Editing Botswana (section)

===Biodiversity and conservation===
{{Main|Wildlife of Botswana}}
[[File:Cebras de Burchell (Equus quagga burchellii), vista aérea del delta del Okavango, Botsuana, 2018-08-01, DD 28.jpg|thumb|Zebras roaming the Okavango Basin]]
Botswana has diverse areas of wildlife habitat.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |title=Botswana {{!}} African Wildlife Foundation |url=https://www.awf.org/country/botswana |access-date=2024-05-31 |website=www.awf.org |language=en |archive-date=31 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240531215139/https://www.awf.org/country/botswana |url-status=live }}</ref> In addition to the delta and desert areas, there are [[grassland]]s and [[savanna]]s.<ref name=":10" /> Northern Botswana has one of the few remaining large populations of the endangered [[African wild dog]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=African wild dog {{!}} Canids |url=https://www.canids.org/species/view/African-wild-dog |access-date=2024-05-31 |website=www.canids.org |archive-date=4 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604175214/https://www.canids.org/species/view/African-wild-dog |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Chobe National Park]] in the [[Chobe District]] has the world's largest concentration of [[African bush elephant|African elephant]]s. The park covers about {{convert|11000|km²|sqmi|0|abbr=on}} and supports about 350 species of birds.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moseley |first=William G. |title=Too many elephants in African parks? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2013/4/21/too-many-elephants-in-african-parks |access-date=2024-05-31 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en |archive-date=31 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240531233829/https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2013/4/21/too-many-elephants-in-african-parks |url-status=live }}</ref> In Botswana [[forest cover]] is around 27% of the total land area, equivalent to 15,254,700 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 18,803,700 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 15,254,700 hectares, of the naturally regenerating forest 0% was reported to be [[primary forest]] (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 11% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 24% of the forest area was reported to be under [[public ownership]] and 76% [[private ownership]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/a6e225da-4a31-4e06-818d-ca3aeadfd635/content |title=Terms and Definitions FRA 2025 Forest Resources Assessment, Working Paper 194 |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |year=2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, Botswana |url=https://fra-data.fao.org/assessments/fra/2020/BWA/home/overview |website=Food Agriculture Organization of the United Nations}}</ref>

The Chobe National Park and [[Moremi Game Reserve]] (in the Okavango Delta) are major tourist destinations.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bunge |first=Bianca |date=2021-05-31 |title=Top 10 Tourist Attractions In Botswana |url=https://secretafrica.com/top-10-tourist-attractions-in-botswana/ |access-date=2024-05-31 |website=Secret Africa |language=en-US |archive-date=31 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531201917/https://secretafrica.com/top-10-tourist-attractions-in-botswana/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Other reserves include the [[Central Kalahari Game Reserve]] located in the Kalahari Desert in [[Ghanzi District]]; [[Makgadikgadi Pans National Park]] and [[Nxai Pan National Park]] are in the [[Central District (Botswana)|Central District]] in the [[Makgadikgadi Pan]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Central Botswana {{!}} Botswana Safari |url=https://www.itravelto.com/place/Central-Botswana.html |access-date=2024-05-31 |website=www.itravelto.com |archive-date=31 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240531233838/https://www.itravelto.com/place/Central-Botswana.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Botswana faces two major [[Natural environment|environment]]al problems, [[drought]] and [[desertification]], which are heavily linked. Three-quarters of the country's human and animal populations depend on groundwater due to drought. [[Groundwater]] use through deep borehole drilling has somewhat eased the effects of drought. Surface water is scarce in Botswana, and less than 5% of the agriculture in the country is sustainable by rainfall. In the remaining 95% of the country, raising livestock is the primary source of rural income. Approximately 71% of the country's land is used for communal grazing, which has been a major cause of the desertification and the accelerating soil erosion in the country.<ref name="rala.is">{{cite web |last=Darkoh |first=Michael |title=Desertification in Botswana |url=http://www.rala.is/rade/ralareport/darkoh.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010191509/http://www.rala.is/rade/ralareport/darkoh.pdf |archive-date=10 October 2010 |access-date=30 March 2010 |publisher=Rala |pages=61–64 |location=IS}}</ref>

Since raising livestock has been profitable for the people of Botswana, they continue to exploit the land with dramatically increasing numbers of animals. From 1966 to 1991, the livestock population grew from 1.7{{Nbsp}}million to 5.5{{Nbsp}}million.<ref name = "rala.is" /> Similarly, the human population has increased from 574,000 in 1971 to 1.5{{Nbsp}}million in 1995, a 161% increase in 24{{Nbsp}}years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Botswana |url=https://www.comptonherald.org/joa-botswana |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=Compton Herald |language=en |archive-date=1 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240501224436/https://www.comptonherald.org/joa-botswana |url-status=live }}</ref> Environmentalists report that the Okavango Delta is drying up due to increased livestock grazing.<ref name="afrol.com">{{cite web |url= http://www.afrol.com/articles/21794 |title= Botswana, US sign 'Debt-for-Nature' agreement |publisher= Afrol |access-date= 4 July 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091201140712/http://www.afrol.com/articles/21794 |archive-date= 1 December 2009 |url-status= live}}</ref> The Okavango Delta is one of the major semi-forested wetlands in Botswana and one of the largest inland deltas in the world; the ecosystem is crucial to the survival of many animals.<ref name="afrol.com" />

The Department of Forestry and Range Resources has already begun to implement a project to reintroduce indigenous vegetation into communities in Kgalagadi South, Kweneng North and Boteti.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mogotsi |first1=Kebadire |last2=Kanego |first2=Arabang |last3=Sebele |first3=Neelo |last4=Kgaswane |first4=Medi |last5=Gabaitse |first5=H. |title=New opportunities for combating desertification in Botswana: Women in action for sustainable land and natural resources management |url=http://www.unccd.int/iydd/documents/NOTCDIB.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100724145917/http://www.unccd.int/IYDD/documents/NOTCDIB.pdf |archive-date=24 July 2010 |access-date=30 March 2010 |publisher=UNCCD}}</ref> Reintroduction of indigenous vegetation will help reduce the degradation of the land. The [[United States Government]] has also entered into an agreement with Botswana, giving them US$7 million to reduce Botswana's debt by US$8.3 million. The US stipulated that Botswana will focus on more extensive [[Conservation biology|conservation]] of the land.<ref name="afrol.com"/> The country had a 2018 [[Forest Landscape Integrity Index]] mean score of 9.13/10, ranking it 8th globally out of 172 countries.<ref name="FLII-Supplementary">{{cite journal|last1=Grantham|first1=H. S.|last2=Duncan|first2=A.|last3=Evans|first3=T. D.|last4=Jones|first4=K. R.|last5=Beyer|first5=H. L.|last6=Schuster|first6=R.|last7=Walston|first7=J.|last8=Ray|first8=J. C.|last9=Robinson|first9=J. G.|last10=Callow|first10=M.|last11=Clements|first11=T.|last12=Costa|first12=H. M.|last13=DeGemmis|first13=A.|last14=Elsen|first14=P. R.|last15=Ervin|first15=J.|last16=Franco|first16=P.|last17=Goldman|first17=E.|last18=Goetz|first18=S.|last19=Hansen|first19=A.|last20=Hofsvang|first20=E.|last21=Jantz|first21=P.|last22=Jupiter|first22=S.|last23=Kang|first23=A.|last24=Langhammer|first24=P.|last25=Laurance|first25=W. F.|last26=Lieberman|first26=S.|last27=Linkie|first27=M.|last28=Malhi|first28=Y.|last29=Maxwell|first29=S.|last30=Mendez|first30=M.|last31=Mittermeier|first31=R.|last32=Murray|first32=N. J.|last33=Possingham|first33=H.|last34=Radachowsky|first34=J.|last35=Saatchi|first35=S.|last36=Samper|first36=C.|last37=Silverman|first37=J.|last38=Shapiro|first38=A.|last39=Strassburg|first39=B.|last40=Stevens|first40=T.|last41=Stokes|first41=E.|last42=Taylor|first42=R.|last43=Tear|first43=T.|last44=Tizard|first44=R.|last45=Venter|first45=O.|last46=Visconti|first46=P.|last47=Wang|first47=S.|last48=Watson|first48=J. E. M.|title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material|journal=Nature Communications|volume=11|issue=1|year=2020|page=5978|issn=2041-1723|doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3|pmid=33293507|pmc=7723057|bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G |doi-access=free}}</ref>

The [[United Nations Development Programme]] (UNDP) claims that poverty is a major problem behind the [[overexploitation]] of resources, including land, in Botswana. The UNDP joined in with a project started in the southern community of Struizendam in Botswana. The project's purpose is to draw from "indigenous knowledge and traditional land management systems". The leaders of this movement are supposed to be the people in the community to draw indigenous people in, which in turn increases their opportunities to earn an income, thus decreasing poverty. The UNDP also stated that the government has to effectively implement policies to allow people to manage their own local resources and the programme is giving the government information to help with policy development.<ref name="afrol1">{{cite web |url = http://www.afrol.com/articles/13090 |title = Botswana villages fighting desertification |publisher = Afrol |access-date = 4 July 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091102221242/http://www.afrol.com/articles/13090 |archive-date = 2 November 2009 |url-status = live}}</ref>