After expressing a strong interest in undertaking a national ecosystem assessment, Botswana developed a scoping report in 2021, funded by the Japan Biodiversity Fund, determining the need for the assessment and defining key policy questions to address.
- In April 2022, the International Climate Initiative (IKI) offered to financially support Botswana’s full national ecosystem assessment project through the NEA Initiative. Significant progress has been achieved since then: Botswana has identified the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN) as its project manager and reviewed and updated the preliminary scoping exercise completed in 2021 to include missing elements such as climate change and indigenous and local knowledge.
- In 2023, the team hosted several workshops, including a stakeholder activity and a validation and inception workshop for the assessment.
- To ensure a seamless transition to the Expert Evaluation stage, which marks the second phase of the national ecosystem assessment process, the Botswana team, with support from UNEP-WCMC’s National Ecosystem Assessment Initiative and UNESCO, conducted a workshop for assessment authors from 12 to 16 February 2024 in Gaborone, Botswana.
Implementing agency: Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN)
Government partner: Department of Environmental Protection, Ministry of Environment and Tourism
