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Faculty of Science Department of Environmental Science Masters of Science in Environmental Science Dissertation TOPIC: INVESTIGATING THE APPLICABILITY OF NEXUS THINKING TO PRIVATE PROTECTED AREAS; THE CASE OF MOKOLODI NATURE RESERVE, SOUTHEAST BOTSWANA. Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the award of the Degree of Master of Science in Environmental Science of the University of Botswana By JAMES MARADZA (201600016) Supervisor: Prof Raban Chanda Co-Supervisor: Dr Naomi Moswete SEPTEMBER 2019 ii Declaration I hereby declare that this research dissertation is my own work. It is submitted for the fulfillment of the Masters of Science in Environmental Science at the University of Botswana, Gaborone. It contains no material previously published or submitted before for any other degree or examination in any other university, except where due acknowledgement has been made in the context. James Maradza (201600016) __________________ ___________________ (Student name & ID) Signature Date iii List of Abbreviations/ Acronyms MNR – Mokolodi Nature Reserve IUCN - The International Union for the Conservation of Nature SADC - Southern African Development Community CBD - Convention on Biological Diversity CBNRM - Community Based Natural Resources Management CBO - Community Based Organizations NT - Nexus Thinking WEF - Water-Energy-Food SDGs - Sustainable Development Goals CSR - Community Social Responsibility GDP - Gross Domestic Product WTO - World Trade Organization UNCED - The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development CAMPFIRE – Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources ADMADE - Administrative Design for game Management Areas LIFE - Living in a Finite Environment COBRA - Conservation of Biodiversity Resource Areas Programme WCED - World Commission on Environment and Development USAID - United States Agency for International Development NRMP - Natural Resource Management Project DWNP - Department of Wildlife and National Parks PPA - Private Protected Area MWF - Mokolodi Wildlife Foundation UNWTO - United Nations World tourism Organisation iv NRMP - Natural Resources Management Plan WTTC - World Travel & Tourism Council ANU - Australian National University ENSO - El Niño-Southern Oscillation VDC - Village Development Committee CSO - Central Statistics Office DEA - Department of Environmental Affairs WB - World Bank IMF - International Monetary Fund ESAP - Economic Structural Adjustment Programme NDP - National Development Plan CBT - Community Based Tourism UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme ICDP - Integrated Conservation and Development Project SEDC - South East District Council SME - Small to Medium Enterprises UNDP - United Nations Development Programme KRST - Khama Rhino Sanctuary Trust TGLP - Tribal Grazing Land Policy GPS - Global Positioning System UTM - Universal Transverse Mercator TVA - Tennessee Valley Authority v Acknowledgements All the Glory and Honor be to the Almighty God for His providence throughout this academic journey. I would like to acknowledge the sincere efforts from my supervisors: Prof. Chanda and Dr Moswete, whose support, criticism, patience and encouragement were invaluable. Your unwavering, consistent guidance has shown genuine concern for this dissertation to be relevant and achieve the desired goals. The time you devoted to this work is greatly appreciated. I am profusely humbled and grateful. This work would not have been possible without the interaction and consultation with my graduate school classmates in our Department of Environmental Science. Our somber hearts were together in this long, arduous and onerous journey. Together we triumphantly withstood all perceived hardships and mishaps. My sincere gratitude goes to my family for their support and encouragement. I cannot finish without expressing my gratitude to my Boss, Honorary Consul to the State of Israel, Mr Lyons. Your excellency, the financial and psychological support you rendered have been exceptional; without which this work would not have been possible. For this I am truly grateful. Thank you and be blessed. Philippians 4vs13 ‘I can do everything through Him who gives me strength’. vi Abstract World-wide, Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) has gained international attention for reconciling common pool resource management with needs and aspirations of the local people. Regionally, Zimbabwe’s CBNRM strategy was first introduced in the early 1980s under Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE), arguably representing the earliest such strategy in the SADC region. In Botswana,CBNRM was introduced in the late 1980s through the support of USAID. This marked a paradigm shift towards the management and utilization of common shared resources as well as conservation of biological diversity. The strategy generated socio- economic and ecological benefits to once marginalized communities, improving livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. Despite CBNRM achievements, its applicability is limited to common pool resources. That is the strategy of CBNRM does not apply to privately owned resources. It therefore becomes necessary to search for models that recognized and forged mutually beneficial linkages for the sustainable co-existence of the two property regimes, i.e. common property and private property resource management regimes. This is particularly important considering that the successful future prospects of protected conservation area ecotourism, whether in private or public/communal areas, revolve around building mutually shared beneficial linkages. This prompted this study, to unravel such linkages and establish the extent of beneficial matrix between the two property regimes - the private and the communal. This study explored the applicability of the nexus thinking (NT) framework in understanding and forging the linkages among conservation, ecotourism development and the livelihoods of local communities around a privately owned Mokolodi Nature Reserve on the outskirts of the City of Gaborone in the Southeast of Botswana. It is thus conceptualized that conservation, livelihoods and ecotourism form a complex system linked by multiple interacting components. Data was collected from the community closest to MNR and MNR’s management. Questionnaires and key informant interviews were used as primary sources of data. Likewise, secondary data from appropriate sources was solicited. The triangulation methodology was adopted as the research framework for generating and analyzing data so that there was cross-validation of evidence from both qualitative and quantitative data sources. The study has found out that mutually beneficial linkages existed between MNR and the local community. Interaction and coordination constitute the NT model. Therefore, the NT model as an interactive and innovative framework can deliberately or by design be used or promoted in the management of privately protected resources for sustainable socio-economic and ecological benefits. Both the private and the public sector have the obligation to engage with each other through partnership agreements, sharing ideas, so as to enhance resource security and empower the local communities. The NT framework is therefore recommended for privately owned conservancies like MNR surrounded by the commons and commoners as a counterpart to the CBNRM framework for Government controlled conservancies. Key Words: Conservation, Ecotourism, Livelihoods, Nexus, benefit sharing vii Contents Declaration ........................................................................................................................................................... ii List of Abbreviations/ Acronyms ...................................................................................................................iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................................. v Abstract ................................................................................................................................................................ vi Contents .............................................................................................................................................................. vii List of Tables ..................................................................................................................................................... xii List of Figures .................................................................................................................................................. xiii 1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH PROBLEM ............................................................ 1 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM ................................................................. 5 1.3 AIM OF THE STUDY ............................................................................................................ 6 1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ............................................................................................ 6 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ..................................................................................................... 6 1.6 VARIABLES OF ANALYSIS .............................................................................................. 10 1.6.1 Elaboration on Table 1.4: variable of analysis/operationalization