How much is Okavango Delta worth? By Mphoeng
Category: Botswana Elephants, Donors, Fund Raising | Date: Mar 20 2009 | By: elephantsofbotswana
The arrival of floods in our camp and seeing how much distance the water covers of the dry desert has left me wondering how much the Delta is worth.
It has brought life to a desert, some would say a miracle in itself and can we put a price on that?.
The arrival of so much fresh, water giving water into the Okavango Delta led me to question how much the Okavango Delta is worth. Economists may well have an answer to that, if they took on board the revenue it brings in from tourism, the jobs that it creates, and calculates how many people it supports and what it would cost the government to support if it was not there. But is worth really just down to money?
Let’s look at the role of the Okavango Delta.
Its support a lot of species including the elephants, purification of the water biologically as the water seeps through the deep Kalahari sands and the reeds that clean the water at no cost. Here, no man-made machinery is needed to purify the water it is a natural endowment. So the question that I pose to our lovely blog readers is in monetary terms how much is the Okavango Delta?
The role that the Okavango Delta plays is priceless when I look at the abundant species it supports. Botswana as a country benefiting immensely from the Okavango Delta, it has supported people adjacent to it for many years. Elephants have benefited from the vast land of delta and it supports a high biodiversity. Medicinal plants that Delta provides help local communities, palatable fruits of delta, oh the list is endless. How much is this Delta worth?
For me it is priceless, and that is why I have dedicated my life it to. But is it safe? No. Conservation is not a business, it does not give a return in monetary terms but it does give - it gives the knowledge that wilderness, such as the Okavango Delta, which are the lungs of the world are safe….. how much is that worth to you?
Tags: conservation, delta, donation, risk
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Hi, I am Kate Evans, or more commonly known as Elephant Kate. I am a zoologist whose great love is elephants. Since 2002 I have been living my dream by researching elephants in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. I decided I was going to be an elephant researcher when I was seven. I was living in Asia at the time and visited the elephant orphanage in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It was there that I made up my mind I was going to work for these majestic and intelligent animals. I made a promise to an elephant and we all know an elephant never forgets!!!! It took me 20 years to finally realise my dream and start my life as an elephant researcher. It was 20 years well spent and now I have to pinch myself most days to make sure it is true and I am living my dream.
I now head up a team who are researching the elephants and trying to work out the social and ecological needs of the largest remaining population of the African elephant. From time to time, other team members will add their thoughts and experiences. I love sharing my experiences - so I hope that this blog is a medium through which you will be able to join the elephants and I on our adventures in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. -
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5 Responses to “How much is Okavango Delta worth? By Mphoeng”
Anna M, on 20 Mar 2009
Like you say priceless, currently showing on the BBC in the UK at the moment is the primetime series - Nature’s Great Events, episode 5 shown last week was named The Great flood, showing perfectly what you have just described.. By accident I came across the following article from the delta showing an albino elephant calf just spotted in your delta region, hopefully you can follow the link from here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7951331.stm..
Sally, on 20 Mar 2009
I’ve just seen a picture of a three month old albino calf in the Okavango Delta. It was part of a BBC online newsgrab. Have you been lucky enough to spot it yet?
Kate, on 24 Mar 2009
No, we have not seen it yet - we are keeping our eyes open for it. It was my good friend Mike Holding that spotted it whilst he was out filming.
Kate
Pirjo,Finland, on 27 Mar 2009
This ecosystem is priceless.Botswana is lucky to be located in that part of the Africa, which is not suffering of worst droughts in decades. We are receiving quite alarming news from Kenya where the effects of climate change is most likely causing
water shortage = conflicts between humans and wildlife will get worse.
elephantsofbotswana, on 17 Apr 2009
This year we are experiencing a very high flood and so water shortage is not a problem, as ever there is not guarantee year on year what the weather will be and it is this unpredictability which is a big problem.
We always hope that the rain will come and so far we have been lucky.
Kate
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