About Us

The Department of Wildlife and National Parks is tasked with the responsibility of conserving and managing the country's wildlife resources and their habitats. The principal instrument that the department uses to fulfil the above mandate is the Wildlife Conservation Policy of 1986 and the Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act of 1992, hereafter referred to as the Act, with its subsidiary regulations.

In its preamble the Act is described as:

"An act to make further and better provision for the conservation and management of the wildlife of Botswana, giving effect to CITES and any other international conventions for the protection of fauna and flora to which Botswana is from time to time, a party, to provide for the establishment, control and management of National Parks and Game Reserves and for matters incidental thereto or connected therewith".

Furthermore, there are complementary policies such as the Tourism Policy of 1990, the National Conservation Strategy of 1990, the Tourism Act of 1992 and the Tribal Grazing Lands Policy (TGLP) of 1975, which are predicated on the wise use of the country's natural resources.

The wildlife estate makes up about 37% of the surface area of the country comprising of National Parks and Game Reserves (17%) and Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) (20%). It is thus evident that wildlife is major land-use in the country. Government has taken a deliberate stance to realize economic benefits from wildlife resources through both consumptive and non-consumptive uses. The abovementioned policies together with the Wildlife Conservation Policy (WCP) of 1986 (currently being reviewed) were formulated with this in mind. The over-riding philosophy of these policies is that utilization of wildlife should not be conducted in a way that is detrimental to the continued existence of the resource base.