strong>. There are no known endemic species in the <strong>Delta</strong>. This is probably because the <strong>Delta</strong> during wetter periods was directly connected to the large wetlands in the upper Zambezi. There are many similarities in biodiversity between all these wetlands. There is however a significant number of winter breeding mammal species (39) in the <strong>Delta</strong>. This is probably a genetic trait as an adaptation to the winter flooding of the <strong>Delta</strong> as opposed to other ecosystems that flood during the wet season offering favourable conditions. A number of genetically distinct mammal species may thus occur in the <strong>Delta</strong>. The identified keystone species in the <strong>Delta</strong> that have a decisive impact on the environment and on other species are elephants, hippopotamuses, termites and papyrus. Elephants modify in particular the woody vegetation and open up the landscape. Hippopotamuses open up water courses and/or change water flow and flooding patterns. Termites construct mounds during dry phases that during wet phases become growth points for islands. Papyrus confine water in channels, build up peat that store nutrients, filter and purify water, and create vegetation blockages and flood switching. The elephant population has increased over the past 30 years from 2 300 to 35 000. Their impact on the <strong>Delta</strong> environment is debated. There are eight globally threatened or near-threatened bird species which occur in the <strong>Delta</strong>. An estimated 85% of the global population of the Slaty egret (Egretta vinaciegula) is restricted to the <strong>Okavango</strong> <strong>Delta</strong> and thus near endemic. Globally threatened mammals found in <strong>Okavango</strong> <strong>Delta</strong> are the White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum), the Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) (Spriggs, 2001), and the Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus). In addition there are about six large mammals species classified as rare. The <strong>Delta</strong> is also an important habitat for the Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) which is of international importance. 3.2.3 POTENTIAL THREATS TO OKAVANGO DELTA RAMSAR SITE FUNCTIONING Processes driving the functions and biodiversity of the <strong>Delta</strong> are water inflow, sedimentation and nutrients. These in turn are affected by both natural and anthropogenic factors. The natural impacts include climate change, tectonic activities and large scale changes in the flooding of the <strong>Delta</strong>. The anthropogenic factors mainly entail large scale water abstractions and obstructions and eutrophication. 74
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i OKAVANGO DELTA MANAGEMENT PLAN PR
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2.3 ECOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL FEATU
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5.2.7 FIRE MANAGEMENT .............
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TABLE 3-4: CRITERIA FOR FUTURE PRIO
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Ministry of Environment, Wildlife a
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It stands to reason that the ODMP s
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This chapter describes the strategi
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xiv FRAMP Framework Managem
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OKAVANGO DELTA VISION EXECUTIVE SUM
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physical subsystem. These are often
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Strategic Goal Stategic Objective K
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maintain them it accords prominence
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this, but sectors should continue t
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1.3 THE NEED FOR A MANAGEMENT PLAN
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Instrument Year Objective Relevance
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Relavant conventions which Botswana
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1.6.3.1 Project Design Phase Follow
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1.6.3.5 Final Management</s
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Part of the catchment in Namibia co
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Figure 2-3: The Okavango</s
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2.1.5.3 Tertiary stakeholders These
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2.1.6.7. Harry Oppenheimer
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The District Council is responsible
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c) Existing lodges would continue,
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Table 5-2: Characterization of cond
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Category Natural / Bio-physical Tou
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Category Natural / Bio-physical Tou
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vi. Where vegetation resources are
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d) There should be adequate equipme
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implementers are presented in Appen
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138 District and National Developme
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Butzer, K. W., 1984. Archeogeology
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Hancock, P. 2003b. Saddle-billed St
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McCarthy, T.S., W.N. Ellery and A.
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ODMP, 2006. Slaty Egret Baseline Su
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simulated SPOT VEGETATION imagery.
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Tyson, P.D.R. Fuchs, C. Fu, L. Lebe
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Appendix I. 1: Action Plan<
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Strategic Goal 1: To establish viab
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Strategic Goal 2: To ensure the lon
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Strategic Goal 3: To sustainably us
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162 APPENDIX II - MONITORING AND EV
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Appendix II. 2: Plan</stron
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180 APPENDIX III: ASSESSING IMPACTS
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I.1.3 Manpower capacity of the fish
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Appendix III. 2: Assessing Impacts
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B.2.4 The risk of Tsetse re-infesta
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Okavango Delta Management Plan - Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

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