3 December 2024
After several false starts and years of slow progress, Maun Education Park’s transformation into Maun Science Park is almost complete, with the site finally set to open its doors to the public in January.
Billed as a state-of-the-art project for sustainable living in Botswana, all that is left, according to the Chairman of Fauna Conservation Trust of Ngamiland, Tiego Mpho, is to finish off the toilets. As well as the loos, Fauna Trust, in partnership with The Conservation of Natural Ecosystems Trust (CONNECT), are hard at work refurbishing the park’s entrance and restocking the site with wildlife in preparation for the grand opening.
“The main reason we could not open the park to the public earlier is because there were no proper ablutions. The current works are expected to be completed next month,” explained Mpho.
Located in the heart of the tourist town, along the mighty Thamalakane River, besides serving as a practical field for tour guides and people interested in animals, birds and flora, it is hoped the park will attract local and international visitors, ultimately helping transform Maun’s economic fortunes.
“We will have tour guide students come in to study animals’ stools, marks and birds among other lessons. People will come in for camping, photography, research and just enjoy nature without having to travel into the Okavango Delta,” added a visibly excited Mpho.
The park will house herbivores only, with species such as giraffe, antelope, zebra and warthog roaming freely in the 2.5 sq km stretch of land.
“We have some of these animals already in there and since the rainy season has begun, we will bring more. We were delayed by the drought,” the Chairman continued.
Maun Education Park dates back to the colonial era when Botswana was still under British rule and was created to bring wildlife closer to Ngamiland, targeting communities who live outside the Okavango Delta and national parks. It was initially run by Batawana, through the Fauna Conservation Society of Ngamiland, but was taken over by Department of Wildlife and National Parks in 1979, when government assumed control of most national parks around the country. Since then, the park has largely remained unused.
In 2013, in an attempt to revive it, the government, under then President Ian Khama, moved to privatise the park. The idea was to transform it into a tourism hub with planned five star hotels and lavish restaurants. Despite millions of Pula being reportedly poured into the project, it never took off.
In 2019, during Kgosi Tawana Moremi’s 50th birthday celebrations in Maun, former President, Mokgweetsi Masisi announced he would give the park back to the Batawana community as a gift to their chief, who had just retired from active politics. Getting the Education Park and Moremi Game Reserve back under Batawana control had been one of Moremi’s biggest ambitions for years, including during his time in parliament.
The development of the park was then delayed by the COVID outbreak in early 2020. However, the following year, Kgosi Moremi announced a bolder plan for the park to be developed into a Science Park as part of Maun’s efforts to go green.
At the time, Moremi indicated a whopping 500 million Euros (P5 billion) had been budgeted for the park’s conservation, the bulk of which was donations from various universities and research institutes from around the world.
The transformation is expected to play out over the coming years, including the construction of a University of Modern Architect Engineering, among other envisaged developments. Let’s hope they’ve got the toilets sorted by then!
Source: https://thevoicebw.com/science-park-to-open-in-january-once-the-s-is-sorted/
