International diamond miner De Beers and magazine National Geographic have launched the Okavango Eternal, a landmark partnership to protect the source waters of the Okavango Delta and the lives and livelihoods they support.

The five-year commitment represents critical inward investment in Botswana’s resilience and long-term recovery in the years ahead and is focused on working with communities in the Okavango to deliver ecological solutions that lead to collective economic opportunity.

The Okavango Basin – spanning southern Angola, Namibia and Botswana – is the main source of water and food security for many communities and the Okavango Delta’s health is dependent on these source lakes and rivers.

While the Delta itself holds protected status as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) World Heritage site, parts of the Okavango Basin that feed it do not.

The effects of climate change, deforestation and upstream commercial agriculture are putting this critical lifeline at risk.

Since 2015, the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, through its implementation partner the Wild Bird Trust and in consultation with traditional and community leaders, has been working to secure permanent, sustainable protection for the Okavango Basin.

With Okavango Eternal, National Geographic has been joined by De Beers to provide on the ground support and funding to expand and accelerate work already under way, helping to establish sustainable local livelihoods in harmony with the Okavango Basin’s conservation.

The partnership will focus on protecting the natural world and supporting communities and settlements across Botswana, Namibia and Angola.

The partnership’s primary focus in Botswana is on protecting the natural world, providing long-term wildlife corridor protection for the movement and proliferation of endangered species, supporting critical conservation research through funding expeditions to gather new data, as well as installing monitoring technology and building the capacity of local researchers through grants and training, besides others.

De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver says that supporting Botswana’s long-term sustainable development is a central priority for De Beers Group, and the miner “continues to have a clear focus on identifying the best ways to support government with its response to the immediate challenges presented by Covid-19”.

“While we are proud to have worked to help support the country’s most pressing needs, we also know that there must be a focus on the longer-term recovery and rebuilding following the effects of the pandemic.”

De Beers says in the statement that it is committed to investing in Botswana’s future and that the partnership with National Geographic will “play an important part in this vital recovery work” through supporting lives and livelihoods, especially those in the crucial eco-tourism sector which has been so hard hit by restricted travel.

“The Okavango Delta is truly a natural miracle and we must ensure its long-term health, both in support of Botswana’s economic future, and in support of all the people and wildlife that depend on it,” Cleaver states.

National Geographic explorer Dr Steve Boyes stresses that “there is no doubt that the Okavango River Basin is under threat”, and that the world now has its “last chance” to help protect the natural wonder.

Boyes is also the leader of the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project.

“Together, we will leverage our collective resources to scale efforts to facilitate long-term, sustainable management of protected areas in the region by helping establish further partnerships between governments, nongovernmental organisations and local communities through a sustainable conservation economy.”

Botswana Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism Minister Phildah Kereng, meanwhile, highlights the Okavango Delta’s “remarkable natural beauty and profound importance to every generation of Botswana”.

“It is our privilege to be able to experience its wonder, but we cannot take this privilege for granted. With this in mind, I commend the commitment shown by De Beers and National Geographic to work alongside stakeholders in the region to ensure the Okavango Delta’s source waters are protected so that it can continue to provide us, our children and our children’s children with water, with jobs and with inspiration,” Kereng said.

The Okavango Eternal partnership will support a range of specific activities in Botswana, including developing livelihoods opportunities for communities in the Delta, supporting biodiversity and raising awareness of the Okavango Delta and its benefits through storytelling.