1. World Heritage Listing for the Okavango Delta. Karen Ross, Wilderness Foundation

2. Botswana’s Okavango Delta Fed by waters from the Angolan highlands, the Cuito and Cubango Rivers join to form the Kavango River which travels along the Namibia border into the Caprivi Strip. On reaching Botswana the river slows and spreads out across the Kalahari sands to form the a unique inland delta, at the end point of the entire Okavango River Basin.

3. The delta is internationally recognised as a key seasonal refuge for large migratory mammals….. Zebra, wildebeest & buffalo As well as these, the Okavango Delta is a refuge to threatened and endangered species including rhinos, lions, cheetahs, wild dogs … and numerable smaller species including plants and birds elephants

4. The delta is also a wetland oasis for many ecologically important flagship species including Sitatunga, Lions and Red Lechwe

5. It is also a haven for smaller animals from kingfishers to reed frogs But …… this fragile desert wetland is vulnerable to any developmental changes upstream or around its borders.

6. The hydrology of the Okavango Delta depends on upstream inflow from Angola as well as local rainfall in Botswana 1990 – dry period 2000 – wet period

7. The Annual floods bring life-giving water to the Okavango Delta each year The annual flooding of the Delta occurs when rains in Angola collect and travel through the river basin. The annual flooding of the Delta occurs when rains in Angola collect and travel through the river basin. Reaching the Delta the Okavango River floods its banks across thousands of square kilometers of dry sandy grasslands. This transforms the parched landscape in the dry season, when food and water are most needed by the Delta’s inhabitants.

8. Because the Delta is the endpoint of a wetland system spanning three countries, actions upstream have profound implications for the Delta’s ecological health. Angola Namibia Botswana Water flow

9. Statement of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). The Okavango Delta is a globally unique freshwater inland Delta, biologically rich and vital to ecosystem services, which is an example of intactness in a wetland and integrity as a natural system SUMMARY OF QUALITIES A pristine inland Delta measuring over 16,000 square kilometers in size which supports the lives of over 50,000 people by providing freshwater, food, building supports the lives of over 50,000 people by providing freshwater, food, building materials, medicinal plants as well as employment through a viable tourist industry materials, medicinal plants as well as employment through a viable tourist industry A wetland in an otherwise arid environment that is an extension of Botswana’s Kalahari desert, and incorporating a variety of habitats including woodlands, riverine forests grasslands, floodplains and sand veldt islands The Delta supports an outstanding biodiversity of life including 150 species of mammals, over 500 species of birds, 90 species of fish, as well as plants, reptiles, invertebrates and amphibians It supports globally threatened and endangered species including wild dogs, cheetahs, lions, black and white rhinos and sitatunga antelopes and ome to endemic species such as Eriospermum linearifolium and Adenium boehmianum

10. WORLD HERITAGE CRITERIA The Okavango Delta fulfills Criteria vii) to x) for Natural Sites vii) Contains superlative natural phenomena and natural beauty viii) An outstanding example of geologic process – an inland alluvial fan which is the extension of the East African Rift Valley system fan which is the extension of the East African Rift Valley system ix) An outstanding example of ecological and hydrological process x) A natural habitat for the conservation of biological diversity containing threatened species of outstanding universal value. containing threatened species of outstanding universal value.MANAGEMENT: The Okavango delta is an International Ramsar Site, which is managed according to several government plans including the Okavango Delta Management Plan (ODMP) and the recently completed Ngamiland Integrated Land Use Plan PROTECTION: Apart from Moremi Game Reserve and Ramsar designation, the Okavango Delta has no other over-arching legal protection (see map below)

11. Landscape planning and transboundary protected areas As this map shows, the life-artery of the Okavango Delta has no legal protection……

12. International Conventions to provide landscape conservation The Ramsar Convention The World Heritage Convention (UNESCO) The Okavango River Basin Commission (OKACOM)

13. PUTTING OKAVANGO DELTA ON THE TENTATIVE LIST BOTSWANA – THE QUESTION IS – DO YOU RECOGNISE THE OKAVANGO DELTA AS YOUR GLOBAL TREASURE, THAT DESERVES TO BE ENSCRIPTED BY THE WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION?