The trusts, which are the custodians of wildlife concessions, want to dig their hands deep in the tourism honey pot which they believe can yield greater returns for their communities. Officials of one such trust, the Mababe Zokotsama Community Development Trust called for government to reconsider the value of hunting quotas issued yearly to trusts as they believe they can mop up more capital gains from the licences. The trust's general manager, Vusi Khumalo, told The Monitor that last year they made P4 million from quota fees plus land rental gains in excess of P900,000. He added that this year they project to rake in over P5 million from hunting licences only. “Hunting earns the most income for our communities. From licences alone, last year the people of Mababe made P4 million and this year we expect to make P5 million from the hunting licence quota of around 15 elephants,” he said.
“But we know we could be making more. Yearly, we hunt around 0.3 percent of the total population of elephants we have in the country. We could be making more because we have a lot more elephants.” Bureaucratically trusts are acknowledged as the guardians of natural resources in tourism hotspots in the country. They are guided by land use management plans to develop these areas into lodges, hotels, or hunting areas and make income from leasing or operating these areas. The Botswana government determines annual hunting quotas based on wildlife populations and conservation goals. This includes a set number of licences that can be issued for different species, including elephants. These quotas are then allocated to various community trusts.
