Botswanas National Monuments and Protected Areas

475,Correspondent,, | Wednesday May 20, 2015 00:00

Continuing the series of articles, MIKE and JEREMY BROOK cover the Bathoen Dam Bird Sanctuary, Pharing Gorge and Jwana Game Park, all within a two-hour drive from Gaborone, and situated near each other, south-west of the Capital.

Bathoen Dam Bird Sanctuary

Kgosi Bathoen II (1908-1990), paramount chief of the ba Ngwaketse Tribe between 1928 and 1969, was a visionary leader and is credited with being the first Motswana to found a museum and to also implement community-based tourism in Botswana.

Based in Kanye, the only village in the whole of Botswana which has three dams, a gorge and a cave, he had an exceptional plan for the area around the Bathoen Irrigation Dam, constructed in 1940, also known as Mmakgodumo Dam, to be used as a bird sanctuary. He promoted the sustainable use of Bathoen Dam Nature Sanctuary through tourism. The dam was gazetted as Bathoen Dam Bird Sanctuary in 1992 under the management of Department of Wildlife and National Parks.

Bathoen Dam Nature Sanctuary Management Trust possesses 27.51 square kilometres of land, was legally registered in 2001 and has been given a lease for the Bathoen Sanctuary by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks. The sanctuary extends 1.6 kilometres all around the Dam, encompassing the thick exotic Eucalyptus forest. Popular activities today include fishing, camping, bird viewing and visitors can also explore the Pharing forestry, Gorge, and Cave, also situated in the Bathoen Dam Bird Sanctuary. The Mmakgodumo Dam, which never completely goes dry, is fed from perennial waters flowing from the head of the Pharing Gorge where there is a small waterfall and plunge pool.

 

Pharing Gorge

The Gorge is a three-minute drive from the dam.  Park at the Forestry Department and a guide will take you on a 10-minute walk – climb to the Gorge which has spectacular geology and trees growing out of bare rock faces. Boulders and massive stone blocks act as stepping-stones forming a natural staircase to the waterfall. According to folk legend, the dam is inhabited by a giant monster that had the face and torso of a woman of great beauty, and the tail of a serpent. Those who came near the dam were held spellbound and drawn into the water by the woman’s amazing smile, never to be seen again. Another folk tale tells of a very large snake with the head of a lamb (Noga Potsane).

An old wall built close to the dam appears to be a sculpture of it. The Mmakgodumo/Bathoen Dam is frequently visited by ornithologists. On frequent monthly bird counts, hundreds of water birds are seen belonging to more than 20 species. Ducks are often seen, including the South African shelduck, the yellow-billed duck and Moccoa duck. The popularity of Mmakgodumo Dam is furthered by the fact that the bass fish can be caught. The species is found at very few locations in Botswana and appears to have been introduced to the dam many generations ago. Bream and reasonably large catfish are also present.

 

Jwana Game Park

The area that was to become Jwana Game Park was initially a fenced Mine Lease Area surrounding Jwaneng Mine. In 1984, two years after the richest diamond mine by value was commissioned, animals observed included limited numbers of hartebeest, wildebeest, springbok, ostrich, duiker, steenbok, jackal and some nocturnal animals.

During devastating droughts in 1985, large herds of hartebeest migrated towards this area in search of water and over 100 hartebeest managed to break through the fences into the lease area. Several waterholes were built in 1986 and 1987, and the influx of animals resulted in an increase in poaching in the area. In late 1987 the external 70km security fence was raised, both to improve mine security and protect the wildlife. Since then, the park has increased in size from 5,926 hectares to 15,669 hectares, and animals have been imported from other reserves around Botswana and also from South Africa and Namibia to reintroduce animal species that previously occupied the area. The park has now been fenced with game proof fence and 10 water holes fed with pipes from the mine’s water system have been built. A new game park entrance has just been built.

Like its sister game park at Orapa, Jwana Park is a centre for breeding white rhinos which were introduced to Jwana Park in 2007.

Jwana Game Park had the following wildlife species in 2014:- impala (>200), springbok (>150), steenbok, duiker, scrub hare, giraffe (40), Burchell’s zebra (>240), warthog, porcupine, baboon, black-backed jackal, caracal, ground squirrel, white rhinoceros, leopard, ostrich, blue wildebeest (>200), gemsbok (>250), greater kudu, small spotted cat, striped polecat, small spotted genet, honey badger, scaly anteater pangolin, yellow mongoose, slender mongoose, African wild cat, aardwolf, eland (>500), cheetah, brown hyena, spotted hyena and red hartebeest (>180).

The Park is also a nesting place for some bird species of concern, including Cape, lappet-faced and white-backed vultures as well as the Kori bustard.

Jwaneng Debswana Mine also hosts Cheetah Conservation Botswana, founded in 2003, which is a non-governmental organisation and aims to preserve the nation’s cheetah population through scientific research, community outreach and education and working with rural communities to promote coexistence with Botswana’s rich diversity of predator species.

The ultimate objective of Jwana Park is that it becomes a world class wildlife sanctuary that will benefit the wider community. In 2013, the old Exploration Contractors Camp at D/K7 was refurbished and is now an education centre and accommodation block within the Game Park. It is a very popular destination for schools. The development of the Orapa and Jwana game parks disproves the traditional image of mining companies being a threat to conservation, but rather shows Debswana to be an active player in revitalising these areas for the benefit of all.