NATA WORKSHOP REPORT

Theme:
Sustainable Tourism Development & Nature Conservation in Botswana: Engaging
Communities
Introduction
The ninth edition of the Bona Botswana Environmental Conservation workshops was
billed for and hosted in Nata on the 27th August 2015. Preparations for the event
were completed weeks in advance with confirmations from various government
departments as well as non-governmental organization such as the Nata
Conservation Trust and the Nata Bird San Sanctuary, Department of Forestry and
Range Resources, Nata Land Board, the Department of Tourism, Department of
Wildlife and as usual the Botswana Qualifications Authority. Members of the
community were also well represented in the audience.
This report will analyze the said workshop with the objective of ensuring that we
improve and learn from the experience gained there. The Workshop was rated as
above average with 29 participants making it to the venue. All the stakeholders who
were billed to make presentations as highlighted to above came early and made the
said presentations, we however finished outside the set schedule, instead of
completing at 13:00hrs as envisaged we ended up completing at 15:30hrs due to
the fact that the presentations took longer than envisaged and the audience
brought forth questions which needed expansive or detailed answers. The audience
was however engaging and had questions for the various stakeholders, their level of
engagement was however lower than the other workshops that we had previously
hosted. Below is an analysis of the evaluation of the workshop in Nata.
Challenges
1. The Nata workshop saw us having a turnout of 29 people, lower than the
envisaged 40 delegates, representing a 72.5% turn-up. This however puts the
onus on us to increase our advertising efforts in communities and to ensure
that we integrate with the community for face to face invitations.

2. The inter-activeness of the audience was low in comparison to other locations

with only a few members of the audience being active in asking questions
and seeking for practical solutions from the various presentations made
during the workshop. It should however be of note that those who did engage
with the presenters brought forth relevant questions as well as sought
practical solutions for their community.

Achievements
The Nata workshop was average, the above mentioned challenges led to its
classification as average. The following are the achievements of the Nata Workshop:
1. All the presenters that had confirmed participation at the event attended and
arrived on time for the event. The presentations made during the workshop
were also location specific as they sought out to unearth issues specific to the
Nata community.
2. Members of the community, albeit a few, were able to share their thoughts
with the presenters as well as to seek for clarity on the presentations made
Way Forward
1. We will continue hosting the workshops in private venues where such
facilities exist in the various locations, where they do not we will seek for and
partner with organizations that have the relevant capacity to host the
workshop.
2. Moving forward, invitations to stakeholders and other audience members will
be handled by both the Phiri Tourism team and Botswana Qualifications
Authority to maximize on the numbers as was the case with this workshop.
The invitation list will be compiled and shared with Botswana Qualifications
Authority.
3. The audience for the coming workshops should be varied to include youth
groups, community leaders, government departments, students, teachers,
entrepreneurs and other interest group.

ISSUES BROUGHT FORTH DURING THE WORKSHOP

There were various issues put up for discussion during the workshop that
the presenters and the audience brought forth:
1. Human animal conflict was an issue that wa

NATA WORKSHOP IN PICTURES

Conclusion
Preparations for Tsabong are positively underway; the event will be hosted on the 8 th
of March 2015 at the Dikukama Lodge conference facility. Preparations for the said
workshop will be shared between the Botswana Qualifications Authority and Phiri
Tourism Consortium to ensure the effective delivery of the mandate of the
workshops. We look forward to a successful workshop in Tsabong and can only learn
from the challenges faced in organizing the said workshops. We are grateful for the
advice, mentoring and support we get from the Botswana Qualifications Authority
Bona Botswana workshop team and look forward to continued advice on how to
ensure the effectiveness of the workshops.