The Okavango River rises in the Angolan highlands and flows over 1,000 miles, passing through Namibia before entering Botswana and forming the Okavango Delta. The Okavango Delta is a 15,000–square–kilometer rich and varied habitat for thousands of mammals, birds, fish and other animals. It sustains tens of thousands of delta residents and a growing ecotourism industry.
By the end of 2001, project staff had conducted extensive Socio-Ecological Surveys, in partnership with local communities, regional and local authorities, and NGOs. The socio–ecological survey involved meeting with riparian communities to gain a better understanding of resource issues in the Okavango Basin and communities’ short- and long-term needs and hopes for the Basin. The project carried out these surveys in Botswana and Namibia, but in Angola the work was delayed by the last throes of the civil war, as well the war’s legacy of land mines and destruction of infrastructure. However, the project has made connections in Angola and plans to conduct such surveys in the Upper Basin in the next phase.
Finally, the Every River project produced a Basin-wide Survey Report, as well as reports on Namibia and Botswana respectively, which identify common issues in the communities surveyed; cross-cutting themes emerging from the survey results; main differences in the results from the two countries; and roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders in the co-management of the Okavango River Basin.
For further information, please contact:
- KCS Every River Project
Light Industrial Area
Private Bag B050
Maun, Botswana
Tel: 2676862351; 2673974557
Fax: 2676862110
E-mail: everyriver@info.bwkcs@botsnet.bw
Namibia Nature Foundation
4th Floor Kenya House
Robert Mugabe Ave
PO Box 245
Windhoek, Namibia
Tel: 26461248345
Fax: 26461248344
E-mail: no@nnf.org.na
Web: www.everyriver.net