04 Mar 2019

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) specialist, Dr Oduetse Koboto has appreciated efforts by Okavango Research Institutes (ORI) experts, who have produced a book called Ecosystem Services and Human well-being at Lake Ngami, Botswana-Implications for sustainability.

The book is the first comprehensive document about the history of Lake Ngami, its people and their economic benefits.

Different scholars wrote the chapters in the book with a plurality of background in natural and social sciences.

The authors aimed to disseminate the results of ORI research projects to policy makers.

Speaking during the launch of the book, Dr Koboto appreciated the fact that the book was written in simple English, which could be easily understood by the community.

The book, he said carried a strong informative message, which aimed at sensitising the communities about the history of Lake Ngami and how it had supported the economic livelihoods of the community in the past and present.

The book was also handed over to Batawana regent, Kgosi Kealetile Moremi on behalf of the Ngamiland community.

 Presenting the book,  one of the experts, who has contributed in the book, Prof. Donald Kgathi explained that the book utilised the concept of the Ecosystem Services (ESSs) as an analytical framework, describing ESSs as a bridging concept between economics and ecology.

 He said the introduction of economical ecology in the 1980s contributed to the framing of the concept, which had been elevated by a research to become a key concept of sustainability science and policy.

 He shared some of the chapters in the book saying in chapter two, the book states that the lake attracted local and regional trade in provisioning ESSs (ivory, feathers, some skins and dried salted fish) at the beginning of the 19^th century.

The trade was reported to be precipitated by the publicity of the lake aesthetics as a magnificent sheet of water.

The recommends that there is need for research on ESSs at the lake since most studies have tended to concentrate on one type of ESSs (provisioning of ESSs) rather than multiple ESSs.

It also recommends that the Lake Ngami Management Plan of 2013 should be implemented as that would provide benefits of people through sustainable use of ESSs.

Prof. Joseph Mbaiwa, Prof. Donald Kgathi, Prof. Wellington Masamba and Edwin Mosimanyana all from ORI edited the book. ENDS