However there are possibilities for printing more materials to keep up the momentum. This could be achieved through the Department of Environmental Affairs and the US Embassy Self Help Fund.
Indeed there is chance for replication in future because the project did not reach to communities as it had envisaged. There is need to reach out to communities that are far from major villages that were addressed.
In addition to the above, the produced information packages need to be translated into Setswana or any language used locally. The materials have to be further simplified to carter even for the illiterate. The training manual will in future need to be revised to carter for new information that will surface and will cover issues raised by stakeholders.
With reference to the overall approach of the project, other species t can be similarly approached, especially those faced with extinction. It can as well be of benefit to other species particularly predators in hot sport areas of the country such as farm lands. The project focus was to change attitudes and mindsets towards rhinos and there are indications that this has been achieved in the targeted district.
Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment
The Basin Wide Forum together with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks and any other stakeholder will work on collating, gathering information from various sources to compile information for the production of brochures, posters, articles in private papers and promotional materials.The materials will form the basis for outreach activiries and information dissemination. Community involvement is central to the project and in that regard, kgotla meetings were held from 9-17 October 2006 covering altogether forteen (14) villages
Project sustainability
The project was mainly meant to raise public awareness and as such this was achieved through information packages, workshops and public meetings held. The produced information packages will be distributed by the Community Education and Outreach Division of DWNP. The Division will continue using other forums to sensitize communities on the importance of the rhino species as expounded in the project proposal.
Planning gef grant
The project was well received by all stakeholders including DWNP, BRMC, BWF, CBO?s, tour operators and communities. They called for the project to go beyond public awareness raising and look into the question of community empowerment in rhino management.
The proponents perceived potential inclusion of rhinos in the MOMS exercise which will entail computerizing the exercise through either a cyber tracker or GIS based program that will ensure the involvement of communities in the management and monitoring of rhinos. It was further proposed that DWNP as the Botswana?s wildlife custodian provide a central database to notify communities on rhino locations. The communities on the other hand would feed the central database with the required information.
It is hoped that this would contribute towards a better wildlife management system which involves stakeholders. It will also help strengthen relations between DWNP and communities which in some instances has not been very good. We therefore envisage a community centered approach in wildlife management that ensures a sense of ownership and ultimately sustainable harvesting of wildlife resources. This will strengthen the analogy that a successful conservation approach should be people centered.
Policy Impact
The project will follow legal stipulations both local and international and in Botswana the legislation and policies allow devolution of user rights to communities in management and utilisation of natural resources therefore as tourism is identified as the hub for economic development in Botswana, the existence of the rhinos is inevitably a selling point for both community and private sector tour operations.
Notable Community Participation
Through this project the BWF realizes that communities in the areas are starting to gain from the use of natural resources through tourism, therefore it is as much the responsibility of the communities to suistainably manage the resources ,as it is the responsibility of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks.Further more the involvement of communities as stakeholders has being identified as one approach to suistainably manage the environment concomitantly socio-economic upliftment through progammes such as Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM).
Gender Focus
Worth noting in the project structures is the intergrated HIV/AIDS and gender (HAG).This implies involvement of women and youth.The institution has therefore achieved 40% in attempting to balance gender.
Capacity - Building Component
the project will train communities especially Community Escort Guides, Professional Guides and Polers on identification of rhinos using identification kits in collaboration with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks. The training will increase the number of agents policing rhinos hence ensure the nation especially DWNP secure rhinos with minimum efforts and resources.
Project Results
Activity 1: - Collating of information for the production of outreach materials to use in information dissemination
This has been successfully done with the assistance of DWNP, Okavango Wilderness Safari, Mokolodi Nature Reserve and Khama Rhino Sanctuary who provided information and pictures. The information includes information on rhino markings, differentiating rhino spoors, rhino ecology and behavior together with background information on rhino sanctuaries in Botswana.
The Botswana Rhino Management Committee played a pivotal role in providing information through its membership mostly through member reports to the meeting. The detailed membership reports included rhino populations, species per sanctuary and management issues of the species. (Refer to attached minutes)
Activity 2: - Production of identification kits and training manuals on rhinos in collaboration with the DWNP
Under the production of identification kits and a training manual for professional guides, all planned information packages have been compiled and circulated amongst key stakeholders for input before any printing. The compiled materials are one poster for communities, one poster for professional guides, a brochure that introduces the project and a training manual for community escort guides, polers, professional guides and hunters.
Activities 3: - Mobilizing and educating communities on the value, importance and behavior of rhinos
Two training workshops were conducted for Ngamiland and Okavango communities on the 5th and 7th June 2007 in Maun and Shakawe respectively. The workshops targeted local authorities, Village Development Committees, CBO?s and local politicians. This was a deliberate selection of participants basing on the fact that they are avenues for information dissemination.
As expounded in the project proposal, the whole idea of the training workshops was to educate communities that live in areas adjacent to rhino habitats on the value, importance and behavior of rhinos. It was also envisaged that armed with information communities particularly those with CBNRM initiatives will enhance their photographic initiatives together with ensuring the security of rhinos in their concession areas.
It is worth mentioning here that besides the workshops, the BWF, KCS staff and DWNP addressed kgotla meetings to introduce Operation Roaming Rhino and this project to communities. The first of such meetings where scheduled in November 2005 which covered villages of Maun, Shorobe, Chanoga, Etsha 6 and Etsha 1. Subsequent meetings were undertaken in 2006 and covered villages of Gudigwa, Eretsha, Beetsha, Seronga, Mogotho, Kauxwi, Ngarange, Tobera, Kaputura and Etsha 13.
Activity 4: Training of Community Escort Guides, Professional Guides and Polers on identification of rhinos
The project conducted a two-day workshop for Community Escort Guides as of the 26th to the 28th February 2007 at Khama Rhino Sanctuary under the below listed objectives:
? To introduce participants to the Operation Roaming Rhino
? Acquaint participants with basic information on Rhinos
? Review and introduce participants to the draft Botswana Rhino Training Manual
? Identify the role of communities in the management of Botswana rhino population
By standards, the workshop was a success despite the fact that professional guides and hunters did not turn up at the workshop. The level of discussion and interaction was very good as per the attached proceedings of the workshop. The venue for the workshop as a rhino sanctuary exposed participants to field experience in rhino tracking and they physically saw the animals given that most of the participants had ever seen a rhino except in magazines and televisions.
Activity 5: Creation of ?Friends of Rhinos? through outreach activities
The activity though an on going activity was achieved through kgotla meetings, training of Community Escort Guides, and the two workshops held in Maun and Shakawe as well as through the information packages that were produced. More over the information packages especially the two posters and the license stickers were highly received by the public at large.
In following issues that surfaced during the meeting, some community members expressed dissatisfaction with the idea of re-introducing rhinos to the wild on the backdrop that initial efforts were thwarted by poaching incidents. In that regard they proposed that the government should first raise rhinos in confinement if at all it want to realize the targeted 5% annual growth. They however pledged their cooperation in monitoring rhinos and will report any sightings to the relevant authorities. It is hoped that through this communities now understood their role in rhino management and will enhance the security base for DWNP?s led law enforcement efforts.
The project exposed the target population to information on rhinos which has been lacking in the past given that rhino populations have been dwindling and there was appreciation on the value of rhinos to CBO?s engaged in ecotourism activities. As mentioned earlier on, communities pleaded with DWNP not to translocate rhinos found in community concession areas so that they could derive economic benefits through photographic ventures. This will in itself save costs for the Department from the translocation as the once security critical areas will now be turned into green zones.
It is our understanding then that communities are now aware of rhinos in the wild and the role of the Botswana Rhino Management Committee in ensuring that an increase of Botswana?s rhino population by supporting rhino management initiatives. In this regard, communities requested that they be assisted and empowered in the management of rhinos through either the creation of community rhino sanctuaries or information relating to rhino location/presence in photographic areas.
Communities were also exposed to basic information through the rhino fact file package on differentiating the two rhino species by size, shape of the mouth, shape of the back and spoor. The information packages also provided information on rhino ecology, behavior as well as differentiating a rhino spoor from that of a hippo. The information was valuable to communities given the fact that rhinos have moved from the Mombo area into communal areas. We are hopeful that communities will be in a better position to interact with them in as much as they have been interacting with other equally dangerous species in their localities.
As stated in the project proposal, Operation Roaming Rhino started with no community involvement or public information thereof. Community involvement in Operation Roaming Rhino project opened up avenue for interaction between DWNP and communities thereby ensuring joint management of the species.
The rapport built by the project will further see the inclusion of rhino species in the Management Oriented Monitoring System (MOMS), a project initiated by DWNP to ensure the involvement of communities in the management and monitoring of natural resources. We believe this was realized through the project lifespan. Rhino management, monitoring and security will of now be a shared endeavor between DWNP and communities which was the aim of this project.
