Botswana elephant tracking on Love Earth

Love Earth , a popular site developed by the BBC, combines Google Earth with photographs, video and narrative to describe tracking of selected wildlife, including elephants in northern Botswana by the Elephants without Borders project.

Designed as a promotion for the BBC's film, Planet Earth, the site also has pages that describe how the film was made.

World Wetlands Day 2008

Celebrations for this year's World Wetlands Day for the Okavango Delta Ramsar site are taking place this week in Maun. This year's activities include an international wetlands conference on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week, the Environment and Development Dialogue public meeting today, commemoration ceremonies at the Big Tree on the Thamalakane River on Saturday, and, on Saturday evening, the official launch of the OKACOM Secretariat. In time for the event in HOORC's Library is the newly published Okavango Delta Management Plan, the document representing the culmination of the ODMP planning process.

BOPA's diary of the year that was 2007

The end of the first month of 2008 leads us to look at the Botswana Government's Press Agency (BOPA) review of news highlights of 2007. A selection of items relevant to Okavango region planning:

February - The African Union adopts Botswana's position on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.
March - Some 111 former residents of the Central Kgalagadi Game Reserve return to the reserve following a High Court ruling that their relocation was unconstitutional.
May - The Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organisations refutes allegations of its association with opposition parties and Survival International (SI), a London-based organisation, which was against the relocation of Basarwa from the Central Kgalagadi Game Reserve.
May - US Ambassador, Mrs Catherine Canavan, promises to help market Community Based Organisation (CBOs), engaged in tourism, through the regional, commercial Competitiveness Hub.
September - Government declines South African Air link bid to buy Air Botswana. Minister of Works and Transport, Ms Lesego Motsumi, says cabinet declined the proposals because it did not meet Botswanas air transport requirements and did not support governments wider objectives for the development of the transport and tourism sectors.
October - A suspected outbreak of foot and mouth disease is reported in the Habu Extension area near Nokaneng in Ngamiland District (Zone 2).
December - President Festus Mogae launches the Botswana Brand at the Gaborone International Convention Centre. BOPA

UN climate change activities

UN Pulse has alerted us to a new report of the Secretary-General that provides an overview of UN activities on climate change (A/62/644). The report highlights activities of UN programmes, funds, and specialized agencies on the topic and includes an overview of current UN activities on climate change organized by key areas; paper, “Coordinated United Nations system action on climate change”; and a table summarizing extensive consultations on a common approach for all relevant UN bodies. The report forms part of the background for an up-coming General Assembly thematic debate on climate change.

New in HOORC's Library: Shiyeyi writing system

Mutjango wu Shiyeyi = Shiyeyi writing system / by Andy Monthusi Chebanne, Mike Rodewald and Lydia Nyati-Ramahobo is a newly published orthography that aims to provide an understanding of the history of the Wayeyi people, long time inhabitants of the Okavango Delta region.

The book describes the history of writing the Shiyeyi language and how Shiyeyi should be written. A product of ten years of research, Mutjango wu Shiyeyi has been produced as a collaboration between the Botswana Society and the Kamanakao Association. You can find the book in HOORC's Library.

Namibian environmental management legislation

AllAfrica.com reports the gazetting of Namibia's Environmental Management Bill late last year. The legislation provides for thorough environmental assessment studies and consultations with communities and regional and local authorities before development projects are undertaken. It further provides for the creation of a development advisory council, the appointment of an environmental commissioner and environmental officers.

Call for abstracts for 9th Waternet symposium

This year’s 9th Waternet/WAFRSA/GWPSA Symposium will be held from 29 – 31 October 2008 in association with the International Association for Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) in Johannesburg. The theme of the Waternet meeting will be “Water and Sustainable Development for Improved Livelihoods”. IAHS will be holding at the same time sessions for their International Commission on Water Resources Systems.

Key dates for the meeting are:

Second announcement and Final call for abstracts: 15 February 2008
Deadline for Submission of Abstracts: 14 March 2008
Notification of Acceptance of Abstracts: 18 April 2008
Deadline for Submission of Full Papers: 31 July 2008
Deadline for Registration: 31 August 2008
Delegates Arrival: 28 October 2008
Delegates Departure: 01 November 2008.

All partner organisations interested in convening a special session at the 9th WaterNet/WARFSA/GPW-SA Symposium should send their expression of interest to the WaterNet at symposium09@waternetonline.org by 31 August 2008.

Information about the symposium will be uploaded and updated as they become available at these websites: http://www.wits.co.za, http://www.waternetonline.org, http://www.gwpsa.org.

Kalahari environmental change workshop

A workshop, Environmental Change in the Kalahari Region, will be held in Maun, Botswana on the 3rd – 6th March, 2008. There are four major themes for the workshop:

1) Monitoring for environmental change
2) Palaeo-environmental change in Africa
3) Environmental change and human well being
4) Transboundary range resource issues.

An objective of the workshop is to form a research group of people currently engaged in studying environmental change in Africa, with a specific focus on the Kalahari region.

A significant portion of time will be dedicated to proposal writing for each of the groups under the major themes listed above.

For more information contact: Prof. Sue Ringrose – sringrose@orc.ub.bw or Dr. Philippa Huntsman-Mapila – pmapila@orc.ub.bw. Information about HOORC researchers and their work can be obtained from www.orc.ub.bw.

Year of the Frog

Painted Reed Frog in the Okavango Delta by Makgobokgobo

2008 has been designated Year of the Frog by Amphibian Ark, a partnership of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), the IUCN/SSC conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG), and the IUCN/SSC Amphibian specialist Group (ASG), formed to help implement the Amphibian Conservation Action Plan (ACAP). The partnership promotes breeding programmes in zoos for species that cannot be safeguarded in their natural habitat. Amphibian Ark's site provides information about the extinction crisis for amphibian species with videos, a newsletter and a database of amphibian specialists. In HOORC's Library, you can find Frogs and frogging in Southern Africa by Vincent Carruthers and Amphibian decline : an integrated analysis of multiple stressor effects, edited by Greg Linder, Sherry K. Krest, Donald W. Sparling.

Climate change and forests seminar

Riparian woodland, Okavango Delta: Aquarap 2000

Yesterday, HOORC hosted a seminar by Dr Peter Eliasson of the Department of Ecology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, about using simulated ecosystem responses to evaluate the impact of climate change on carbon and nitrogen cycles in Boreal forests. For this work, Dr Eliasson had developed three scenarios of increasing atmospheric [CO2], elevated temperature and increased nitrogen input to provide insight to the importance of feedback mechanisms in the northern forest system. Now he proposes to apply this method in the riparian woodlands of the Okavango, where process models can be used to explain ecosystem mechanisms that link plant productivity and water status. You can find Dr Eliasson's doctoral thesis, Impacts of climate change on carbon and nitrogen cycles in boreal forest ecosystems, in HOORC's Library.

Croclist

The Intute life sciences site has alerted us to Croclist -- a discussion list for anyone interested in biology, conservation, breeding and captive care of crocodilians. The site provides a facility for joining the mailing list as well as access to the Croclist archives from 2002 to present.

Africa Palaeofires Workshop, October 2008

The Global Palaeofire Working Group (GPWG) is one component of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme’s cross-project activity on fire. The aim of the GPWG is to explore the relationships between changes in fire regimes, climate, vegetation and human activities as documented by the palaeo-record. Since mid-2006 the group has engaged an international network of scientists to create a research database of charcoal records. The first version of the database was used to analyse global patterns in fire regimes since the last glacial maximum. Although Africa was included in the global synthesis, the current database contains very few sites from the continent, and the group decided that data-gathering for this region should be a major priority in the coming year. To encourage more scientists from the continent to join the GPWG, to contribute to the database, and to participate in ongoing analyses and activities, there will be a workshop focusing on Africa, most likely in Nairobi in October 2008. The goal of the workshop is to analyse the
available charcoal data from Africa. Registration for the workshop has been extended to mid-February -- see the group's web site for more information.

Whose Delta is it? Environment and Development Dialogue

BIOKAVANGO Project and the Department of Environmental Affairs (Okavango Delta Management Plan) will host the Environment and Development Dialogue to discuss environmental/biodiversity conservation and development issues surrounding the Okavango Delta wetland prior to the commemoration of the World Wetlands Day and to mark the completion of the Okavango Delta Managament Plan.

The meeting, free to the public, is scheduled for Thursday 31st January 2008 at Maun Lodge, Maun, at 1900hrs.

Facilitator: Dr Hillary Masundire, Head of the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Botswana and Chairperson of the Commission on Ecosystem Management, IUCN.

Panelists
1. Honourable Frank Ramsden, Member of Parliament for Maun East “Community Perspectives”
2. Ms Myra Sekgororoane, Chief Executive Officer, Botswana Tourism Board “Economic Opportunities - Tourism”
3. Dr Casper Bonyongo, Research Fellow, University of Botswana, Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre (UB - HOORC) “Ecological Dimensions”
4. Dr Pete Ashton, Principal Researcher & Divisional Fellow, Centre for Scientific International Research (CSIR) “Regional and International interests”

Discussants
1. Prof Lars Ramberg, Director, University of Botswana, Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre (UB - HOORC)
2. Dr Nkobi Moleele, National Project Coordinator, BIOKAVANGO Project, (UB - HOORC)
3. Dr Lapologang Magole, Research Fellow, University of Botswana, (UB - HOORC)
4. Mr Joseph Mbaiwa, Senior Research Fellow, University of Botswana, (UB - HOORC)
5. Mr Felix Monggae, Chief Executive Officer, Kalahari Conservation Society(KCS)
6. Ms Morongoe Ntloedibe-Disele, Chief Executive Officer – HATAB

Theme: Whose Delta is it?

AlertNet maps

Southern Africa floods (as of 4 Jan 2008)
Reproduced by AlertNet from ReliefWeb

The Reuters agency humanitarian news web site, AlertNet, brings together maps from various sites and locations to illustrate its news coverage of natural and human-created disasters on its Map Catalogue page. The site also provides interactive mapping using Microsoft Virtual Earth, where the user can update a map with the type of crisis -- conflicts, food security, storms, sudden disasters, health problems and earthquakes.

Government notices of interest to the Okavango community

From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLVI, no. 1, 4 January 2008

Government notice 17 of 2008: Road Transport (Permits) Act: Road Transport (Permits) Regulations: application for road transport permits: "P" Permits for mobile safaris and tourism: Custos Safaris, Moremi Safaris, Francolin Support Service, Karibu Safari, Okavango Wilderness, Hemingway Safaris, Calypso Agencies, Africa Pride, African Excursions, Wilderness Dawning, Game Trails, Wildhog Safaris, Afro Trek Safaris, Delta Rains, Gifar Enterprises, Malaba Woodworks and Thatches, Sickle Bush, Chobe Game Lodge, Ngoma Enterprises, Malachile Safaris and Investment, Setswatswa Trackers
21-24

Tender announcements and documents may also be found on the Government of Botswana web site. The entire issue of the Government Gazette may be read in HOORC’s Library.

From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLVI, no. 2, 11 January 2008

Government notice 30 of 2008: Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act: appointment of the Maun District Administration Tender Committee
81
Tender: North West District Council: supply and delivery of Elster Kent Telbit B900 pre-paid water meters
110

Tender announcements and documents may also be found on the Government of Botswana web site. The entire issue of the Government Gazette may be read in HOORC’s Library.

New ISO water utilities standards

The International Standards Organization (ISO) has just published three standards providing guidelines for service activities relating to drinking water supply systems and wastewater sewerage systems. These international standards are designed to help water authorities and their operators to achieve a level of quality that best meets the expectations of users and the principles of sustainable development.

ISO 24510, Activities relating to drinking water and wastewater services – Guidelines for the assessment and for the improvement of the service to users
ISO 24511, Activities relating to drinking water and wastewater services – Guidelines for the management of wastewater utilities and for the assessment of wastewater services
ISO 24512, Activities relating to drinking water and wastewater services – Guidelines for the management of drinking water utilities and for the assessment of drinking water services

The standards, which aim to provide relevant stakeholders with guidelines for assessing and improving services to users, and with guidance for managing water utilities, will have now to be adapted to national or regional contexts. A strong orientation towards developing countries was taken by the ISO with the creation of an ad hoc group, lead by Morocco, order to support developing countries in the application of the standards and a first trial of the standards has been launched in some African countries.

Southern Africa Water Wire

The Inter Press Service news agency's Southern Africa Water Wire provides in-depth coverage of a diverse range of water-related issues in Southern Africa linking water to economic development, social well-being and environmental protection. Journalists in the SADC region are encouraged to contribute in-depth news and analysis that provides insights into the linkages between water management and socio-economic development in their countries. The resource is one of the awareness creation tools for the Regional Water Sector Programme - A Southern African Development Community (SADC) initiative funded by Danida.

Latest Spatial Data Infrastructure-Africa Newsletter

Soil map for Okavango Delta area from EuDASM site

The January 2008 issue of the Spatial Data Infrastructure-Africa Newsletter includes articles about the United States Federal Geographic Data Committee draft wetland mapping standard, the South African National Biodiversity Institute's SANBI Biodiversity GIS, the JRC Institute for the Environment free digital soil maps, the 1Spatial Group's online data quality library for the geospatial community, and the Convention on Biological Diversity's new Adaptation website, as well as the regular useful up-to-date list of conferences and funding opportunities. You can find the newsletter online, and in HOORC's Library.

New in HOORC's Library: comparative growth in mopane trees

Mopane trees near Khwai, 2006

HOORC environmental chemist Dr. Philippa Huntsman-Mapila joined Elmar M. Veenendaal, Khanyisa B. Mantlana, Norman W. Pammenter, Piet Weber, and Jon Lloyd to study differences in physiological and morphological traits between the tall and short forms of mopane (Colophospermum mopane) trees growing near Maun, Botswana, to determine if differences between the two physiognomic types are attributable to the way they exploit available soilwater. The researchers found that differences in the use of water appeared attributable to differences in root depth and density between the physiognomic types. Stomatal regulation of water use and carbon assimilation differed between years, with the tall form having a consistently more conservative water-use strategy as the dry season progressed than the short form. You can find the results of the work, recently published as Growth form and seasonal variation in leaf gas exchange of Colophospermum mopane savanna trees in northwest Botswana, in a recent issue of Tree Physiology, in HOORC's Library.

Oil exploration in Okavango region

The Reuters UK site reports that a consortium of companies, including Russia's diamond monopoly Alrosa, has received a license from Angola's oil ministry for crude oil exploration in Lower Congo, Upper Kwanza, Etosha, Okavango, Kassanje and will also work offshore on Angola's sea shelf under the Atlantic ocean.

Latest Bird Conservation Newsletter

Birdlife Botswana's Bird of the Month: the Masked Weaver photographed by Bergh

The December 2007 issue of Birdlife Botswana's Bird Conservation Newsletter arrived at HOORC's Library this week. The issue includes an updated list of globally threatened birds found in Botswana, Graham McCulloch's comments about the recently released International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Lesser Flamingo, and reports about the Migrating Kestrel Project, Birdlife Botswana's new Bird Activity Book and the EU/Royal Society for the Protection of Birds project, Instituting Effective Monitoring of Protected Areas. You can find the newsletter in HOORC's Library.

Government notices of interest to the Okavango community

From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLV, no. 82, 21 December 2007

Tender: Republic of Botswana: Ministry of Works and Transport. Preparation of the environmental and social management framework (ESMF) and resettlement policy framework (RPF) for output and performance based long term road contracts (OPRC)
6754

From the Botswana Government Gazette, Vol. XLV, no. 83, 28 December 2007

Mines and Minerals (Amendment) Act, 2007
A.141-A.143
Electricity Supply (Amendment) Act, 2007
A.145-A.151
Plant Protection Act, 2007
A.153-A.A.178
Tourism Act: Tourism (Reservation of Tourist Enterprises for Citizens) (Revocation) Regulations, 2007
A.1407
Agricultural Resources Conservation Act: Agricultural Resources Conservation (Utilization of Veld Products) (Amendment) Regulations, 2007
C.1408

Tender announcements and documents may also be found on the Government of Botswana web site. The entire issue of the Government Gazette may be read in HOORC’s Library.

New in HOORC's Library: remote sensing dissertation

Landcover classification product aggregated to vegetation type from Neuenschwander dissertation

Remote sensing of vegetation dynamics in response to flooding and fire in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, Amy Neuenschwander's PhD dissertation for the University of Texas at Austin, assesses the spatio-temporal distribution of flooding and fire and their subsequent influences on
vegetation as represented by vegetation index trajectories in the Okavango Delta. The work's characterization of spatio-temporal distribution of flooding and fire regimes with the temporal dynamics of vegetation spectral response via a time-series of remotely sensed data informs ecosystem and disturbance theory and presents new methodological applications for
multi-temporal change analysis. You can find the dissertation in HOORC's Library.

New in HOORC's Library: wildlife monitoring resource

The document known to wildlife conservation specialists in southern Africa as the "blue book", Conservation and wildlife management in Africa : the proceedings of a workshop organized by the U.S. Peace Corps at Kasungu National Park, Malawi, October 1984 edited by the late R.H.V. Bell and E. McShane-Caluzi and produced through Office of Training & Program Support, Forestry & Natural Resources Sector, U.S. Peace Corps, has been added to HOORC's library collections. The book, donated to the library by the United States Peace Corps, is considered a core source of insights for wildlife monitoring in the region. It now forms a part of the the collection of books and reports of the late Richard Bell that are being processed and catalogued in HOORC's Library through the knowledge management component of the BIOKAVANGO Project.

Geospatial datasets for Africa

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has published a new report defining fundamental geospatial datasets for Africa. The report is the first attempt to provide a continental common definition of a minimally necessary core of geospatial data and information products to which policy makers can add other sectoral datasets to ensure geographic consistency in making decisions on socio-economic development issues.

The report, compiled by EIS-Africa and the South African Human Sciences Research Council, proposes a definition of fundamental data sets and identifies ten fundamental data themes: geodetic control network, imagery, hypsography, hydrography, boundaries, geographic names, land management units, transportation, utilities and services, and natural environments.

You can find the report online.