GMA Leases and Hunting in Bots
 

Some changes in store with concessions in northern Botswana:
The Selinda concession is apparently due to renew this year and I have been told that instead of a 15-year lease (which has been the lease term for the Ngamiland concessions in the past), this GMA will be given a 30-year lease.

Once this precedent has been set, the future concession renewals will also likely be set at 30 years.

Another significant change is that if the leaseholder has maintained the property to certain standards (not sure what those will be or how they will be measured), then the leaseholder will not have to re-tender to "win" the GMA (as has been in the past). Instead, the lease will simply be renewed with the current leaseholder. I suspect that this may vary depending on the respective community involvement in the process.

In Selinda's case, it doesn't hurt to have President Khama as a partner!

The Linyanti concession is due for renewal in the next couple years.

Hunting tidbits and ramblings:
The NG26 concession (Seba and Abu's) is now 100% photographic and Randall Moore is out of there it seems for good. There are some other small changes whereby photographic has moved into previously hunted portions of concessions, like in the southern portion of NG34 (hunter = Johan Calitz), and of course in NG29/NG30, with Rann's hunting operation now giving up hunting grounds to andBeyond with their new camps Xudum and Xaranna (notice the Rann name is part of their camp XaRANNa).

James

James
have you got some information on the Kwando concession regarding hunting?

SV

As far as I am aware, there is hunting in Kwando's NG14 concession. The photographic safari camps are along the eastern boundary of NG14 while the hunting occurs to the west.

John Mynhardt is Kwando's executive director:
http://www.kwando.co.za/content/view/34/35/

As far as I know, The Mynhardt's are also the leaseholders of NG 20 and conduct hunting there.

James

James,

I would appreciate it if you stopped spreading mis-information regarding companies that are not Wilderness Safaris, particularly Kwando Safaris.

You imply in the statement above, that John Mynhardt and Kwando conducts the hunting safaris, which is simply not true. They do share a concession with a hunting company, called Bird Safaris. This is a different company and has no connection with Kwando.

The Kwando Camps are in the some of largest concessions in Botswana. We have established before on this forum that camps from other well known operators are actually closer to hunting operations than any Kwando camp.

In NG14, which is mentioned, the hunting camp is deep in the Mopane, far from any game drive area. For those that have driven through Mopane will know, it is not really geared well for photographic safaris. The concession has 99,000 hectares of non-hunted area covered by 2 camps;

One third larger than the Sabi Sands or the Vumbura/Duba concessions. (60,000 hectares)

The agreement is no different to that of the Abu concession, where WS had their own section of a concession, the hunters theirs.

I notice that nobody is questioning their ethics following the Abu Concessions move from hunting/photographic to purely photographic. Did they not promte themselves as a company that only operators in concessions with no hunting?

See James, it is easy to sling mud, even more unfair to do in testing economic times when all camps are competing for clients that are declining in numbers.

Kwando do not endorse, promote, conduct or condone hunting, just the same as WS. They do offer a fantastic safari experience, with an emphasis on hardcore game viewing.

No safari operator is perfect, with it possible to question the background (history), ethics and operations of all of many of the major operators across the continent.

Comments made by inudstry professionals, should be done so with a degree of balance and objectivety, something I dont believe has been done here.

And yes, I have had fantastic game viewing on my regular holidays with Kwando, but also with my time at WS camps.

"Kwando do not endorse, promote, conduct or condone hunting, just the same as WS. They do offer a fantastic safari experience, with an emphasis on hardcore game viewing."

Just wait for those Youtube videos........

But those cape hunting dog sightings is mud any camp would like slung at them!