Ecologist calls on Khama to save pristine ecosystem
Boniface Keakabetse | Friday October 14, 2016 17:00
SMLE is a biodiversity rich area consisting of extensive woodland landscapes between the Okavango Delta and the Linyanti swamps. SMLE has a great diversity of seasonal habitats from the extensive pristine wetlands of the Okavango Delta and the Linyanti Swamps. The Department of Museums recently revealed their plans to list the area as Botswana’s third UNESCO heritage site.
Presenting his research findings at Maun Lodge to stakeholders recently, Dr Fynn described SMLE as one of Africa remaining few pristine savanna ecosystems. He however noted with concern that this ‘wildlife Eden’ run the risk of being compromised for tourism.
Dr Fynn hopes to convince Khama to come up with a policy that would ban the tourism sector from erecting artificial water points in the SMLE arguing that this would pose numerous ecological problems and environmental degradation. He noted that tourism developments such as eco-lodges might boom in the area as part of government tourism development strategy.
He noted that it comes naturally that lodges will start putting up artificial water points closer to their premises to attract wildlife for their money spending international guests.
Dr Fynn revealed that placement of artificial water points in the back country woodlands of the SMLE will result in homogenisation of woodland structure across large landscapes; overgrazing and loss of high-quality tall grasses and a decline in wildlife and consequent damage to the tourism industry.
‘’SMLE is a series of functional seasonal habitats, combined with few barriers to wildlife movement and little modification by artificial water, results in exceptional niche diversity for wildlife, which supports great diversity of wildlife and key populations of rare species such as wild dog, roan and sable antelope and eland,” he said.
The renowned ecologist studied the fate that befell the Kruger National Park where the provision of artificial water holes resulted in a negative consequence for the rare herbivore species such as roan and sable antelope, increasing grazing competition by the more abundant herbivores.
He warns that the same fate may fall SMLE as providing water further from the rivers and available water sources will result in abundant herbivores such elephants going further in to the hinterland which may pose environmental degradation and would out compete other species.
He said their key finding is that at SMLE, a large proportion of the woodland landscapes occur greater than 15km from water during the dry season. He said this shows that elephants, which are in abundance mainly graze within a 15 kilometres radius from water.
He noted that areas further, not over grazed by elephants, creates a spatial refuge in these landscapes where vegetation is spared from excessive impact and degradation by large herbivore populations and also provides niches for rare herbivores that are dependent on these back-country woodlands far from water, such as roan, sable antelope and eland.
Further he said there is no evidence that massive elephant population in Botswana projected to be 130,000 is negatively affecting biodiversity or ecological integrity by destroying vegetation.