Learning about Natural Resources Management in Botswana

The second PEBES mobility module had been under preparation since the beginning of 2023. Soon after the first mobility in Finland a multitalented and multidisciplinary group of Education and Natural Sciences students were selected to delve into the topic of Community Based Natural Resources Management (CMNRM) and what that particularly meant in northern Botswana.

Online lectures and discussions during July and August gave all participants a rough idea about what was to be expected in the Chobe Enclave area in northern Botswana. The lectures covered different aspects of natural resources management. Of course, it was still very much different and more impressive to see and experience everything on-site in the end of August. The mobility course was coordinated by Prof. Joyce Lepetu from Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Dr Kgomotso Mabusa was also engaged in supervising the students from three different countries: Finland, Botswana and Namibia.

The intensive programme in Botswana comprised a seminar day in the city of Kasane with presentations from a wide array of stakeholders, workshopping between the PEBES students and, most importantly of all, an unforgettable visit to the village of Kavimba. We were welcomed to Kavimba by tribal chief Kgosi and the village elder and were given an exceptional privilege to participate in the traditional meeting, Kgotla. The students presented their questions and ideas they had elaborated during the workshop. The two main topics included human-wildlife conflicts and use of natural resources. The joint discussion was eye-opening and respectful, thus leaving us visitors feeling warm and grateful.

After the students and lecturers had headed back home, Prof Joyce Lepetu and PEBES project leader Doc. Annika Saarto from the University of Turku (UTU) had a meeting with Deans of the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN). A wish to further tighten the collaboration between BUAN and UTU was expressed, for instance, in Biodiversity Education.

Photo: “Together around Baobab” by Laura Keihäs