Major Steps Taken to Promote the Accession of Botswana to AEWA
The workshop brought together 25 participants representing various institutions, including the Departments of Wildlife and National Parks, Environmental Affairs, Waste Management and Pollution Control, Crop Production and Water Affairs, the Botswana National Veterinary Laboratory, Attorney General’s Chamber, Water Utilities Corporation, Botswana Environment and Natural Resources Network, BirdLife Botswana, Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme National Focal Point, Okavango Research Institute, Southern Africa Regional Environmental Programme (SAREP) and the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat.
In his opening remark, the Director of Wildlife and National Parks, Dr Oduetse Koboto, warmly welcomed the participants, highlighted the importance of Botswana's exceptional biodiversity including its avifauna, acknowledged the critical role of BirdLife Botswana's support towards bird conservation and confirmed the interest of the Government to accede to AEWA.
The Acting Executive Secretary of the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat, Mr Bert Lenten, emphasized the crucial need for international cooperation towards the effective conservation of migratory waterbirds across their entire flyways and acknowledged that the workshop marked a turning point in the history of the country's accession to AEWA.
The Head of Research and Statistics at DWNP (Dr Michael Flyman) and the Director of BirdLife Botswana (Dr Kabelo Senyatso) skilfully led the participants through the productive discussions and information exchange.
The workshop touched on past, present and future national provisions which are relevant for migratory waterbird conservation. It was interesting to see that bird conservation had been well covered in past legal provisions, including customary laws, cultural beliefs, taboos, totems and legal notices, that date as far back as 1891. It was suggested to ensure the proper incorporation of migratory waterbird issues in the current revisions of the National Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act and National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP).
An international perspective on AEWA, presented by Evelyn Moloko (Coordinator for the AEWA African Initiative), portrayed the benefits, the country would attain by becoming a Contracting Party to the Agreement.
The workshop participants unanimously demonstrated a positive stance with regard to the overall benefit of accession to AEWA and were confident that the process would be readily facilitated with the support of their various institutions and the National Committee for Multilateral Environmental Agreements. The outcomes of the workshop were consolidated in a declaration, engaging the key stakeholders' support towards facilitating the next steps in the accession process.
In her closing remark, the Deputy Director for Environment, Mrs Dorothy Kgathi-Thite expressed her hope that the workshop participants will individually act as champions towards engaging their various institutions in fulfilling their roles and responsibilities in the accession process.
Fruitful bilateral consultations on the subject of Botswana's accession to AEWA were also held with the Director of Multilateral Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, as well as with the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism.
The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat hopes that the intrinsic culture for bird conservation in Botswana will positively influence the accession process, as well as the future conservation of migratory waterbirds and their habitats, and hopes to welcome the country to the AEWA family in the near future.
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