Take ecotourism seriously - US Ambassador
Tefo Pheage | Thursday November 5, 2015 15:39
“While diamonds can be said to have built the Botswana of today, ecotourism will likely be a primary engine powering the Botswana of tomorrow. The travel and tourism industry continues to surge world wide and competition for international travellers will continue to sharpen,” he said at the annual general meeting of Forest Conservation Botswana (FCB).
The organisation is a result of the governments of the United States of America and the Republic of Botswana Tropical Forest Conservation Act in Africa. The Agreement culminated in the formation of a company called Forest Conservation Botswana which is a non-profit making entity.
Miller urged the stakeholders and the nation to take the industry seriously because demographic changes and large rising middle-class have given many more people the means to travel abroad and seek unique experiences.
According to the most recent report from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), visitor exports (the measure of money spent by these international tourists) rose globally by 3.9 percent year-on-year to P13.8 trillion. WTTC reports that in 2013, travel and tourism’s total contribution to the global economy rose to 9.5 percent of global GDP and that this sector is outpacing not just the wider economy but also growing faster than other significant sectors such as financial and business services, transport and manufacturing.
“They forecast that this expansion has room to run, predicting global growth rates for the sector of over four percent annually over the next decade.
I am sure you have seen from your own international travels that many nations are carefully gearing up to profit from this huge opportunity,” he said.
Miller said there are varying estimates out there for the impact on Botswana, but it is clear by any measure that ecotourism is a significant contributor to both job creation and GDP.
“Botswana is truly blessed with a rich treasure of renewable natural gifts in your forests, the custodianship of which all of you may certainly take great and justified pride.
But it will take careful planning, persistent local engagement and decades-long efforts to ensure that your treasures are not taken away from you to collect dust on a shelf or mixed into potions or cooked as a garnish for someone ‘s meal,” he advised.
He called on stakeholders to engage the communities, saying with so much potential growth and prosperity on the horizon it will be vital to ensure that communities in tourism reliant areas are completely invested in and supportive of the industry.
“As history teaches us worldwide, communities which do not feel the direct benefit of the natural resources they are charged with protecting tend to have little interest in conservation and often seek to reduce or eliminate wildlife populations and habitats that affect their livelihoods,” he said before giving FCB a pat on the back for their contribution in making sure that these objectives are met.
The Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Tshekedi Khama, said his government is committed to ensuring sustainability of the natural resources and biodiversity in order to allow the future generations to enjoy the standards of living if not better.
For his part, the Chief Executive officer of FCB, Joshua Moloi, said they continue to do their best to meet their mandate despite a few challenges like low and wrongful use of grant by grantees as well as poor quality of project proposals resulting in few grant approvals.
In 2007 Botswana established a special fund, known as the Tropical Forest Conservation Fund (TFCF). The purpose of the TFCF is to promote activities designed to conserve, maintain and restore the forests of Botswana, including such world famous areas as the Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park region, in accordance with the terms of the Tropical Forest Conservation Agreement, the Forest Act and National Forest Policy.