Institutional and legislative setting
Botswana has a fairly large body of legislation and number of institutions concerned with, or with a bearing on, environmental protection. This legislation and these institutions have not had the expected impact, largely because of lack of coordinated action and implementation capacity. The National Focal Point for the CCD is in the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, which is also charged with the implementation of the National Action Programme to Combat Desertification. The Government of Botswana has taken steps in the direction of coordinated action by adopting a National Conservation Strategy under which two institutions were created, namely, a 17-member National Conservation Strategy Advisory Board and the Department of Environmental Affairs. Through these institutions the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism is expected to coordinate the activities of the various environment and natural resources institutions of the government. An Environmental Impact Assessment Act was enacted by parliament recently and an overarching environmental management Act is in the process of enactment. With these legal instruments the coordinating functions of the Ministry will be legitimized by the force of law.
As noted earlier, the administration and management of communal land in Botswana is the responsibility of Land Boards which replaced traditional institutions in this regard following the enactment of the Tribal Land Act in 1968. The Land Boards were given powers to grant and revoke rights to tribal land for various purposes. They could also impose restrictions on the use of tribal land. Unfortunately, they have so far not been able to invoke their land management/protection powers.
Also relevant to Boteti are the Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act No. 28/1992, Agricultural Resources Conservation Act, Cap 35:06, CBNRM policy (2006), 1975 Tribal Grazing Land Policy, Services to Livestock Owners in Communal Areas (SLOCA-1970), Livestock Water Development Programme (1988).
The Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act was designed to protect and conserve the country's wildlife resources. The Act's main objective is to conserve, manage and protect wildlife resources. The Act established zones with different degrees of wildlife protection:
- Protected areas for wildlife conservation (National Parks and Game Reserves) where hunting is prohibited;
- Wildlife conservation and utilisation areas such as Wildlife Management Areas (WMA), where sustainable wildlife utilization takes priority over other forms of land use
- Controlled Hunting Areas (CHAs), in which hunting is regulated in most parts of the country.
Communal areas like the Boteti study site are in CHAs but wildlife has since retreated to wildlife sanctuaries. Staff of the Department of Wildlife (which is charged with the implementation of the Act) are represented in the study area.
The Agricultural Resources Conservation Act was enacted to conserve agricultural resources (practically all veld products) in Botswana. The Act established the Agricultural Resources Board (ARB) as the institution charged with the implementation of its provisions. The ARB also advises the responsible Minister on the nature of legislation necessary to secure or promote the proper conservation, use and improvement of agricultural resources.
The Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) Policy was adopted as a development approach that incorporates conservation of natural resources i.e. management and protection of the natural resource base and cultural resources. The objective of the policy is to create a foundation for conservation-based development, in which the need to protect biodiversity is balanced with the need to improve rural livelihoods and reduce poverty. The people of Mopipi and Mokoboxane have formed a CBNRM Trust and developed an environmental management plan to take advantage of the provisions of this policy. The plan has, however, not been implemented due to lack of funds and the absence of a viable wildlife resource (wildlife-based tourism has been the basis of most successful CBNRM projects in Botswana).
The objectives of the 1975 Tribal Grazing Land Policy (TGLP) were to:
- Increase output and productivity of livestock;
- Curb overgrazing and conserve range resources upon which the livestock sub-sector depends;
- Spread the benefits of the livestock industry to as many people as possible especially the resource poor farmers; and
- Upgrade rural livelihoods by improving cattle farmer incomes.
This policy resulted in the creation of fenced leasehold ranches for individuals or groups of individuals (syndicates) in communal rangelands of the country. In 1991, a provision in the revised agricultural policy extended the opportunity to own leasehold ranches to areas not covered by the TGLP. The study area has leasehold ranches demarcated under the 1991 policy. However, countrywide reviews of TGLP ranches have not revealed significant improvements in range management or livestock productivity or incomes.
The Services to Livestock Owners in Communal Areas (SLOCA) instrument was adopted to offer small grants (less than P 15 000) to farmers in communal areas to enable them to develop their livestock support assets. Areas of support include: dipping facilities, drift fences, water sources, firebreaks, fodder production and cattle crushes/kraals. Furthermore, demonstration facilities show farmers how to improve livestock management. Fodder and vaccinations are also included in the scheme. SLOCA mostly benefits those with fewer than forty heads of cattle, and therefore impacts mostly on poorer livestock farmers.
Their richer counterparts are provided for under the Livestock Water Development Programme (1988) which gives significant financial support for drilling or equipping of boreholes in selected areas for individual farmers or syndicates with herds of 60 to 500 animals.
