Improved Waste Management

Liquid waste management and disposal remains a problem that can have devastating impacts on the Okavango Delta’s ecosystem. The current challenge is to develop a standard liquid waste management strategy to guide communities and tourism operations, within the Okavango Delta Ramsar site, in the management of their waste streams. The strategy should ensure that liquid waste is properly managed in the whole Okavango Delta Ramsar site, particularly in the tourism and related sectors, complying with national policies and regulations and meeting or exceeding international standards and hereby preventing possible loss of biodiversity and other environmentally harmful consequences that could otherwise result from insufficiently managed waste (NCSA, 2002). Arguably the biggest challenge has to be ownership of the waste management responsibility by all the Interested and Affected Parties (IAPs). It is not a waste management strategy document per ser that will ensure that the Okavango Delta is protected from pollution but the responsible actions of the current polluters.