This month I traveled to Maun on behalf of habitat INFO to meet up with one of our clients, OneWorld.  Maun is in Northern Botswana and is regarded as the gateway to the Okavango Delta, one of the most incredible places in the World, let alone Africa!

Together with OneWorld I was tasked with presenting the methodology and findings of our risk and vulnerability mapping exercise across the Limpopo basin.  Only a small area  of Botswana is within the Limpopo basin but despite this the majority of its population can be found here.  Botswana are in the process of developing their climate change policy and OneWorld have been working to help guide them in this process; our role is to try and identify the areas which data suggests are the most vulnerable both now and in the year 2050.

The workshop was timetabled over a few days with myself and OneWorld having the floor for one day and the rest of the time being assigned to the University of Cape Town’s Climate System Analysis Group (CSAG).  Our day went very well and the the maps we’ve produced were well received.  We carried out an interactive mapping session where the delegation were tasked with identifying the main risks across the Botswana region of the Limpopo basin.   It was reassuring to see that on the whole these tallied very well with the data inputs we’ve used throughout our mapping exercise!

I added a few days on to my stay in Botswana; it only seemed right seeing as this was my first time in Africa!  I managed to explore Maun a little more but the highlight for me was seeing Elephants, Giraffes and Zebras in the wild!  I took a scenic flight over the Delta and then took a two day overnight Mokoro (a native dug-out canoe) trip into the Delta.  I camped among the Hippos and walked among the wildlife getting only 100 m or so away from Elephants, Giraffes, Zebras and Wildebeest!  I saw Bateleur Eagles, Fish Eagles and African Marsh Harriers which considering our with with the African Raptor Databank was a real highlight too!

The people everywhere I went were so incredibly friendly!  It was a shame to board the plane and head back to the UK!  I think its fair to say, with or without work I shall be heading back to Africa ASAP!

A few photos from my time there…

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