Cross-sectoral institutional cooperation framework
The Okavango Delta Management Plan (ODMP) was launched by the Minister of Environment in February, 2008. The ODMP is now an over-arching planning tool for the Ngamiland District, with implementation of action items done by sector departments and coordination roles provided by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), which is now decentralized and having its first satellite office in Ngamiland District (Maun). This has therefore created an enabling environment for the mainstreaming of biodiversity management objectives within the key sectors of the ODMP (e.g. land management, waste management, sustainable tourism, wildlife management, fisheries management, water management etc)
ii) At the local and basin levels cooperation amongst stakeholders has already been secured through the ODMP Research, data management and participatory planning component, which has established a range of stakeholder networks.
One such network is the Okavango Wetland Management Committee (OWMC), which represents a wide range of Delta stakeholders such as District government institutions, private sector, NGOs and local natural resource users. The draft National Wetland Policy and Strategy (NWPS) advocated for the formation of district wetland management committees that would assist in integrative wetland management. The Okavango Wetland Management Committee (OWMC) was the first of such committees to be formed in the country during the preparation of the ODMP. The BIOKAVANGO Project has continued to build the capacity of the OWMC in to facilitate integrative wetland planning at both Delta and Basin levels. This is attested by the fact that a sub-committee of the OWMC is currently steering the Transboundary Diagnostic Assessment/Analysis under the Environmental Protection and Sustainable Management of the Okavango River Basin (EPSMO) Project. As per its ToRs, the OWMC meets quarterly and discusses a range of cross-sectoral issues, passing resulting recommendations and resolutions to the District Development Committee.
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