OKAVANGO BUFFALO RESEARCH

THE ECOLOGY OF THE AFRICAN BUFFALO (Syncerus caffer) IN THE OKAVANGO DELTA, BOTSWANA

A PhD study by Emily Bennitt

DISSEMINATION OF RESULTS

The government of Botswana has issued a research permit for this project (EWT 3/3/8 XXXVII 44), which is valid for two years from October 2006, after which time it will be renewed. One of my supervisors is Dr. Casper Bonyongo, a researcher at the Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre (HOORC), part of the University of Botswana, who completed his PhD on herbivore ecology in the Okavango Delta. This study is therefore closely tied to both the government and the University of Botswana. My other supervisors are Prof. Stephen Harris of the University of Bristol and Dr. Chris Brooks, also of the University of Bristol.

Throughout the two years that will be required to complete the fieldwork, quarterly progress reports will be submitted to Botswana’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP). These progress reports will also be distributed to the leasers of the concessions surrounding the Moremi Game Reserve, to local communities and to the Okavango Delta Management Plan (ODMP). The ODMP was set up in 2002 “to integrate resource management for the Okavango Delta that will ensure its long-term conservation and that will provide benefits for the present and future well being of the people, through sustainable use of its natural resources” (http://www.envirobotswana.gov.bw/pdffiles/odmp.pdf).

All sources of funding will be acknowledged in the final thesis as well as in all publications, copies of which will be sent to all sponsors. All publications (including any video footage) will also be sent to several authorities in Botswana, including the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, the National Library Service, the National Archives, the DWNP, the University of Botswana and the Department of Environmental Affairs.

Results will be distributed to local communities, concessionaires and any other interested parties. A series of papers will be submitted to scientific journals, such as the Journal of Animal Ecology, the Journal of Applied Ecology, the Journal of Animal Behaviour and the African Journal of Ecology.