A quality review of environmental impact assessment reports for lodge development in Botswana's Okavango Delta

Abstract

As part of its domestic and international obligations, and in line with global trends, Botswana has introduced Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as the foremost tool for realising sustainable development. This process has been mandatory in the country since the year 2005, and is governed by the Environmental Assessment Act. However, despite over 17 years of enforcement, published and replicable substantive evaluation of this policy tool is near-absent. Research on EIA effectiveness seeks to determine whether EIA achieves its intended goals. Quality-review of EIA reports ascertain whether information reaching authorities is sufficient for decision-making. Findings from reviews in other countries reveal that although EIA information can generally be said to be satisfactory, descriptive aspects of EIA reports tend to be better performed, generally concealing the technical inadequacy of the content. Commentary on EIA efficiency in Botswana is based on perceptions, rather than systematic review. This desktop research, therefore, sought to address this knowledge gap by evaluating the quality of 31 EIA reports for lodge development in Botswana's Okavango Delta. The specific objectives were to (1) identify the overall quality of EIA reports approved between 2013 and 2021 for luxury lodges in the area, (2) compare performance by Review Area, and (3) perform a longitudinal assessment on the overall quality of the reports. The research results would thus potentially inform policy, legislative and institutional reform, as well as continual improvement of the policy tool. The review used the Lee and Colley package, adapted to the legal requirements of the Botswana Regulations, together with best practice guidelines. The resultant package thus had 4 Review Areas, spanning 17 Categories and 75 Sub-categories. For Botswana, research on substantive EIA effectiveness is a fledging activity, and hence an internationally-important multi-designated site, the Okavango Delta, was selected as the first location to conduct a quality review to determine this effectiveness of EIA in the country. Findings revealed the quality to be borderline-unsatisfactory with nearly four in every five reports being unsatisfactory, though quality had improved between 2013 and 2021. As seen in other countries, quality was better in descriptive than in analytical aspects of the EIA reports.