Changing the Scale and Nature of Artificial Water Points (AWP) Use and Adapting to Climate Change in the Kalahari of Southern Africa

Abstract

This chapter looks at the impact artificial water provision has had upon the sustainable management of both livestock and wildlife populations in the semi-arid savannahs of Botswana. It takes a holistic cross sectoral view as to the role boreholes have historically played in livestock and wildlife management and how their use needs to be adapted to effectively address climate change. As such it frames the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 ‘Life on Land’ fully within SDG 13 ‘Climate Action’ so as to ensure sustainable natural resource management. With Southern Africa savannahs, and those in Botswana in particular, becoming drier and hotter and more prone to droughts and wildfire, particular emphasis is placed upon the need to increase the mobility of both domestic and wild ungulates in order to compensate for the increased spatial and temporal variability in available forage. The chapter emphasises how ‘shared’ landscapes in which rural populations benefit from both domestic stock and wildlife populations are likely to be increasingly important in combatting climate change and reducing human wildlife conflict. The importance of traditional modes of livestock keeping and the wealth of indigenous traditional knowledge (ITK) that exists in rural communities are also emphasised. Case studies are drawn from the Kalahari, Makgadikgadi and Northern ecosystems, to illustrate how sustainable development can be achieved if existing management tools, such as artificial water points (AWPs,) are applied strategically at the appropriate spatial and temporal scale. Reference to the past reveals the importance of a ‘drought corridor’ that enabled mammals and other wildlife to adapt to past episodes of climate change in Africa, which in a modern day context would link the KALAhari to the RIft VAlley (KALARIVA) via a Trans Frontier Conservation Landscape (TFCL). AWPs are regarded as a key management measure that should be used this Century to facilitate the necessary range shifts of key ungulate species along the drought corridor, and also ensure their seasonal and drought related movements are optimised to utilise available forage and minimise die-offs. As such the opportunities presented by a deteriorating climate are emphasised together with Botswana’s potential to lead the way in Southern Africa through implementation of its existing Policies and its leading role in the conservation of free ranging ungulates.