Botswana Journalists from 16 media houses will this week attend a media seminar on the World Heritage Convention (WHC). The two day seminar, scheduled to take place at Maun’s Cresta Riley’s Hotel, will also discuss the nomination of the Okavango delta for world heritage listing.
In a brief interview with The Telegraph, the Director of the National Museum, Gaogakwe Phorano, said they have also invited consultants from UNESCO who will also be facilitating the two day proceedings. Among the topics to be discussed will be the sensitization of the media about the 1972 world heritage convention concerning World Natural Heritage as well as its implementation. The role of the media in the listing preparations and issues of national interests concerning the Okavango delta will also be discussed. Phorano also said He said besides the listing of Okavango, Tsodilo heritage site was also listed in 2001.
“The seminar is not the first in this area, as we have also recently hosted the civil society and visited 36 villages sensitizing communities there on the issue of world heritage listing processes. And so we have decided to host the seminars here so as to be nearer to the Okavango delta, so as to enable us to see and understand the outstanding universal value of the site,” he said.
The end of Day 1 will see journalist being taken for a boat cruise in the Thamalakane river. A visit to a basket community project at Matlapana ward will follow the next day, coupled with another site seeing of Lake Ngami in Sehitwa village. The seminar is sponsored by the government of Botswana as well as the Southern Africa Regional Environmental Program, SAREP.
