OKAVANGO DELTA MANAGEMENT PLAN PROJECT OKAVANGO DELTA MANAGEMENT PLAN JANUARY 2008 Department of Environmental Affairs Private Bag 0068 Gaborone Botswana Tel: +267 3902050 Fax: +267 3902051 E-mail: [email protected] i Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................................. vii FOREWORD .................................................................................................................................................. ix Preface ............................................................................................................................................................ xi ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ..................................................................................................... xiii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................... xvi 1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 OKAVANGO DELTA VISION .................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 OVERALL GOAL OF THE OKAVANGO DELTA MANAGEMENT PLAN....................................................... 1 1.3 THE NEED FOR A MANAGEMENT PLAN.................................................................................................. 2 1.4 LEGISLATIVE, POLICY AND PLANNING FRAMEWORK ............................................................................ 2 1.4.1 NATIONAL FRAMEWORK .............................................................................................................. 2 1.4.2 REGIONAL FRAMEWORK .............................................................................................................. 4 1.4.3 INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORK..................................................................................................... 5 1.5 SITE SELECTION...................................................................................................................................... 6 1.6 PLANNING COORDINATION, APPROACH AND PROCESS.......................................................................... 6 1.6.1 PLANNING COORDINATION........................................................................................................... 6 1.6.2 PLANNING APPROACH .................................................................................................................. 7 1.6.3 PLANNING PROCESS ..................................................................................................................... 7 2 SITE DESCRIPTION.............................................................................................................................. 11 2.1 GENERAL .............................................................................................................................................. 11 2.1.1 REGIONAL SETTING.................................................................................................................... 11 2.1.2 LOCATION OF THE OKAVANGO DELTA RAMSAR SITE ............................................................... 12 2.1.3 LEGAL STATUS AND RIGHTS ...................................................................................................... 13 2.1.4 DEMOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................ 14 2.1.5 STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................... 15 2.1.6 MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK ..................................................................................................... 16 2.1.7 FACILITIES AND SERVICES ......................................................................................................... 19 2.2 PHYSICAL FEATURES ............................................................................................................................ 22 2.2.1 CLIMATE AND CLIMATE CHANGE .............................................................................................. 22 2.2.2 GEOMORPHOLOGY...................................................................................................................... 22 2.2.3 SOILS .......................................................................................................................................... 23 2.2.4 GEOLOGY AND STRUCTURES...................................................................................................... 23 2.2.5 HYDROGEOLOGY ........................................................................................................................ 24 2.2.6 HYDROLOGY............................................................................................................................... 25 i 2.3 ECOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL FEATURES .......................................................................................... 30 2.3.1 HABITAT DIVERSITY .................................................................................................................. 30 2.3.2 FLORA......................................................................................................................................... 31 2.3.3 FAUNA ........................................................................................................................................ 36 2.4 SOCIO-ECONOMIC FEATURES ............................................................................................................... 43 2.4.1 PAST AND CURRENT LAND USES ............................................................................................... 45 2.4.2 NATURE CONSERVATION AND COMUNITY BASED NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ........ 47 2.4.3 WATER USE ................................................................................................................................49 2.4.4 TOURISM..................................................................................................................................... 51 2.4.5 HUNTING .................................................................................................................................... 53 2.4.6 FISHING....................................................................................................................................... 54 2.4.7 LANDSCAPE, AESTHETIC AND CULTURAL HERITAGE SITES ...................................................... 55 2.4.8 AGRICULTURE ............................................................................................................................ 57 2.4.9 VEGETATION USE (HARVESTING) .............................................................................................. 58 2.4.10 WASTE MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................................... 58 2.5 RESEARCH AND DATA MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................. 59 2.5.1 AVAILABLE INFORMATION AND DATA....................................................................................... 59 2.5.2 RESEARCH .................................................................................................................................. 59 2.6 CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES – HIV AND AIDS, GENDER AND POVERTY................................................... 60 2.6.1 HIV AND AIDS........................................................................................................................... 60 2.6.2 GENDER ...................................................................................................................................... 61 2.6.3 POVERTY .................................................................................................................................... 61 2.7 TOTAL ECONOMIC VALUE .................................................................................................................... 62 2.7.1 DIRECT USE VALUES.................................................................................................................. 63 2.7.2 INDIRECT USE VALUES............................................................................................................... 68 2.7.3 NON USE VALUES....................................................................................................................... 68 3 EVALUATION OF STATUS AND CONDITION ................................................................................ 71 3.1 INSTITUTIONAL PLANNING ISSUES ....................................................................................................... 71 3.1.1 VISION FOR THE DELTA.............................................................................................................. 71 3.1.2 DEA CAPACITY TO COORDINATE AND MONITOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ODMP ............... 71 3.1.3 CAPACITY OF SECTORS TO IMPLEMENT THE ODMP.................................................................. 72 3.1.4 POLICY FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................................. 72 3.2 BIO-PHYSICAL PLANNING ISSUES......................................................................................................... 73 3.2.1 ECOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS AND SERVICES..................................................................................