Issue 3 of the Ephemeral River Basins Project Newsletter has arrived in HOORC's Library. This issue's lead story describes the February 2008 visit by Boteti River community representatives to the Okavango Delta Panhandle to learn about factors affecting downsteam water flow. The project is working on shared management of natural resources in three SADC ephemeral basins: the Boteti River Basin in...
AllAfrica.com recently included a story from the New Era that reports an extension of the deadline for registration of claims in Namibia under the Communal Land Reform Act. The law provides for registration and recognition of customary land rights, including the right to a farming unit, residential unit and other forms of customary tenure. The story says that two thousand customary land rights...
From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLVI, no. 35, 6 June 2008
Tender: Republic of Botswana: consultancy services for regional integration of Botswana’s transport sector study
2819
Tender: Tawana Land Board: tourism related sites identification in the Okavango Delta Ramsar Site (ODRS) second publication
2863
From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLVI, no. 36, 13 June 2008
Statutory...
The Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands (LADA) project, in partnership with ISRIC - World Soil Information, has produced a global map of land degradation based on more than 20 years of satellite vegetation data and rainfall records. Defined as a long-term decline in ecosystem function and productivity, the project reports that land degradation is increasing in severity and extent in many...
Recently published as Number 6 in HOORC's Okavango Report Series is the Socio-economic survey of subsistence fishing in the Okavango Delta, Botswana by HOORC researchers Barbara Ngwenya and Keta Mosepele. The report argues for development of a national fisheries policy that could support and safeguard traditional basket fishing as an important livelihood activity in the Delta. Dr Ngwenya also...
Maun river front study : the relation between a village and a river in Botswana : a landscape architectural study : a minor field study by Michael Bergman and Inga-Lill Cras was published in 1994 by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences as part of its Working Paper series. Field work for the study was initiated by Botswana's District Land Use Planning Unit to look at the use and...
Masters and doctoral graduate students from the University of Florida's Faculties of Natural Resources and Environment and Geography are in and out of HOORC’s Library until the end of June. Led by Professor Mike Binford, the students are working on integrated research projects about land use and land cover change, socio-economic and livelihood strategies, and governance and institutional...
Seasonal dwelling, Okavango Panhandle
Dr Kelebogile Mfundisi, HOORC ecologist, recently published an overview of the Okavango Delta Management Plan process in an article in the journal Wetlands. Note : overview of an integrated management plan for the Okavango Delta Ramsar site, Botswana, describes the three phases of the ODMP work, and concludes that the project was a demonstration of the...
ELDIS recently alerted us to a new publication from the FAO's Livelihood Support Programme (LSP), Negotiation and mediation techniques for natural resource management: case studies and lessons learned. The report, part of a series of training materials on natural resource conflict management, seeks to support sustainable livelihoods in Africa and elsewhere through two case studies -- of conflict...
The introduction of Zambian Land Administration System (ZLAS) is reducing the time needed to complete land transactions. The LRS also provides features such as automatic fee calculation, an audit log of all modifications to the Registry and powerful reporting functions that are limiting the opportunities for corruption within the Ministry of Lands.A Customer Service Center will act as the single...
A new fact sheet, Ngamiland: People and Environment and Human Footprint Mapping, has been added to the web site of the Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre (HOORC). The publication calculates a human footprint map for Ngamiland, explaining how population density, land transformation and human access data can be combined and visualized to demonstrate the impact of human activities on the...
Our land they took : San land rights under threat in Namibia, produced by the LEAD Project of the Legal Assistance Centre in Namibia in 2006, makes a case for change in management of traditional lands, improved government planning and communication, and better training and support for implementing and enforcing the Communal Land Reform Act in Namibia. Colour maps illustrate locations of...
The Annual Environment and Development Dialogue will be held in Gaborone on the 21st May 2008 at the Botswana Television (BTv) Auditorium from 1800hrs to 2000hrs. This year's topic is Mainstreaming the Environmental Paradigm into the National Development Planning 10, District Development Plan 7 and Urban Development Plan 3. Would this take Botswana towards realization of the 2015 Millennium...
From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLVI, no. 16, 14 March 2008
Government Notice 133 of 2008: Town and Country Planning Act: Kasane - Kazengula Development Plan (2000-2024)
1339
Tender: Republic of Botswana: Management and operation of 15 public campgrounds / campsites
1346-1347
Tender: North West District Council: Gravelling and re-gravelling of roads
1376-1378
From the Botswana...
Envisioning landscape : situations and standpoints in archaeology and heritage, Number 52 in the One World Archaeology series, brings together papers about the various ways landscape archaeology can be used to interpret heritage sites worldwide. HOORC cultural tourism specialist Dr. Susan Keitumetse, with Geoffrey Matlapeng and Leseka Monamo, has contributed Chapter Five: Cultural landscapes,...
UN-Habitat has issued How to Develop a pro-Poor Land Policy : Process, Guide and Lessons. The guide is intended for Ministers and senior policymakers responsible for land issues, donors, professionals, consultants, and NGOs involved in developing land policies. Based on experience in various countries in Asia and Africa, the guide outlines a process that can be adapted as appropriate to the...
A workshop, Environmental Change in the Kalahari Region, will be held in Maun, Botswana on the 3rd – 6th March, 2008. There are four major themes for the workshop:
1) Monitoring for environmental change
2) Palaeo-environmental change in Africa
3) Environmental change and human well being
4) Transboundary range resource issues.
An objective of the workshop is to form a...
HOORC's Library had a visit today from team members of the Comic Relief / Open Channels sponsored Kuru project, Land and Livelihood Security. The project is producing community resource maps to support CBNRM activities in Ngamiland communities. Bill Kemp and Valter Blasovik from Strata 360, Montreal, Canada, who have worked on community mapping with First Nations communities in the Canadian...
Recent publications issued by HOORC academic staff and associates make a multidisciplinary contribution to natural resources issues relevant to Okavango Delta planning and management. Dr Lapologang Magole's paper in the conservation and human rights special issue of the IUCN's Policy Matters, The history of conservation evictions in Botswana : the struggle continues, with new hope provides an...
HOORC staff gathered today to say goodbye to HOORC researcher and long time Ngamiland resident Hannelore Bendsen. Mrs Bendsen, a land use planner, had worked since 1979 for the Botswana government, then as a consultant and most recently as coordinator of HOORC's input for the Okavango Delta Management Plan.
Mrs Bendsen was awarded the first Moabi Wa Kitso Award for Knowledge Sharing for the...
From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLV, no. 54 10 August 2007
Tawana Land Board: tender: supply of surveying equipment 1. supply of geodetic global positioning system (GPS) equipment
4275
Chobe Land Board: tender: supply and delivery of global positioning system and accessories
4276
Tender announcements and documents may also be found on the Government of Botswana web site. The entire...
The World Day to Combat Desertification is celebrated every year on June 17 to highlight the urgent need to curb the process of desertification and to strengthen the visibility of the issue on the international environmental agenda. The theme for this year's World Day, the important link between desertification and climate change, drawing attention to the benefits of an integrated approach to...
From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLV, no. 37 25 May 2007
Republic of Botswana Ministry of Agriculture: Agrochemicals Act (Act no. 18 of 1999): registration of agrochemicals
2735
Republic of Botswana tender: computer hardware and equipment for Tribal Land Integrated Management System (TLIMS) Rollout Phase
2779
From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLV, no. 40 8 June 2007...
Sustainable management of headwater resources : research from Africa and India, a collection of papers presented at the international conference held in Nairobi in 2002 and published by the United Nations University Press, offers case studies from fragile headwater areas in the two continents. Examples from Ethiopia, Rwanda and Kenya describe the effects increased land use and soil erosion on...
From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLV, no. 31 27 April 2007
Republic of Botswana tender: consultancy services for data collection and conversion for tribal land integrated management system (TLIMS), Malete Land Board and Chobe Land Board
2094
From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLV, no. 33 4 May 2007
Water Act: Water Regulations: Application for Water Rights
2201-2204
Water...
The Okavango Delta Management Plan's Research and Monitoring Action Plan, released at the beginning of April 2007, is the next step in putting the ODMP's research strategy into practice. Based on consultations with stakeholders between January and March 2007, the action plan provides more specific detail about research and monitoring strengths and gaps in the three priority areas of ecology,...
From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLV, no. 21 16 March 2007
Republic of Botswana tender: consultancy services for the design and construction supervision of the proposed Department of Wildlife and National Parks office bock and staff houses at Seronga
1313
Chobe District Council: tender : construction of roads, storm water drainage, sewer and water reticulation services for Kasane,...
From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLV, no. 22, 23 March 2007
Republic of Botswana tender: addendum: consultancy services for the review of the District Planning Handbook
1472
Republic of Botswana tender: consultancy services for the revision of the Development Control Code of 1995
1476
North West District Council tender: review of Maun Village Development Plan (second publication)......
From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLV, no. 18 2 March 2007
Tender: Republic of Botswana Consultancy services for the review of the district planning handbook
1012
Tender: Republic of Botswana: Firebreak maintenance for the Department of Forestry and Range Resources
1019
Tender: Republic of Botswana: Water tariff study
1020
Tender: North West District Council: privatization of waste...