OKACOM executive secretary Eben Chonguiça says joint fact-finding has helped Angola, Botswana and Namibia to build a basis of trust so that balanced choices over development in the Okavango River basin can proceed.

 

 Fransiska Thikerete interviews EBEN CHONGUICA, executive secretary of OKACOM [4:12m]: Play Now | Download (73)

Floods are usually viewed as a threat, but a cyclical increase in the Okavango’s flooding has increased biodiversity and tourism in the area.

To get community buy-in to protect woodlands, conservationists have teamed up with a herbalist, who as a leader in his community, acts as a role model, convincing other residents to change their ways.

Developing agriculture along the pristine Okavango River must be carefully managed if water quality and quantity are to be protected.

The Okavango River is a rarity, scarcely disturbed by human development along its 1,100 kilometre length: shaping its future is the delicate task of the Okavango River Basin Commission.

Worldwide there are less than one million people employed by the big fisheries sector, but it is estimated that the artisanal sector employs 50 million people.