Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 9.5
Assets owned by communities involved in ecotourism
Assets
Total no of assets owned by Trusts
No of communities that own assets
DSTV
(Satellite television)
2
2
Internet access
7
7
Computers
23
17
Printers
24
14
Cars/vehicles
42
15
Source:
Schuster, 2007
Schuster (2007) argues that ecotourism has transformed the people living in
some rural communities in the Okavango Delta from being beggars who survive
on handouts from the Botswana Government and donor agencies into productive
communities that are moving towards achieving sustainable livelihoods. In
addition to providing social services, communities involved in ecotourism have
invested a certain percentage of their funds in physical development projects and
into assets that are made accessible to most of the people in their villages (Table
9.5). The majority of the communities involved in ecotourism in the Okavango
Delta operate grocery and bottle stores in their villages, own vehicles for trans-
portation, have built their own offices and have access to radios and computers
(Arntzen et al, 2003; Mbaiwa, 2007; Schuster, 2007). These assets are owned by
communities and managed by Trusts. Some of the assets include buildings for
offices, grocery and bottle stores.
Assets owned by the community are bought using communal funds generated
from ecotourism enterprises. As a result, Schuster (2007) argues that even though
vehicles bought by ecotourism projects are meant for business, they are also used
as a form of transportation by community members for personal reasons between
one village and another. Community members can also hire these vehicles in case
they want to transport their goods from one point to another. These vehicles can
also be used to transport the dead and mourners - yet another important aspect
of community and rural development in Botswana. As noted earlier, most of these
projects are located in remote areas which only a decade ago were very difficult to
access. The availability of transportation has increased the accessibility of these
once remote areas to big regional centres like Kasane and Maun in northern
Botswana or Molepolole in Kweneng, Ghanzi in Ghazi area and Hunkuntsi or
Tsabong in Kgalagadi in the south. The introduction of television sets, modern
computer technology, internet and radios in the remote villages of Botswana is an
important aspect of rural development, particularly because it enables the people
to keep informed of the latest developments not only in Botswana but in most
parts of the world. The reinvestment of funds from ecotourism into other
economic activities by rural villages is an important aspect of community devel-
opment. In this sense, ecotourism can be described as one of the tools promoting
economic development in rural areas of Botswana.
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