Forest reserves ecotourism guidelines in Botswana

Abstract

Botswana is endowed with a diversity of both herbaceous and woody vegetation. The Botswana Government remains committed to biodiversity conservation through the designation of 17% of the land area as protected or conservation areas. The Chobe Forest Reserves comprise part of these protected areas. The vegetation provides a wide range of goods and services that satisfies the needs of the nation at large. The country has a total land area of 582,000km2 of which sixty percent (60%) is comprised of forests and rangelands. Furthermore, out of the sixty percent, only 0.7% is made up six (6) Forest Reserves (Fig 1) covering a total area of approximately 409 540 ha.