Governance survey

The World Bank has published a worldwide survey of governance effectiveness, Governance Matters VIII: Aggregate and Individual Governance Indicators, 1996-2008. The report is the result of a 2009 update of the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) research project, covering 212 countries and territories and measuring six dimensions of governance between 1996 and 2008: Voice and Accountability, Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism, Government Effectiveness, Regulatory Quality, Rule of Law, and Control of Corruption. These aggregate indicators are based on specific and disaggregated individual variables measuring various dimensions of governance, taken from 35 data sources provided by 33 different organizations. The data reflect the views on governance of public sector, private sector and NGO experts, as well as citizen and firm survey respondents worldwide. You can download the update from the Social Science Research Network web site.

Recent climate change publications

Map of Antarctica showing the estimated average temperature change per decade (°C) from 1957 to 2006, from the Pew Center report

The Pew Center on Global Climate Change has released Key Scientific Developments Since the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, summarizing some of the key findings of a significant
body of new peer-reviewed science since the 2007 release of the report. A report by Australia's James Cook University, Expansion of the tropics: evidence and implications, indicates through a review of scientific literature that the tropical zone is increasing. You can access the publications online, and IPCC reports in HOORC's Library.

Global environmental indicators

The 2009 United States focused Index of Leading Environmental Indicators points out that the world’s most severe environmental problems, as ranked by the Blacksmith Institute and Green Cross Switzerland, are overwhelmingly problems of poverty in developing nations. The report's section on water quality highlights the slow progress of the Florida Everglades restoration effort while the section on land and species conservation trends reports results of a biological survey of the Greater Mekong Delta in Southeast Asia. The report is published by the Pacific Research Institute.

UNEP water security report

A recent report published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Water security and ecosystem services: the critical connection, includes sections about the Okavango River Basin and the Okavango Delta Management Plan, contributed by the University of Botswana's Dr Hillary Masundire. Produced through the United Nations World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP), the report is available online.

HOORC at IGARSS meeting

During the week of July 13-17, 2009 HOORC's Sue Ringrose, Lin Cassidy and Piotr Wolski attended the International Geoscience & Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) in Cape Town. This was the first time the IEEE organization had run its prestigious remote sensing conference in Africa. This year the conference was titled Earth Observation - Origins to Applications.

The conference was attended by about 750 delegates from institutions worldwide. Professor Harold Annegarn from the University of Johannesburg directed the proceedings which included a wrap up to the SAFARI 2000 campaign and a host of new imagery products.

On Wednesday 15 July, Susan Ringrose and Melanie Luck-Vogel hosted a special session, Remote Sensing Assessment of Vegetation State and Land Degradation within which Lin Cassidy’s paper, Fire, Wealth and Access to Wetlands Resources in the Panhandle of Botswana’s Okavango Delta was nominated best presentation for the session. In the Coastal and Wetlands Applications 1 session the following day Mike Murray Hudson and Piotr Wolski’s paper was also nominated for best presentation.

Abstracts for the papers can be found online.

Water disasters training manual

Zunia, the new knowledge sharing interface of the Development Gateway, has alerted us to Hydro climatic disasters in water resources management: training manual, a resource that aims to build capacity of water managers and others to develop strategies for coping with hydro-climatic disasters such as floods and drought within the context of water resources management. An added expectation is improving the resilience of vulnerable communities and reducing the impact of extreme events. The manual builds on international experience in disaster mitigation of the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) and the Cap-Net Global Network. Its development is an initiative of the Kenyan branch of the Nile Capacity Building Network for Integrated Water Resources Management, Nile IWRM Net. You can download the manual.

2009 Winter Course Work

Seventeen University of Botswana undergraduate students completed their work for HOORC's Winter Course this week, wrapping up six weeks of research training and fieldwork assignments with presentations of the results of their research.

This year's work showed an increased focus on environmental health with An assessment of the level of knowledge on malaria among Maun residents by Keletso Benjamin, The use of traditional knowledge to prevent livestock diseases in Toteng village, Ngamiland District by Moabiemang Gabalebatse, A case study on perceptions of Matlapana residents on the 2008 alcohol levy by Tsaone Goikantswemang, Assessing the potability of water at Xhobe watering point by Z. Kemmonye, Effluent quality assessment from Letsholathebe Hospital treatment plant by Mothusi Dikole and Impact of wetland vegetation on water quality by Aobakwe Kathleen Lubinda.

Tourism studies included The contribution of culture to sustainable tourism at Khwai Village in the Okavango Delta, Botswana by Gorata Maokanyane, Investigating the state of convention tourism in Maun : case of hotels and lodges by Phemelo Oabona and Impacts of accommodation facilities on the livelihoods of local people : case of Khwai River Lodge and Khwai Village by Dimpho Malebogo Matlhola.

Studies of the ecology of vegetation and soil in the Okavango included A comparative assessment of soil fertility on arable farming practices in Shorobe village by Onalenna Petros, The influence of ungulates grazing on nutrient status of the soil and vegetation around University of Botswana Maun Campus, Sexaxa by Chawata Moitlhobogi and A LANDSAT TM data based monitoring of pre-fire and post-fire vegetation recovery and dynamics at Xakao, Okavango Delta (2000-2004) by Kaone Rakhudu.

Economic studies included The impact of flood inflow of the Boteti River on livelihoods activities in Xhobe settlement by Tshimologo Andrias, Social dynamics of participating in labour intensive public works (LIPWP) program in Maun by Kesaobaka Molebatsi and Water demand in a rural set up: the case of Boro Village by Itumeleng P. Oageng.

Senatla Gobopaone made a case study in Sankuyo of The role of taboos and totems in conservation of animals and vegetation while Baitshepi Mashabe produced an Assessment of livestock predation by carnivores and households adaptation in Shorobe. Natural resources governance was addressed by Dominic Tshiamiso in his study, Assessment of Tubu community's perceptions towards joint management system of natural resources management.

You can find the students' reports in HOORC's Library.

Earth system research fellowships

The International Max Planck Research School on Earth System Modelling (IMPRS-ESM), located in Hamburg, Germany, offers fellowships to outstanding students interested in interdisciplinary climate research. The PhD program is open to applicants holding a German Diploma degree or the equivalent (e.g., Masters degree with written thesis) in physics, geophysical sciences (incl. meteorology and oceanography), chemistry, ecology, mathematics, computer science, engineering, economics, or political science. Application deadline is September 15, 2009. Applications made be made online.

Costs and benefits of pulsed flows

A new report from the Australian National Water Commission, Pulsed flows: a review of environmental costs and benefits and best practice, considers whether natural and controlled pulsed flows achieve ecological benefits, and if so, how they might be implemented in river management. The report includes:

• a review of the literature on the environmental costs and benefits of pulsed flows


• 
  examples of current practice in pulsed flow methodology


• 
  an examination of existing plans that incorporate pulsed flows to determine whether there are appropriate monitoring and evaluation frameworks within those plans to provide for learning from adaptive management


• 
  a discussion of prospective best practices for pulsing flows and areas where future work, such as experimental and observational studies, would be beneficial.

The report is available online. At HOORC, preparations for the February 2010 Flood Pulsed Wetlands International Symposium are proceeding. Deadline for submission of abstracts is September 30th, 2009.

Waternet students at HOORC

Six students from Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe began a two month course at HOORC this month. The course, sponsored by the Waternet programme, will build the participants' understanding of agricultural water management, wetlands ecology and management and planning for droughts and floods. WaterNet, together with Cap-Net and GWP-SA, are supporting the Global Water Partnership Country Water Partnerships in an initiative to build capacity at national level to enable the development of national IWRM plans (as part of the implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development plan of action on water). The WaterNet professional training programme facilitates competency training to meet the needs of SADC, Country Water Partnerships, River Basin Organisations, Community Based Organisations, and various actors and practicing professionals in the water and related sectors.

New in HOORC's Library: innovative wildlife conservation

Evolution and innovation in wildlife conservation : parks and game ranches to transfrontier conservation areas, edited by Helen Suich and Brian Child with Anna Spenceley and published by the IUCN through Earthscan in 2009, looks at development of wildlife management policy in southern Africa from the colonial period to present day. Chapters about the history of state-led conservation and CBNRM include examples from Botswana. You can find the book in HOORC's Library.

Ephemeral River Basins project news

HOORC's Library has received the latest issue of the Ephemeral Rivers Basins Newsletter, with stories about the use of reeds in the Fish River, award of Botswana's National Vision 2016 prize to a resident of the Boteti River basin, and development of an integrated water resources plan for Namibia. The newsletter also has lists of upcoming events for the ERB Project's final year. You can find the newsletter in HOORC's Library.

Botswana DEA information portal

The Botswana Department of Environmental Affairs is launching Environmental Information System Botswana, an information portal designed to capture environmental data and information related to Botswana. Data providers include Botswana government departments and agencies as well as non-governmental organizations.

New in HOORC's Library: African vulture habitat

Lappet-faced vulture on nest in Namibia, from Birdlife Botswana, photographed by P. Bridgeford

Trade-offs between specificity and regional generality in habitat association models : a case study of two species of African vulture, an article in a recent issue of Journal of Applied Ecology draws on collaborative research from a team of researchers including Botswana's Wendy Borello and Pete Hancock. A case study of two vulture species from six biogeographically different regions across southern Africa predicted nest occurrence based on variables from a GIS, allowing the researchers to develop models of species distribution. The researchers discovered that it was most useful to develop models from multiple regions to allow focus on unsurveyed regions and to identify suitable habitat for protection. You can find the article in HOORC's Library.

Cheetah Status Report

The Status report for the cheetah in Botswana by Cheetah Conservation Botswana details changes that have occurred over the past 40 years, which have had negative impacts on wildlife populations, the cheetah included. These include, overstocking of livestock, range partitioning and the erection of cordon fences causing dramatic reductions in wildlife populations. The author makes recommendations on how to conserve this species in Botswana. These are: the need to raise awareness amongst communities about the status of the cheetah, the maintenance of corridors between protected areas (Wildlife Management Areas) in order to maintain healthy prey populations and investigating the option of sustainable utilisation of Botswana's cheetah population. The report is available in the HOORC Library.

Indaba Tourism Fair

Botswana stole the limelight at the 2009 Indaba Tourism Fair held in Durban, when the Makgadikgadi-based Unchartered Africa Jack's Camp received four major tourism awards. They were in the following categories : best safari camp in Southern Africa, best ecological safari camp, best safari camp in africa and best safari camp guiding team. Furthermore, African Horseback, a Botswana based company, won the award for Best Riding Safari in Africa.

HOORC Seminars

At HOORC seminar presentations this week, three researchers shared their findings of recent studies. The first presentation, Fire, wealth and access to wetland resources in the panhandle of Botswana's Okavango Delta by Dr. Lin Cassidy, focused on understanding the contribution of of wildfires and wealth on people's access to wetland resources, and looked at which types of households are seen to control and benefit most from burning wetland resources. Her findings showed that fires in the Okavango panhandle spread quickly due to the underpopulated nature and remoteness of areas like Nxamasere and Sekondomboro.

In his presentation, Building research capacity in Africa through research methodology training : introduction to EDULINK, Professor Moses Chimbari ,who leads one of EDULINK's funded project partnerships of universities in Botswana, Sudan and Zimbabwe, gave an outline of EDULINK activities. EDULINK's main aim is to fund cooperative projects between higher education institutions and promote capacity building and regional integration in higher education.

The last presentation, coauthored by Professors Vanderpost, Ringrose and Schuran, titled Landcover changes along the Boteti River, Botswana, aimed at finding the causes of riparian cover changes along the Boteti River and establishing biophysical and socio-economic baselines. This project aims to contribute to a long term equitable use of water along the river.

SAEON data sharing portal

The July 2009 issue of the newsletter of the South African Earth Observation Network (SAEON) reports the launch of the third phase of its CoGIS (Collaborative Geographical Information Service) project. CoGIS, a data portal developed with the South African CSIR, will support contribution to the the South African Earth Observation Strategy (SAEOS) and convince people to accelerate global change research by providing access to their data. You can read more about the project online.

Conference on Botswana land policy

INVITATION FOR PAPERS

DITSHWANELO, the Botswana Centre for Human Rights, is is inviting submission of abstracts for a land conference to be held during the last week of August 2009.

The objective of the conference is to provide key stakeholders with the opportunity to engage on the role of land and related resources in poverty alleviation, particularly among the marginalized sections of the Botswana society.

Topics on which papers are invited:

1. Land Tenure and the marginalized in Botswana: Issues of a productive and caring nation
2. The effectiveness of the Tribal Land and State Land Acts in alleviating poverty in Botswana – the case of marginalized communities
3. Land use planning, efficiency and poverty alleviation
4. The role of land and related resources towards promoting socio - economic and cultural rights.
5. The role of Civil Society in land and related resources debate/advocacy.
6. Environmental externalities and their impacts on marginalized groups
7. The role of gender in the utilization of land, water and related resources for poverty alleviation.

Abstracts should be no fewer than 500 words or more than a single page (A4), indicating the problem of land and related resources in poverty alleviation, its importance to human rights achievement (literature review), especially the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Vision 2016 Pillars. The abstract should further indicate objectives of the proposed topic in relation to addressing the identified problem, the procedure of addressing the topic in terms of sources of information, and the method of analysis.

Abstracts should be e-mailed to: admin.ditshwanelo@info.bw and landrights.ditshwanelo@micro.co.bw or faxed to 6252712/3907778 the first week of July 2009.

New in HOORC's Library: SAFARI project results

The Southern African Fire-Atmosphere Research Initiative (SAFARI) was an important component of the first ever international, intercontinental and interdisciplinary fire experiment that in 1992 involved more than 150 scientists from 14 nations. Fire in southern African savannas : ecological and atmospheric perspectives was published by the Witwatersrand University Press to share the results of the project with African students, fire practitioners, policy-makers and politicians. The book highlights the global atmospheric impacts of bush fires, as well as their role in maintenance of biological diversity, quality of grazing, nutrient cycling and overall conservation of fire-prone ecosystems. You can find the book in HOORC's Library.

UN World Water Development Report

The World Assessment Programme in conjunction with the World Water Forum has released the third edition of of the World Water Development Report : "Water in a changing world". WWPR's interests focuses on the monitoring of freshwater issues, and aims to provide decision-makers with the tools to implement sustainable use of our water. Some of the themes addressed in this particular issue include climate change, Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), water and migration and water infrastructure. For more information on this report you can visit the WWAP site.

World Climate Conference

The World Climate Conference to be held from 31st August-4th September, aims to develop tools to assist countries adapt to climate change. This conference will be especially relevant to Africa, given its vulnerability to water scarcity and its strong dependence on agricultural production. The conference hopes to achieve amongst other things, an improvement in observational networks in developing countries, an enhancement of the ability of governments, societies, and institutions to access and use climate prediction and information for adaptation to climate change. For more information on Conference details, you can visit the WCC-3 website.