The videos are broken down into segments, and thus it is best to watch in order.
Part 1: Roy responds to the following questions.
How does Botswana balance the need to protect habitat and wildlife with the pressure from commercial interests looking to exploit these in the short term?
I remember reading about San peoples displaced from their traditional lands in order to allow diamond mining to take place. Can the commissioner comment on how this has impacted these communities and whether current policy rules out such occurrences happening elsewhere within the country?
(Kavey: regular tourist / wildlife photographer – London)
Part 2: Roy responds to the following questions.
Will Botswana allow more airlines to fly to Gabarone and Maun than they now do?
(Shaytay: regular tourist / wildlife photographer)
What percentage of safari operators are wholly owned by foreign companies / corporations? How much of their revenue filters down to local communities, and what employment opportunities are provided by such companies?
How can more solely Botswanan companies / majority owned Botswanan companies be encouraged to compete when many of the most popular concessions/areas are under control of foreign companies?
With such extravagant prices being charged by some camps and operators, what steps are being taken to provide for the more budget orientated tourist, or even for local Batswanan people, who it appears are priced out of experiencing the wildlife and wilderness of their own country?
What is the Botswanan government's position on trophy / sport hunting and how will it continue to play a part in the country's tourism sector?
(Matthew Wilkinson: director – www.safaritalk.net)
Part 3: Roy responds to the following questions.
There was an article was in the Ngami Times a while ago (sorry I don't have exact date) and I wonder if the Commissioner could give his opinion on the comments that:
"Maun businesses fear a proposed clampdown on self-drive tourists will cripple the town economically" ... "Thousands of self-drive tourists from South Africa and Namibia pass through Maun each year enroute to game reserves, paying for the use of campsites and lodges, and buying from supermarkets, filling stations and restaurants. Many also take scenic flights."...
(Daj: regular tourist)
Is it true mobiles safaris may be banned?
With the economic downturn is Botswana still seeking the same market of high end, high luxury accommodations?
How does the fencing in the Kalahari affect the wildebeest migrations?
Has Botswana felt the effects of more tourism due to the World Cup?
How has cattle ranching affected the San bushmen and the water levels on which they are dependent?
Part 4: Roy responds to the following questions.
What is the current situation with San bushmen's hunting grounds and areas being set aside for national parks?
Are you pleased with the opportunities for the local communities that industry giants such as Wilderness and AndBeyond are making possible?
From a Botswana perspective how is the Limpopo Peace Park coming along? What are the challenges and successes you have seen? Any projections regarding this transfrontier park?
(Lynn: regular tourist – USA)
Part 5: Roy responds to the following questions.
Is it possible for a Long-term tourist visa for a Botswana tourist"? I'm an Indian citizen who visits regularly, and can't figure out why Indian citizens need a visa while the rest of the common wealth countries, don't need one. The process to get a visa is also tedious and stressful. I have no problems with the rules and regulations, just need information as to the possibility of a long-term visa. Even a one year multiple entry validity could be useful.
(MadaboutCheetah: regular tourist – India)
I will be traveling to Botswana later this year to look at a few small plots of ground near Maun with a view to purchase something . I am looking at building a very small lodge and campsite to be used as a holiday home/base for safaris. This i can assure people will not be aimed at the high end market, but at friends who want to really get to know the real bush and the secrets it has.
What I am trying to find out is
- how are foreign buyers considered in Botswana
- could a mortage be raised in Botswana
(Paul: Conservationist / Lodge owner and manager – UK)
Part 6: Roy responds to the following questions.
Last November I visited Botswana for the second time, staying at Wilderness Lodge properties again, and surprisingly I found myself having dinner with a couple who own and operate a hunting concession in Bots, mainly elephant hunting. This reminded me that Botswana is one of the many (?) who offer both protected and unprotected contiguous sectors. It was interesting to listen to the arguments in favor and frustrating not to have sufficient information to offer counter questions based on something other than emotion . . . Hunting and "photographic" safaris are conflicting practices -- cohabiting now for a variety of reasons, but unsustainable over time or so it would seem to me -- but I wonder what the official position/rationale might be. Monetary and otherwise?
Also, to reiterate questions raised by others, I am personally concerned about the direction in which Botswana's "low volume/high cost" strategy is heading. The pressure to "upgrade" properties' amenities, and attendant costs, is out of control and I don't know which aspect I dislike more. The expense, even at the lower end, is sufficient to rule out all but the very well heeled, not to say rich, but the properties themselves are increasingly divorced or insulated from the environment visitors have traveled to experience. OK, this visitor is increasingly isolated from that environment. The camps I knew and loved in '04 have all been "improved" beyond recognition.
So what is the question? Is this the market at work? Is there any connection to the cost of concessions and the requisite investments in same, or is it entirely a case of maximizing a return on a given company's investment? The long term implications of a tourist population made up of uber-privileged Europeans/Americans is frankly, not any prettier than it is healthy.
(Krugerwest: regular tourist)
Part 7: Roy responds to the following questions.
Does the Botswana Gov recognize the threat to elephants in many parts of Africa posed by the current high levels of illegal ivory trade and high levels of poaching and will this situation not be made worse should the proposals from Tanzania and Zambia which are seeking to downlist their elephant populations from Appendix I to Appendix II of CITES with trade in over 110 tonnes of ivory be approved by the Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention in March this year?
Will the Government of Botswana provide financial assistance to the economically challenged countries of West and Central Africa to help them protect their elephants from poaching pressure?
(Will Travers: Wildlife Conservationist - The Born Free Foundation.)
The views expressed therein are solely those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect those of Safaritalk.
