18 Apr 2024

Minister of Environment and Tourism, Mr Dumezweni Mthimkhulu this week travelled to Cascais, Portugal to attend the 70^th  General Assembly of International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC), which will run from April 18 until April 21. 

A statement from the ministry indicates that CIC is one of the oldest multi-stakeholder conservation bodies that promote sustainable use of wildlife. Membership of the body, which is currently active in 80 countries, includes wildlife scientists, NGOs and 27 state members. 

The statement says that Mr Mthimkhulu will convey Botswana’s intention to re-join the organisation during the assembly, which he is expected to also address. 

The aim of this year’s assembly, themed Bridges to Biodiversity, supports the implementation of the 2030 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) by finalising and adopting the CIC 2030 strategic plan. 

The statement notes that Botswana re-joins the CIC at a time when several western countries have been considering laws that seek to ban the import of hunting trophies. 

While at the assembly, Mr Mthimkhulu is expected to share Botswana’s conservation success story with other delegates. 

He will also address the international media to reiterate Botswana’s concerns at the proposed restrictions which are detrimental to sustainable conservation, especially for Botswana which hosts the world’s largest number of elephants in the wild with more than 130 000 of them occupying the northern part of the country. 

Some of the challenges that the country faces in its conservation management, according to the statement, include the rising level of human-wildlife conflict resulting from the advent of climate change, increased frequency of droughts, and increasing competition for scarce water and grazing resources, all of which pose a serious threat to livelihoods and food security. 

Botswana conservation strategy is guided by a number of policies and legislations all of which embrace the principle of environmental management, sustainable development and poverty eradication. 

It also addresses the issue of decentralisation of development efforts through, among others, strengthening the gains of Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) and co-management of wildlife resources with communities. Ends