North West district Council chairman, Tebogo Bethia, has hailed the use of chili peppers to help farming communities to peacefully coexist with the problematic elephant population of Ngamiland. 

 

Ngamiland and the Chobe have the largest elephant population in Botswana.

 Often this leads to conflict with humans when farmers shoot at elephants that have wandered into their ploughing fields and when elephants kill farmers in self-protection.

 

In his speech to the NWDC full Council meeting last week Bethia called for a collective effort between local communities and the authorities in conserving the flora and fauna of the Okavango delta. 

 

Bethia told the Councilors that the DWLP had registered 214 cases of elephant- human conflict between March and October in Ngamiland this year. He said: “In the same period 75 lion, 57 leopards, 30 wild dog and 10 cases of hyena attack were reported.

 

“As part of the implementation of the Okavango Delta Management Plan (ODMP), the DWNP has been growing chili pepper in a two hectare plot at Xobe with the objective of increasing its production so that farmers can also grow it to fight off the crop-raiding elephants.”

 

He explained that between March and October 2009, 318 farmers had been supplied with chili.  

 

 Unlike birds and other wild animals elephants cannot be scared away with loud sounds. They are known to have a strong sense of smell and can detect crops from about 10 km away, while they can consume an entire ploughed field within an hour.

 

Elephants hate chilli and other strong spices. The chili strategy involves mixing dried chili with elephant dung and water and allowing the mixture to dry. This end product, known as chilli bombs, is burnt and the smoke effectively stops elephants from entering ploughing fields.  

 

On the issue of community based natural resource management (CBNRM), Bethia said P9 876 433.00 was earned through selling hunting quotas, land rentals and other products, while 616 jobs were created by the end of September.

 

However he said, the department still experiences incidents of mismanagement of trust funds. He said as a result the DWNP has opened temporary holding accounts for the Sankoyo Tshwaragano Trust, the Qcae Qcaqe Thabololo Trust, the Okavango Kopano Mokoro Trust, the Okavango Community Trust and the Mababe Zokotsama Community Development Trust. These accounts are administered with the help of the District Commissioner  

 

The chairman noted that “the Okavango Delta has been declared a wetland of international importance, hence it has been declared a RAMSAR Site.” 

 

He said as part of commitment to the treaty local communities have a duty to ensure the careful conservation of all the resources in the delta as spelled out in the Okavango Delta Management Plan (ODMP). 

 

Bethia also briefed the Council on the multiplication of the Salvania Molesta weed in the delta. He said the authorities have warned that the spread poses a threat to biodiversity. 

 

The eradication of the Salvania weed, popularly known as Mochimbamo to locals, has been initiated by the Department of Water Affairs in the past 25 years through physical and bio control programmes. The Bio Okavango project rolled out a programme to equip tour operators with the skills to control and monitor  the weed.