| Overview : Chobe National Park, which covers an area of around 10 590 SQ KM is located in the Northern part of Botswana within the Chobe District. The CNP was gazetted on the 08th March 1968 (GN No.4 of 1968). The Mababe Triangle was added in 1980 (SI No. 126 of 1980) and the Kakulwane triangle was added in 1987 (SI No. 9 of 1987). The park was divided into four main focal points comprising the Chobe River Front with flood plain and the teak forest, the Savuti Marsh in the west about 50km north of Mababe gate, the Linyanti swamps in the north west and the hot dry land in between (Nogatshaa). At the peak of the ivory trade, the Chobe National Park was the favourite hunting ground for settler communities from Northern and Southern Rhodesia. This uncontrolled hunting threatened the viability of a large number of mammal and unique species such as the Chobe bushbuck, puku. To safeguard and sustain these and other species and create a place for relaxation and leisure, the Chobe National Park was established in 1931. To effectively manage wildlife resources in the Chobe National Park, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) assisted by Dr. C. Spinage working for FGU in 1988 drafted the first management plan for the Park. In this case a management plan was defined as a “policy document designed to guide the activities of the mother institution”, which in this case is the Department of Wildlife and national Parks. The 1988, plan was followed by a second draft in 1993 by Deloitte and Touche. In 1997, through the European Union funded Wildlife Conservation and Development Project for National Parks a third management plan was produced. In 2000, on behalf of the Chobe Wildlife Trust, the Ecosurv consultancy company produced the Chobe River Front Management Plan. The purpose of this plan was to reduce the perceived congestion along the Chobe River Front. The river front is an area designated as a High Density Tourism Zone (HDTZ), where all the tourist establishments in Kasane and surrounding settlements take their clients for game viewing, boat cruises, bird watching and other activities. Currently the Park operates with three draft plans being the CNP management plan of 2002, CNP management plan of 2008 and the CNP River Front Management plan of 2008. In order to promote management efficiency and effectiveness of the Chobe National Park it needs an approved management plan. Management plans provide direction for the management and development of the park in a manner that enhances recreational opportunities, protects park resources, and provide for public input and protection of the environment. The plans also serve as a basis for continuity and consistency when staff is transferred. They assists park management to allocate scarce resources and when deficiencies become apparent it provides a powerful argument for outside assistance or for co-operative efforts between government departments. There is also a requirement for constant review of management plans to align with emerging challenges, policies and to meet changing needs for parks to succeed or achieve their overall objectives. To this end, the National Parks and Game Reserves Regulations require the review of protected area management plans every five years. It is for this reason that the review of Chobe National Park (CNP) Management Plan is of paramount importance at this moment. The purpose of the review of the management plan is therefore to reconcile all previous planning efforts into a single, easy-to-read and implementable document for the day-to-day use of the Park Managers in fulfilment of the requirements of the National Park and Game Reserve Regulations of 2000 (see Moremi and Makgadikgadi Nxai Pans National Parks Plans). The proposed review also comes at critical time whereby forest reserves are being opened up for ecotourism purposes and therefore providing an opportunity for complementarity of their management. Therefore, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) has proposed for the review of the Chobe National Park Management Plan. In light of this, UNDP is seeking to engage the services of a team of specialists led by an ecologist with extensive experience in protected area management and natural resources management to review the management plan of the Chobe National Park and ensure that the overall management plan reconciles all the previous and current planning efforts in to an implementable document. | 
