Thousands of villagers swamp game reserve

Thousands of villagers swamp game reserve - by Chrispin Inambao

9 November 2009

KATIMA MULILO – The Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) is brainstorming on how it could contain an influx of between 5 000 to 5 500 people, mostly Hambukushu tribesmen who have swamped the multiple land use areas of the Bwabwata National Park in Caprivi.

Concern about the influx of land-hungry people into pockets of land on the 627 412-hectare park was brought to light last Friday when various Government ministries held a stakeholders’ meeting that looked at Bwabwata and was briefed on the development of the planned Kavango-Zambezi Trans-Frontier Conservation Area (KAZA).

The trans-frontier conservation area will cover Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe and is likely to be functional next year when five leaders sign the treaty.

Colgar Sikopo, a deputy director in the Directorate of Parks and Wildlife Management, last Friday confirmed the influx of thousands of villagers and livestock.

“It’s not really an influx but these people have been living there in the areas of Omega, Chetto and Bagani,” while at the same time acknowledging there is an urgent need to properly demarcate and rezone the park to restrict the uncontrolled movement of people.

He said the Technical Committee of the Bwabwata National Park is looking at different ways and means in which the communities living in the multiple land use areas could be engaged in the development of certain segments of the park as part of a black economic empowerment initiative of these communities, some of who have been wallowing in poverty.

MET wants the communities in the park to derive benefits through the Kyaramacan Association, that has for been granted a hunting concession that will be extended.

“We are looking at ways on how these communities living in the park could be involved in the development of the park, but most importantly in the benefits-sharing of the park,” said Sikopo.

Environmentalists and other stakeholders were informed there is a frequent mushrooming of new settlements in the Bwabwata and one villager even drove a herd of cattle into a core-conservation area in gross breach of existing conservation laws.

Sikopo said the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and other stakeholders such as the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement and are looking at ways to properly zone the park to curtail and reverse the influx.

“There is an urgent need to properly zone these areas. We are looking at a structured movement of these people into the park of people moving in the park. We are looking at ways to ensure that the park is developed properly. There is need to properly demarcate the multiple land use area,” stated Sikopo whose officials last Friday acknowledged the current influx into the park is one of the challenges facing the park.

He said MET will ensure the influx of both livestock and people would not spill into the core-conservation areas of Mahango, Buffalo and the Kwando core areas.

Sikopo further said the influx has caused an escalation in cases of human/animal conflict.

Last Friday’s stakeholders’ meeting was also informed that MET will need between N$3 million and N$5 million for a landmine clearance operation along the border between this park and Angola that emerged from a brutal conflict several years ago.

In the past many elephants were severely injured and had to be destroyed after stepping on these landmines that will have to be cleared by the explosives unit of the Namibian Police.

The other problems that were identified by participants include whether to rehabilitate an old military ruin found in the park that before independence was regarded as an area of strategic military importance by the South Africans as they battled Plan fighters.

Frequent fire outbreaks that are associated with communal activities were also mentioned as an area of environmental concern among the various participants, while the cut-lines demarcating the border with Angola are overgrown with grass and need de-bushing.

Bwabwata National Park, an area of 627 412 hectares, is zoned into the three conservation areas of Buffalo/Kwando (134 481 hectares), Buffalo Core Area (62 921 hectares) and the Mahango Core Area (24 479).
Bwabwata completely covers the former Caprivi Strip, a straight piece of land between the Kavango and Kwando Rivers.

The Trans-Caprivi Highway dissects Bwabwata in the middle from west to east. Currently environment officials and other stakeholder partners are trying to identify and assess a multitude of opportunities that could be exploited by residents for livelihood and economic development through a participatory park management plan.