Students explore Africa's largest wetland

More than twenty students from Australia, Botswana, the US and UK are taking part in a week-long field course at Botswana's Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The delta spans two million hectares

The Okavango Delta is a vast inland mosaic of islands, woodlands and flood plains where the Okavango River empties into the Kalahari Desert instead of flowing into the ocean.

Extraordinary wildlife and diversity

The delta is home to one hundred thirty thousand elephants, more than four hundred forty bird species, crocodiles, hippos and black vultures. Okavango Research Institute director Mpaphi Casper Bonyongo calls it very spectacular with lots of wildlife and different vegetation types.

“It's a very attractive ecosystem, it's very spectacular. Lots of wildlife grazing. Different vegetation types, different birds, fish, everything. So, so much diversity.”

A free-flowing river system

Unlike many rivers worldwide, the Okavango is still pretty much free flowing, meaning plants and animals are still responding to boom-and-bust ecology, says UNSW Professor Richard Kingsford.

“Unlike many rivers of the world, this one is still pretty much free flowing. That means that the plants and animals … [are] still responding to that boom-and-bust ecology.”

Water travels from Angola to Botswana

Most water from the delta starts as rain in Angola's highlands, filters through tributaries into Namibia, then reaches Botswana where it floods each winter, crossing three countries.

Same pressures as Australian rivers

Rivers worldwide face over-extraction, climate change and pollution. The Okavango Delta faces the same issues as Australia's Murray Darling Basin and Lake Eyre Basin, Professor Kingsford says.

“Rivers all over the world are getting the same sort of pressures, over-extraction, climate change, pollution.”

Cross-border management lessons

Like the Murray Darling Basin, the delta is managed across borders. Botswana, Namibia and Angola work together to manage its resources, offering lessons for international water management.

Upstream agriculture threatens the delta

Irrigated agriculture is cropping up at a very fast pace upstream, says Mpaphi Casper Bonyongo. Flood magnitude has declined over many years, with fossil rivers showing areas that used to flood but no longer do.

“The biggest threat is development upstream, in particular agriculture. Irrigated agriculture is cropping up at a very fast pace.”

Climate change compounds the decline

Climate change is one of several factors impacting the delta alongside development. The magnitude of floods has declined over many years, likely due to factors associated with climate change.

Only seven thousand African wild dogs remain

The course exposes students to endangered African wild dogs, of which only seven thousand remain. They have massive home ranges of about seven hundred fifty square kilometres for one pack.

Khaza region holds a quarter of the population

UNSW Associate Professor Neil Jordan has spent more than a decade researching African wild dogs. The Khaza region is home to more than a quarter of the remaining population, making it one of the few strongholds left for the species in Africa.

“This is one of the few strongholds left for this species in Africa.”

Students collect data on ecosystem health

Throughout the week, students collect data to assess the health of the system. Over a decade, different groups have noted large variations in flood size and animal numbers in this part of the delta.

Course changes career trajectories

Arizona State University student Allison Froese is considering changing from medicine to veterinary science and conservation after the course. Staff hear repeatedly that many students say the course has changed the trajectory of their professional life.

“I have discovered I want to be more out in tune with nature than the real world.”

Building international conservation networks

The course aims to build networks of international connections leading to future collaboration. Students learn from one another, share knowledge and resources, and many former participants now work in conservation around the world.

Australian students apply lessons at home

UNSW student Sophie Nguyen says seeing how water is managed in Botswana has made her think about proper water management in Australia. Management strategies that work here can be used back home.

“Seeing how water is managed here has really made me think a lot about how water can be properly managed back home in Australia. If there's something good that's happening here we can obviously be using it in Australia.”