Bame Piet
24 July 2007
Several MPs welcomed a policy on Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) presented to Parliament yesterday by the Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Kitso Mokaila. The minister explained that the CBNRM is a conservation-based development approach that recognises that natural resources coexist with people who rely on them for their subsistence.
"The approach takes due cognisance of the opportunity costs of such coexistence and the impact the natural resources may have on local livelihoods," he said. He added that the intended goal of the policy is to improve living standards of people who coexist with wildlife.
He said that the development of CBNRM in Botswana is guided by international and regional treaties, conventions and protocols to which the country is a signatory.
"In the SADC region, the Protocol on Wildlife Conservation and Law Enforcement of 1999 commits member states to adopt measures that facilitate community based natural resources management practices in the management of wildlife and law enforcement," he said.
There are 94 registered community, based organisations in Botswana covering 150 villages. Communities will be encouraged to invest proceeds from the CBNRM in income generating activities like tourism lodges as a way of citizen empowerment. The policy will allow the organisations to get a 35 percent share of the proceeds. The MP for Gaborone West South, Robert Molefhabangwe, said that the policy is long overdue and could have solved the misunderstanding between Basarwa and Government over relocations from the Central Kgalagadi Game Reserve (CKGR). He said that the three major dams located in the northern part of the country-Letsibogo, Shashe and Ntimbale-are not far away from each other and could be used as conservation centres. He said they could attract many animal species.
Molefhabangwe suggested that people in the Mmadinare area, where there are many elephants, should consider wildlife conservation over arable farming. He said that it seems arable farming is not bringing better results. He said CBNRM should be held accountable for the use of funds.
Assistant Minister of Local Government, Ambrose Masalila, surprised Parliament when he complained that abuse of funds is rife at Village Development Committees (VDCs) which are under his ministry. His bitter complaints prompted deputy Speaker Gladys Kokorwe to inform him that his contribution is irrelevant to the matter under discussion.
He, however, welcomed the CBNRM policy as a true example of government's commitment to decentralisation and empowerment of people in rural areas. He said that the policy should not be misinterpreted to mean that people in diamond-mining areas can demand a 35 percent share since mining and wildlife are two different things. The debate continues.
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