WILD-BW: IT’S THE LAND STUPID

Oshinka Tsiang

In 1992, American political campaign strategist, James Carville working for former President Bill Clinton coined the term “It’s the economy stupid” which became a catch phrase for a very successful Presidential campaign leading to the defeat of the incumbent George W, Bush. For the purpose of today’s article we shall borrow this term to drive the point home concerning the clamor for reforms in the tourism as expressed at the resent Hotel and Tourism Association of Botswana, (HATAB) conference. As stated in our last instalment, President Duma Boko in his key note address at the conference, threw the issue of reforms back to the industry players, assuring them that his administration is ready to listen to them in their call for the change of laws.

Among the critical issues it seems, is to ensure longer term leases for concessions especially in the lucrative wildlife rich areas of the Ngamiland and Chobe regions. It seems the previous government’s decision to limit lease terms to enable new players in the tourism industry did not go down well with some of the big players in the sector. Without a doubt, the COVID 19 pandemic affected the sector badly due to the shut down in movement. It has taken a while for it to recover. So there is some case for renewal of the leases. But it is also important to bear in mind the very high returns that many of the players have enjoyed for decades prior to COVID. So when they call for longer term leases, context is important. Clearly business requires certainty which in this case is provided by a guarantee of longer term leases. However Botswana’s tourism as has already been stated is dependent on wild life, which requires land. Concessions are all about control of large swathes of land.

 A compelling and very telling presentation by the caretaker Managing Director of Wilderness Safaris Joe Matome at the HATAB conference states as part of its purpose “To increase the world’s wilderness together.” To their credit Wilderness Safaris present very impressive numbers in terms of their CSI and the community support even in terms of education, employment, agriculture, and youth engagement in conservation issues. For that they must be commended. However, the question remains, how do you increase the wilderness without increasing the land or at the very least halting human encroachment on wildlife? The one unchangeable fact is that land does not increase. It goes without saying that something has to give.

After the 1995 outbreak of the cattle lung disease in Ngamiland the subsequent decision by government to eradicate the disease by use of the stamping out policy, or killing of all cattle, the former opposition Member of Parliament, Gilson Saleshando, presented a motion of no confidence on the Botswana Democratic Party government over the handling of the outbreak.

The crux of his argument was that there was a deliberate ploy to displace the people of Ngamiland for the purpose of tourism. He argued that the disease was deliberately mishandled to wipe out cattle in the area to make way for wildlife. He was not convinced that there would be any re-stalking. It was, to many BDP MPs at the time, a very cynical proposition. Saleshando senior’s record presentation kept the MPs occupied for the whole night. Word had apparently gone out that Saleshando wanted to wear down BDP MPs who were eager to leave at the end of the Parliamentary session and thus impact on the voting numbers. They didn’t budge. The motion was obviously defeated by the sheer weight of numbers.

 However in hindsight, whether Saleshando’s proposition was a conspiracy theory or not, the current reality is that the competition for land resources between wild life and human beings has intensified significantly with the increase in wildlife. The growth in photographic tourism drives the need for more spaces for wildlife. On the other hand human settlement continues to require expansion. So when the industry seeks review of policies as a way of increasing the contribution of tourism to the economy we must understand that the end game is about land.  Long leases by their nature assume an element of perpetual ownership especially via developments in the property.

(first published on Tuesday Grill on May 6th 2025)