Strategic Environmental Planning Process for NGOs in Botswana

Special focus for the IUCN Botswana NGO Support Programme 1998-2000 has been to support the NGOs in Botswana in improving their strategic planning through training in strategic environmental planning and guidance in formulating an overall 'umbrella' NGO Strategy on the Environment as well as more specific Strategic Plans for four major environmental issues (i.e., Forestry & Veld Products, the Okavango Delta, Wildlife, and Urban Environment).

The documents NGOs aim to launch the NGO Strategy on the Environment and the four more specific strategic plans at the NGO Conference on the Environment to be held 1-3 August 2000.

The NGOs has initiated this process of strategic environmental planning in order to develop and/or identify indicators and tools to critically examine and measure whether they are working within the context of sustainable development.

The process has so far assisted the NGOS in achieving a better overview of the context, problems, opportunities and information gaps, and in identifying areas for strategic action. In addition, the process has resulted in that NGOs have increasingly realised the importance of strategic planning as well as need for improved networking and forming effective partnerships.

Below is briefed about the methodology used and presented some of the major findings.

Methodology used

The Strategic Environmental Planning Process is being guided by the Strategic Environmental Analysis (SEAn) methodology which has been developed by AIDEnvironment and SNV.

In brief the SEAn methodology consists of 10 steps, which are clustred in 4 groups:

1. Man-environment context analysis and impact assessment.
2. Environmental problem analysis.
3. Environmental opportunity analysis.
4. Formulation of a sustaianble development policy and/or action plan, including implementation follow-up strategy.

A Guide on Strategic Environmental Planning for NGOs is being developed during the process and will be published in hardcopy and on this web site by IUCN Botswana in December 2000.

For more information on the Stratgic Environmental Analysis methodology in general, click here to visit the SEAn website hosted by AIDEnvironment and SNV in the Netherlands.

Key Issues Identified

On the basis of strategic environmental analyses, NGOs have identified the following as the future key (ecological, social, institutional and social) issues for the environment which needs special attention by all actors to ensure more sustainable development in Botswana.

Ecological issues

• Increasing the use of renewable energy.
• Increasing water conservation, improving water availability and groundwater recharge.
• Improving waste management and reduced pollution.
• Encouraging environmentally friendly building design and construction.
• Encouraging environmentally friendly transport.
• Improving rangeland quality (soil fertility and protection).
• Increasing knowledge on stock of forestry and veld products.
• Promoting indigenous agroforestry techniques and cultivate raw material.
• Gaining insight in varying flood regime in Okavango area and other water regulation functions.
• Developing management systems of elephant populations.
• Reversing trend of declining wildlife numbers.
• Reversing trend of declining habitat availability (area and quality), including forest and veld products.
• Promoting sound cattle management techniques.

Social issues

• Increasing involvement of society in formulation of policies.
• Improving access to resources (land and water mainly).
• Improving management of natural green areas in urban areas.
• Reducing poverty and unemployment through environmentally sound income generating activities.
• Promoting education and information supply for sustainability, including relation with health and nutrition.
• Raising environmental awareness with/of the media.
• Improving the housing conditions.
• Improving equitable land rights and land tenure, and sharing of benefits from the use of natural resources.
• Enhancing local level capacity building, strengthening local organisations and institutions, and local level decision making.
• Increasing insight and respect of local culture, traditional knowledge and aesthetic values.
• Increasing insight in urban-rural dynamics with respect to the use of natural resources.
• Increasing insight in gender/age/class/ethnicity issues with respect to natural resource management.

Institutional issues

• Improving knowledge of environmental policy and legislation at local level.
• Improving sharing of information on environmental issues between actors at different levels.
• Improving consultation of communities in policy formulation processes and planning processes.
• Adjusting conflicting and inappropriate environmental policies, stimulating the development of appropriate environmental policy and legislation (e.g. water policy, urban planning, land-use planning).
• Strengthening enforcement of environmental policy.
• Improving extension services by NGOs, and collaboration with training institutions.
• Increased monitoring and research on critical environmental issues, including possible thresholds.
• Increasing commitment to environmental issues by politicians.
• Supporting environmentally motivated citizens / organisations.
• Improving legislation to improve access to and control over resources by communities.
• Improving communication capabilities and mechanisms of NGOs and local communities with government and private sector.

Economic issues

• Improving economic valuation and analysis of natural resources.
• Improving marketing and generation of revenues from veld products, formation of marketing co-operatives.
• Increasing demand for traditional medicinal plants and a need for improved marketing and a more organised system of supplying veld products.
• Increasing revenues from environmentally friendly business.
• Increasing sources and mechanisms of funding environmental activities (e.g. coalitions with private sector).
• Expanding sustainable community based tourism sector.
• Developing cost-effective alternatives to unsustainable use of natural resources (e.g. fibreglass canoes, non-wooden bridges).
• Developing transboundary resource management.
• Developing community business skills and enterprise development.
• Increasing government support to CBNRM at decentralised levels.
• Stimulating reinvestment of funds into conservation (where possible).
• Increasing benefits for local communities from scientific research of natural resources (e.g. use local communities for data collection).

Cross-cutting Themes

The NGOs have identified the follwoing six cross-cutting themes which will be their focus for actions in the coming years:

• Education for Sustainability
• Community Based Environmental Management
• Land and Resource Tenure
• Environmental Agenda, Policy and Legislation
• Environmental Economics
• Environmental Monitoring and Research

The Strategy and the four strategic plans are being finalised over the next-coming months.

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Last Updated: December, 2000

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