Botswana Wildlife Research - Increasing Capacity

The aims of this project are to accommodate and facilitate wildlife researchers within private concession areas in northern Botswana and thus to increase research capacity in hosting and funding researchers and research which address questions of national and international importance in the field of ecology and endangered species protection.

For more information on sub-projects, please see:
- Botswana Sable Research
- Okavango-Kalahari Wild Dog Research Project

Introduction
A familiar challenge to all field-based wildlife researchers is that linked to securing study sites and also logistical support in the form of accommodation, food, communications, access to fuel and mechanical and logistical services. Wilderness Safaris has sought to open its c. 500 000 hectares of concession areas to researchers in order to address the first of these challenges and has often found solutions to the second set as well. Accommodation and transport within the areas has remained a challenge however. In the first step of this three-year project the Wilderness Safaris Wildlife Trust has secured funding from The Leading Travel Companies' Conservation Foundation in order to develop three research camps located in key areas of northern Botswana. In return Wilderness Safaris will open these areas to researchers from leading academic institutions and provide logistical and in-kind support for these individuals and their work.

Project details
Funds were requested for the construction of three basic research units. These units consist of a simple canvas, shade-cloth and gum pole tent on a cement base, with a built-in bathroom, two beds and a desk, as well as a similar facility for visiting academics such as supervisors or co-workers. The units are powered by solar panel, inverter and battery system (for laptop and a fan) and the water is heated by means of a solar water heater geyser that requires no power at all, thus minimising environmental footprint at the camp site. Three vehicles will be purchased to service these three camps so as to avoid logistical challenges presented in the normal day-to-day running of a camp and which can impact on research flexibility.

The research tents are built at the following locations, ensuring a broad ecological footprint that allows a wide variety of studies and thus a comprehensive opportunity to cover the current key research issues:
1) Mombo (mammals: zebra)
2) Kings Pool (vegetation-elephant interaction)
3) Vumbura Plains (Community-based ecotourism / mammals: sable)
Within these areas there are two projects currently taking place, with two proposed projects for Vumbura Plains. 

Some projects - proposed and current - that will benefit:

• Mombo (current project): Large herbivore population structure and patterns of assemblage in the Okavango Delta. Researcher: Harriet Bartlam, pursuing her PhD through University of Bristol, United Kingdom. 

• Kings Pool (current project): Elephants and Biodiversity: Spatiotemporal Dynamics of the Linyanti Woodland, Northern Botswana. Researcher: Gabi Teren, pursuing her PhD through University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.

• Vumbura Plains (current project): Meyer's Parrot Nesting Project - use of nest boxes as a conservation tool for Meyer's Parrot (Poicephalus meyeri) and other Poicephalus parrots in the wild. Researcher: Steve Boyes, pursuing his PhD through University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. 

• Vumbura Plains (current project):  Okavango Nest Box Project - an investigation of the ecological role of tree holes. Researcher: Zenzele Mpofu, pursuing her MSc through University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. 

• Vumbura Plains (proposed project): A study on the impacts and benefits of tourism ventures on local communities in the Okavango Delta Ramsar site in northern Botswana. This is a project currently being planned in collaboration with Dr. Brian Child, Associate Professor from the department of Geography at the University of Florida. The project aims to involve post-graduate students from the University of Florida to focus on Community Based Natural Resource Management as well as conservation of natural resources through involvement of local communities. 

These research units, and a continuing increase in capacity over the next three years, will ensure an increase research output from the private concession areas in northern Botswana. This will result in an increase in data and analysis being made available to both the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks as well as to regional protected area managers. This is particularly relevant in the context of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Park that links Botswana, Angola, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.