Botswana

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Indigenous Vegetation Project (IVP)

Community-based Biodiversity, Land Management and Rehabilitation

Ecologically, Botswana appears to be a paradox: endowed with a multitude of wildlife species, including elephants, giraffes, kudus, lions and hippopotami, it is also a land of deserts and encroaching sand dunes. Traditionally, land-management practices have enabled the people of Botswana to maintain a secure livelihood while regulating the use of rangeland resources. The breakdown of these traditional systems due to increased population pressures is resulting in overwhelming land degradation, overgrazing and exploitation of natural resources.

In a GEF-supported regional biodiversity project jointly implemented by UNDP and UNEP and a grant of $8.6 million, the Management of Indigenous Vegetation for the Rehabilitation of Degraded Rangelands in the Arid Zone of Africa project is both ambitious and far-reaching, linking communities and government in promoting long-term land management and wildlife preservation in Botswana, Kenya and Mali.

Through the establishment of Community Resource Management Trusts, local communities make and implement management decisions affecting their rangelands. The make-up of these trusts includes men and women, rich and poor alike, reflecting the various needs and promoting equality among tribes. The main focus of the trusts is to improve existing, indigenous management systems that respect traditional, communal values. The development of community action plans and the involvement of technical advisers on behalf of the Government ensure that values are maintained while simultaneously fostering sustainable land-use, wildlife preservation and income generation.

In all three countries, environmental management committees have been established at the local level to link conservation and development priorities. In Botswana, the project’s success has led the national government to request assistance in expanding the rangeland management systems beyond the pilot sites and in drafting new national policies on community-based land management.

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