Protected areas: reconciling environmental protection and human activities
The preservation of biodiversity in Botswana is based on the establishment of protected areas, divided between game reserves and national parks. The conservation policy for these areas is based on an ecotourism approach in conjunction with local populations, awareness-raising campaigns and the fight against poaching. These protected areas include
Chobe National Park : located in the north of the country, on the Namibian border, it is renowned for its megafauna (including lions, leopards, elephants, hippos and crocodiles). It also boasts a remarkable flora, within shrub savannah and floodplain ecosystems (acacia, mahogany, gallery forest).
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park : located in the south-west of the country and shared with South Africa, it protects emblematic species including lions, cheetahs, meerkats, otocyons and oryx. The park is also home to a wide variety of birds.
Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pans National Park: located in the north of the country, in the Kalahari region, the park is famous for its salt pans, vast expanses of salt from an ancient lake once fed by the waters of the Okavango. It hosts the migrations of wildebeest and zebra, and also protects populations of cheetah, elephant and giraffe.
Central Kalahari Game Reserve: located in the center of the country, this reserve was originally created to preserve the ancestral hunting practices of the San people. It is the largest protected area in southern Africa. Now open to tourism, it is home to many species, including giraffes, brown hyenas, oryx and numerous birds.
The Okavango Delta: located in the north of the country, this is the world's second largest inland delta (it has no sea mouth). It is also one of the most important wetlands on the planet. A true reservoir of biodiversity and a natural filter, it has been a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2004.
Preserving this biodiversity is not always a smooth process. In 2019, for example, the government decided to lift the moratorium protecting elephants. The reason? The difficult cohabitation between villagers and pachyderms, the latter being responsible for crop damage and attacks, a situation partly linked to global warming. Indeed, recurrent droughts are driving wild animals away from protected areas, in search of water and food. Elephant quotas are now set each year (287 in 2021), and hunting permits are auctioned to companies registered in the country, who then sell them to private individuals. Six lots of permits were put up for sale in 2020, much to the dismay of some NGOs. Priced at up to 39,000 euros per permit, this approach encourages luxury "tourism" from abroad. Other human activities also have an impact on biodiversity. Pastoralism, for example, can lead to competition with wildlife for water, a situation also linked to global warming. Overgrazing contributes locally to the degradation of natural environments (soil erosion, trampling of species, disappearance of woody cover).
Combating sources of pollution
The exploitation of mining resources (gold, diamonds, uranium, coal, copper) causes environmental pollution through the emission of toxic substances into the soil, water and air. Urban development in the main cities and the growth of motorway traffic is leading to a deterioration in air quality. Initiatives exist, such as a project to pedestrianise certain areas in the capital. Effluent and waste treatment systems are still inadequate.
The climate challenge
A UN report published in December 2020 warns about global warming. We are currently on a trajectory of +3.2 degrees by the end of the century, which would irrevocably alter the conditions of life on earth. Botswana, like France, is committed via the Paris agreements to achieving carbon neutrality by the end of the century, in order to limit the average increase in temperatures on earth to + 2 °C. In Botswana, global warming could lead to a greater frequency and intensity of extreme events, such as droughts. Along with water shortages, food insecurity is also a threat. In 2019, many animals - both wild and farmed - were found mired in Lake Ngami, reduced to mud. In 2020 the disappearance of 356 elephants is attributed, according to the latest assumptions, to the effects of climate change. The high temperatures, linked to low water levels and the presence of nutrients, would have generated the development of toxic bacteria in the Okavango Delta, cyanobacteria fatal to pachyderms. The drought also threatens local crops and fisheries in a country with less than 5% arable land and low water resources. Botswana's energy transition roadmap relies on the development of solar power plants. However, hybrid photovoltaic/diesel systems do not free the country from fossil fuels, which emit greenhouse gases. Energy efficiency measures are also being planned in the mining sector. The country's museums are also working to promote ancestral ecological knowledge and to disseminate knowledge about climate change, particularly among schoolchildren in rural areas. Travellers to Botswana can also take action at their own level, not only in their travels but also in their daily lives. It is possible to measure one's carbon footprint(https://nosgestesclimat.fr/simulateur/bilan) in order to implement actions to reach carbon neutrality (2 tons ofCO2 equivalent per year per inhabitant in France).
