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P
eople
:
social
inclusion
,
green
jobs
,
education
The STMT, through revenues accrued from natural
resource utili¬zation, has been offering assistance to
community members in the form of scholarships, funeral
cover, support for local sports activities, transport services,
stand pipes for water, toilets and supporting the activities
of the village primary school. This is a laud¬able effort of
sustainable livelihood practices at the local level supported
by all stakeholders.
Benefits to the environment
Since the formation of the STMT, natural resources
management practices in Sankuyo have improved. The
community has a greater appreciation of the importance
of sustainable natural resources management. Incidences
of poaching, which were on the rise, have also declined
to zero. The enhanced relationship between people and
natural resources/wildlife is in part a result of the fact that
the local community enjoys socioeconomic benefits from
these resources.
Through Community Escorts Guides, the STMT moni-
tors the state of the environment within the area. It also
engages in community awareness raising, thus ensuring
that all community members know the value of natural
resources management.
Success factors for local sustainable development
The STMT has shown the value of the engagement of the
local community in sustainable development at the local
level. The following elements were critical in their success:
Community involvement
: wider consultations among
members are important in ensuring that there is ownership
of the Trust and its operations and that the community
supports all efforts towards conservation and the challeng-
ing aspects of benefit distribution
Stakeholder engagement
: the need to engage stakeholders
cannot be over-emphasized. Stakeholders bring different
expertise and the necessary advice, which is important to
the sustainability of the community organization
Guidelines
: a community organization needs to develop
guidelines regarding all components of its operation. This
should be endorsed by the community, as members of the
organization. Guidelines will ensure that the organization
operates through agreed processes and procedures
Government’s role
: the role of government is to ensure
that its people are developed. Therefore, community
organizations must constantly engage with government
as a way of soliciting advice and more opportunities for
development. With regard to STMT, the Government of
Botswana leased to it an area rich in wildlife and other
biological resources. This was a major boost, which the
community utilized to improve natural resources manage-
ment and the socioeconomic status of the community.
Botswana has measures and systems in place which
support sustainable development, not only at the national
but also at the local level. This was enabled through
the CBNRM policy and the leasing out of state land to
community organizations. Such an arrangement leads to
improved natural resources management practices and
enhanced rural livelihoods.
which was not viable because they lived in a wildlife-dominated area.
Therefore, their crop fields were repeatedly destroyed by wildlife. They
were also heavily dependent onGovernment social services in the formof
monthlymeal rations, subsistence allowance and old-age pensions. Illegal
hunting of wildlife for subsistence purposes was high and the village
experienced high levels of illiteracy among its youth.
Objectives and management of the STMT
The STMT’s main objectives are to engage in conservation and manage-
ment of area’s Sankuyo and NG33 and NG34’s natural resources and
to realise economic benefits for livelihood improvement and poverty
reduction. Therefore, the trust provides a balanced approach in terms
of the environmental and socioeconomic status of its operations.
The STMT has a ten-member board of trustees that is elected for two
years at a time. The Board meets once a month and holds an Annual
General Meeting, at which all members of the community participate.
2
It makes decisions on behalf of the community and provides guidance
on the overall management of the Trust.
Achievements
Since its formation, the STMT has ensured that the management of the
natural resource base leased to it is undertaken in a sustainable manner
that also contributes towards livelihood improvement. The approach
that has been adopted to achieve this is through partnerships with expe-
rienced private companies in the form of JVPs. The following provides
a brief overview of the JVPs that STMT has engaged in since 1995, and
the benefits attained.
STMT partnered with Game Safari Company in 1997 for a period of
twelve months for purposes of hunting. It generated P285,000 and 30
employment opportunities for the locals.
In 1998, the STMT partnered with Crocodile Camp for hunting and
ecotourism projects. The partnership was for three years. In 1998, the
partnership generated P285,000; in 1999 the figure was P462,850; and
in 2000, P595,460. In this period, the partnership generated 50 jobs.
In 2001, the STMT engaged in a JVP with HCH. This was a five-year
partnership that managed to generate P1,3 million and 56 jobs for the
local community.
Land rentals, hunting quotas, community development levies and
game birds yielded P1, 801,657 for STMT in 2003; P1,734,666 in 2004;
and P1,630,400 in 2005. By 2005, a total of 103 locals were directly
employed by the STMT through its operations and those of the JVPs.
The STMT also operates Santawani lodge, Sankuyo bush camp,
Kaziikini camp site and Shandereka cultural village, which have collec-
tively created 45 jobs and generated over P400,000 in revenue in 2010.
STMT partnered with Squacco Heron Pty (Ltd) in the operation
of the Dibatana research camp and Moremi tented camp. These have
managed to create 30 jobs for the locals.
In 2011, the STMT generated P2,277,100 from a partnership with
Johan Calitz Safaris (JCS). These were generated from game quotas and
land rentals as the JCS had leased the hunting camps of Mokolwane
and New camp.
Socioeconomic benefits
The people of Sankuyo Village have benefited from the STMT in
a number of ways. The employment of locals has provided a major
economic boost to the livelihood of the community of Sankuyo. Also,
the STMT assists households with cash payments of P550 per house-
hold per month. It also pays P1,100 to members of the community who
are over 55 years and with no jobs.