Botswana don dey famous worldwide for dia diamond and wildlife. Di two dey very important for dia economy, but biodiversity and ecosystem dey also define di country well well. Dia vast landscapes still dey largely untouched by human wahala, make di place one of di most sparsely populated areas for di world.
Di Okavango Delta na one of Africa’s most unique and valuable ecosystems. E dey UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014. Botswana get di biggest elephant herds for di world, with about 132,000 in 2022. E also house plenty other megafauna, including all di African “Big Five” plus na one of di last places wey African wild dog still dey.
Biodiversity don dey fetch Botswana money tay tay as one of di top safari destinations for Africa. Over one million tourists dey visit every year, as dem wan catch glimpse of di beauty for di place. Di high-end eco-tourism na big business and e be like say e dey bring almost 10% of GDP if you include indirect contributions, according to di International Finance Corporation (IFC).
But now Botswana dey try to diversify dia economy, as di tourism industry no go fit dey enough to protect di biodiversity. Di IFC bin don warn since 2022 say both tourist numbers and money wey dem dey receive don level off after dem get quick growth for di 1990s and early 2000s. Climatic change and land wahala na threats still dey o. Even after COVID, government dey slow for dem to use di opportunity well well to capture revenue from wildlife tourism.
Di government bin tin raise national parks entry fees wey dem no touch for over 20 years until 2022. Dem talk say di former fees no dey maximize benefit for conservation or promote economic growth. Di new fees bring $7.8 million, pass di initial forecast of $1 million. Dem dey try attract more visitors from countries like China and India, but how tourism go be for Botswana, dat one dey still raise plenty mata.
Economic development for other areas dey threaten di ecosystems wey dey attract tourists. Di government bin allow one Canadian company to drill for oil inside part of Okavango Delta for 2020, wey conservation groups dey fight against. Motshereganyi Virat Kootsositse from BirdLife Botswana, don talk say to allow oil drilling for Delta dey bad for di tourist industry like cutting one nation own hand.
Agriculture competition na another problem as di government dey try reduce food import and support domestic production. Dis beef export wey plenty for Botswana wan make land for cattle and crops dey eat into di wildlife ecosystems. Di issue of human-wildlife conflict na wahala wey don dey. Di government dey issue license for hunting elephants since 2019 to raise revenue and control elephant numbers.
New ways dey come up like “biodiversity credits” to sell for conservation projects. Dis kind plan aim to increase biodiversity, and di way dem dey do am dey similar to carbon credits. Companies dey pay money to conservation groups to improve biodiversity for specific areas. Di global market for biodiversity credits dey small but e dey grow because di world dey fear nature loss.
Sylva, an environmental service company, dey partner with Great Plains Foundation to start di first biodiversity credit projects for Botswana. Marc Maleika, wey found Sylva, talk say di projects dey important as dey go link conservation to incentives. Di community must benefit from dis projects to stop things like poaching.
