Project description

In addition to helping conserve the area, Vumbura Plains is part of a community participation plan that brings the benefits of ecotourism to the communities that live around the Okavango Delta. The Okavango Community Trust is a community based organization which administers the Duba and Vumbura land concessions (totally over 89 000 hectares) that have been ceded by the Botswana government to five villages located in the Okavango Delta: Seronga, Gunitsoga, Eretsha, Betsha and Gudigwa. OCT represents the 5,000 people residing today in these five villages and ensures that the ecotourism activities carried out in the region produce tangible benefits for the rural communities. Since its inception, the communities have benefited from substantial cash and auxiliary returns, jobs, skills transfer and training in nurturing this area, and in turn are doing a superb job of managing the concessions, oversee projects and direct the flow of funds. Wilderness Safaris is a partner of the Okavango Community Trust and has 3 camps in its concessions: Duba Plains, Vumbura Plains and Little Vumbura. The partnership promotes employment and  training to all local community members in all aspects of lodge management and biosphere conservation of this area.