Okavango Delta World Heritage Site Research and Practice Team Lab

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by Katlego Mwale, University of Botswana

Map of Okavango Delta with Ramsar and World Heritage sites

Okavango Delta Management Plan 2021-2028 by Okavango Research Institute, University of Botswana

Okavango Delta World Heritage Site Research-Practice Team Lab is a collaborative multidisciplinary team founded in 2021 in the ICCROM-IUCN World Heritage Leadership Heritage Place Lab framework to bridge the gap between stakeholders that care for the site. In this process, the UNESCO Chair on African Heritage Studies and Sustainable Development of the University of Botswana and the Botswana National Museum Art and Gallery have partnered to develop a shared platform where researchers and site managers can co-produce collaborative research which informs the development of management policies. Our aim is to contribute to the protection and understanding of the Outstanding Universal Value of the Okavango Delta World Heritage Site through an ongoing research agenda that addresses the following areas:

1. Stakeholder synergy and participation

2. Climate change

3. Local cultural values

Last update: 02 Jun 2022

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Context

Challenges addressed

Floods

Poaching

Lack of access to long-term funding

Changes in socio-cultural context

Scale of implementation

Local

National

Ecosystems

Wetland (swamp, marsh, peatland)

Theme

Biodiversity mainstreaming

Poaching and environmental crime

Adaptation

Connectivity / transboundary conservation

Geodiversity and Geoconservation

Protected and conserved areas governance

Sustainable livelihoods

Local actors

Flood management

Protected and conserved areas management planning

Location

Okavango, North-West, Botswana

East and South Africa

Impacts

The Okavango Delta plays a major role in nurturing human cultural diversity and related knowledge systems, as well as in conserving unique biological diversity and inland waterway ecosystem. As a part of the management of this large natural site, the Okavango Delta World Heritage Site Research-Practice Team has identified research priorities and management solutions:

● The socio-cultural values of the site are recognized and need to be documented. The Indigenous and local practices of diverse ethnic groups of people need to be appreciated and documented as they are intertwined with nature in the Okavango Delta;

● People and wildlife coexist and co-existence needs to be further explored for sustainability. Eco-pedagogy needs to be infused into the daily lives of people as they reside in the wildlife area of the Okavango Delta;

● Climate adaptation strategies are in place and could be locally based. Rural livelihoods and households adaptation strategies from shocks (e.g. recurrent droughts, intermittent rainfalls, crop damage, floods) are continuously being strengthened by local communities.

● Indigenous and scientific knowledge are being integrated and the co-production of management knowledge and management practices needs further exploration.