Wilderness Safaris Botswana Launches Biodiversity Survey Week

With the arrival of the Okavango Delta’s annual inundation, Wilderness Safaris is running a Biodiversity Survey Week on its private concessions in Botswana from 2 to 7 July 2018. During this time, camp managers and guides are charged with completing at least one drive per camp per day, to record the location and number of any of Botswana’s 20 Birds of Concern that they spot.

The survey forms part of Wilderness Safaris’ biodiversity monitoring programme and will assist the Conservation team in assessing the distribution and numbers of these important species. Further supporting the survey, Wilderness Safaris Botswana Conservation Manager, Kai Collins and Sustainability Coordinator, Baz Sandenbergh, will be traversing the Okavango Delta by boat to undertake surveys, not just the 20 Birds of Concern assessment, but full wetland bird, mammal, frog and fish surveys, as well as water quality sampling, over the whole 250+ km transect. Environmental Manager, Segametsi Monnamorwa, will be leading a team from Wilderness Safaris’ Maun office to carry out wetland bird surveys along the Thamalakane River in Maun.

Kai also confirmed that, after discussions with renowned southern African ichthyologist Professor Paul Skelton, the team will also trial a technique used in other parts of the world where underwater cameras are used to record fish species diversity at various locations and different habitats for a specific period. The high-resolution underwater footage and photographs will be used to ascertain fish diversity and other details for the fish survey.