Data on the Okavango River Basin: a three level challenge?

Wellington R.L. Masamba and Constance Masalila Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre, University of Botswana, P/Bag 285, Maun, Botswana e-mail: [email protected]

Paper presented at the Workshop on Strategies for Permanent Access to Scientific Information in Southern Africa: Focus on Health and Environmental Information for Sustainable Development, 5-7 September 2005, CSIR Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa

1. INTRODUCTION

THE OKAVANGO DELTA SYSTEM – The okavango delta system is the largest RAMSAR site in the world at 6864000 hectares – Except in Angola, most of the Okavango Delta systems lies in semi-arid to arid environment, water reaching Botswana in the dry season – It has multiplicity of habitats between the extremes of perennial swamps and semi-arid scrubland which allow a substantial biodiversity – There are more than 650 species of birds have been identified in the area including two globally threatened water bird species,

Burgeranus carunculatus

and

Egretta vinaceigula

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INTROD. CONT…

– It supports a high number large mammals species, particularly elephants, and some of the largest remaining populations of the endangered African wild dog (

Lycaon pictus)

and cheetah (

Acinonyx jubatus

). The area is also a stronghold for the Sitatunga antelope (

Tragelaphus spekeii)

, the hippopotamus (

Hippopotamus ambibius)

and the nile crocodile (

Crocodilius niloticus).

– Several protected small mammals occur in the system including several species of civet and otter.

– The flora include 208 aquatic and semi – aquatic species, 675 herbs and grasses and 195 woody species. The orchid

Habenaria pasmithii

is endemic to the region. – There are 71 species of fish 3

INTROD. CONT…

– Acts as a water regulator in the region – The Okavango Delta system provides freshwater, food, building and craft material, habitat for communities as well as for wildlife.

– It also provides the environment for tourism 4

2. NEED FOR DATA

Sustainable utilisation of the Okavango Delta system requires an understanding of its functions but – Information on the delta system is scattered, formats are not standardised, and many data are not easily accessible. There is lack of updated demographic data and detailed information on the demographic characteristics of smaller settlements for planning purposes. In addition, uncoordinated research activities and limited use of indigenous data for planning will lead to research results that are unsystemetic and less useful for planning (ODMP, research Strategy, data management and participatory planning, 2004) 5

3. CHALLENGES ON INFORMATION ON THE OKAVANGO DELTA SYSTEM

1.

Availability – Generally, little data available on the Okavango Delta system 2. Accessibility – Of the data available, most is not accessible because: Some is in the form of hard-copy reports-limited circulation Published articles are not easily accessed due to lack of subscriptions Information on internet is not easily accessed because of lack if adequate internet access or connectivity problems Knowing that the data exists at all may be difficult Owner of data has to be prepared to share it if it is not already in public domain 6

3. CHALLENGES CONT….

4.

Data quality – In some cases the quality of the data itself is suspect e.g. monitoring data 7

4. DATABASES ON THE OKAVANGO DELTA SYSTEM 1.

Okavango Basin data and Literature resources

–

Data compiled for the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the Every River has its People project in Angola, Botswana and Namibia – Available from the internet: http://www.sharingwater.net/OnlineDatabaseSearch.asp

– Available on CD 8

4. DATABASES CONT…

Information divided into Data – Folders under: Boundaries, climate demography, geology and topography, hydrology, land use history, livelihoods, services and towns, soils, tourism, vegetation, wildlife Literature – PDF files under authors, most documents are scanned from the original.

Jpegs – Mostly maps and figures 9

DATABASES CONT… 2. Okavango Delta Information system (ODIS)

– Part of Okavango Delta Management Plan (ODMP) currently under way – ODMP’s long – term goal is to “integrate resource management for the Okavango Delta that will ensure long-term conservation and that will provide benefits for the present and future well being of the people, through sustainable use of its natural resources.” To achieve this, “existing data, information and knowledge should be made available in appropriate formats and a timely manner to support the development and initiated implementation of the ODMP 10

DATABASES CONT…

Not accessible yet through the internet Information of ODIS divided into: – Maps – Metadata Categories include: boundaries, climate, demographics, fauna, flora, ecology geology, hydrography, landform, land status, soil, transportation, cultural, environmental hazard, and satellite image References are provided for non digital information and their source.

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5. CONCLUSIONS

The two databases provide a compilation of data on the Okavango Delta System A publicity officer has just been employed to among other issues, advertise the existence of ODIS Problem of internet access and connectivity in the region Problem of dependence on willingness of data owners to provide data for inclusion in the databases 12

THANK YOU

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