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OKACOM Secretariat Launched |
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 MAUN: The US Ambassador to Botswana, Katherine H. Canavan, has said the Okavango River and the biological resources of the basin offer enormous potential for economic development to Botswana, Namibia and Angola.
She was speaking at the launch of the Okavango River Basin Coordination and Management Project (OKACOM) Secretariat, located in Maun and representing one of only two functioning secretariats in the SADC region.
The Ambassador said some of the biological resources and basins have been utilized effectively, as in the case of the tourism industry in Botswana, while others could be developed, for example through small-scale irrigation and supply of water to urban areas.
She said development decisions could have serious adverse consequences if the ecological sensitivity and biodiversity capital of the basin are not fully taken into consideration. “The Okavango Delta, for example, contains one of the greatest concentrations of wildlife in Africa, with often more than 200,000 large mammals dependent on its aquatic and vegetative assets.”
Canavan said decisions made by national and local governments, commercial enterprises, and communities can negatively affect the environment of the basin, unless coordinated by OKACOM.
OKACOM agreed in 2004 to establish the Secretariat and asked the U.S. Agency for International Development, through its Okavango Integrated River Basin Management Project, for assistance in its formulation. OKACOM also requested support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency for the initial operation of the Secretariat.
Canavan said the personal and trusting relationships between all involved have made it easier to develop technical and political solutions to some of the difficult resource allocation and potential environmental degradation problems facing the basin.
“The benefits of these efforts will continue to accrue in the future to ensure that the resources here in the Okavango Delta and those that cross boundaries are managed properly,” she said.
Since late 2005, the OKACOM Commission has enhanced its mandate by outlining its organizational framework and the responsibilities of its three internal management organs.
It prepared a vision and strategic plan, organized and disseminated five high-quality newsletters, revised its program for the preparation of a basin-wide integrated management plan with UNDP-GEF funding, supported community-based environmental activities in all three countries with SIDA and USAID assistance, rehabilitated water resources monitoring stations in Angola and organized working task forces to more effectively elaborate technical solutions to issues affecting biodiversity, hydrology and institutional development.
Canavan said in 2008 OKACOM would concentrate on the development of procedures, policies and technical approaches focused on fulfilling its mandate.
She said SADC and other countries sharing river basins could used the results achieved by OKACOM in the improved management of the Okavango basin as guidelines for institutional development.
“The world’s natural resources - water and biodiversity - are very vulnerable. Within the Okavango system we may be fooled into thinking that water is plentiful,” she said. Research organizations within the region predict a future with increasing rainfall variability and declining supply of water Canavan said.
60 years ago there used to be more water in the delta, research showed. “We should take a moment to reflect on the implications of declining freshwater availability and loss of biodiversity and how that could influence our present lives and generations to come,” said Canavan.
She called on the residents of the SADC region and the global community, to support institutions like OKACOM, to ensure that these resources were conserved and protected for generations to come.
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