Sharing the Jewel of the Kalahari

As the title suggests in this blog I will be looking at how different stakeholders share the Jewel of the Kalahari - the Okavango River. I will discuss the different actors who rely on the river as well as the management plans that can help mitigate any conflicts in later posts but this first post is just to give readers a little bit of background...

Area:

The Okavango River is in southwest Africa and is the 4th longest river system in Southern Africa. The river runs 1600km southeast from the highland plateau in Angola (as the Cubango and Cuito Rivers) through Namibia until it drains into its' outlet the Okavango Delta in Botswana (UNDP, 2011). The areal extent of the basin is greater than its contributing area (OKACOM) with the principal flow comes from sub-humid and semi-arid region in the Angola, a total of 11 billion cubic metres flows in the river in a year. The river relatively pristine as not much human modifications have occurred on the river, it is also unique in that it does not drain to the sea but into an inland delta system of lakes, evaporation pans, canals and a swamp in the Kalahari Desert. This inland delta is an important source of water for local people, income from tourism and is ecologically significant as it supports a diverse range of organisms (25000 different plant species, 65 fish, and 650 birds) and habitats which is why it was given World Heritage status in 2014.

The Okavango River Basin (source: EcologyandSociety)

At the moment the basin supports a population of 921, 890 (OKACOM) who mainly live in less developed rural settlements along the river and in Namibia and Botswana only a part of population living near the river rely on its surface waters, however this figure is projected to rise to 1.28 million in 2025. These countries are also experiencing rapid urbanisation as populations grow, incomes rise, education enrolment increase and economies expand (Mendelsohn and Obied, 2004; Barnes et al. 2005) which in turn will cause an increase for water demand and pollution. 

This post was just a quick introduction to the region and the river- stay tuned for the next post where you'll meet the stakeholders!

The Jewel of the Kalahari - a view of the Okavango river and delta from Botswana