Kaza signing shelved once again

THE signing of a memorandum of understanding on a cross-border conservation project involving five southern African countries has once again been postponed.

The agreement on the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (Kaza) was to be signed at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe on November 2. Reliable sources told The Namibian that the signing was postponed at the request of Botswana, as its Minister of Environment would not be available on that date.Botswana apparently rejected a suggestion by other countries involved in the project that its Deputy Minister should sign the document.Professor Willem van Riet, the Chief Executive Officer of the South African-based Peace Parks Foundation (PPF) – which is funding the project – said there seemed to be a problem with setting a date acceptable to all five countries.It is the third time that the signing ceremony has been rescheduled.The project, which involves Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Angola and Zimbabwe, is based on the wetland ecosystems of the Zambezi and Okavango rivers.The proposed target area includes a major part of the Upper Zambezi Basin, the Okavango Basin and the Okavango Delta – the largest contiguous wilderness, wetland and wildlife area in southern Africa.The envisaged Kaza project covers an area of about 280 000 square kilometres and would include 22 protected areas.It is expected that the signing of the agreement will help to mobilise considerable development assistance for this project.Reliable sources told The Namibian that the signing was postponed at the request of Botswana, as its Minister of Environment would not be available on that date.Botswana apparently rejected a suggestion by other countries involved in the project that its Deputy Minister should sign the document.Professor Willem van Riet, the Chief Executive Officer of the South African-based Peace Parks Foundation (PPF) – which is funding the project – said there seemed to be a problem with setting a date acceptable to all five countries.It is the third time that the signing ceremony has been rescheduled.The project, which involves Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Angola and Zimbabwe, is based on the wetland ecosystems of the Zambezi and Okavango rivers.The proposed target area includes a major part of the Upper Zambezi Basin, the Okavango Basin and the Okavango Delta – the largest contiguous wilderness, wetland and wildlife area in southern Africa.The envisaged Kaza project covers an area of about 280 000 square kilometres and would include 22 protected areas.It is expected that the signing of the agreement will help to mobilise considerable development assistance for this project.