Botswana Tourism Sector Strengthens Focus on Biodiversity and Nature-Related Risks

Botswana Tourism Sector Strengthens Focus on Biodiversity and Nature-Related RRisks. Botswana is strengthening efforts to integrate biodiversity considerations into its tourism sector through capacity-building on the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).

The training programme is being led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN), in collaboration with the Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO).

A series of capacity-building training sessions has been conducted in Kasane, Maun and Tsabong, bringing together tourism stakeholders to develop their understanding of nature-related risks and opportunities.

The sessions focused on how tourism businesses depend on nature and the potential vulnerabilities associated with those dependencies. Participants also explored nature-positive actions that could create business opportunities while supporting longer-term resilience.

The initiative comes as Botswana’s tourism sector continues to operate around natural assets that are central to the country’s visitor experience and economic activity.

The TNFD framework provides a basis for organisations to consider how their activities interact with nature and to identify, assess and manage nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities.

Through the training, tourism stakeholders were given an opportunity to examine these issues in relation to their businesses and consider ways of strengthening their understanding of nature-related factors.

The sessions held in Kasane, Maun and Tsabong form part of the capacity-building efforts being undertaken by UNDP BIOFIN and BTO.

For businesses operating within tourism, the training provides a platform to consider how dependence on natural resources and ecosystems can affect operations and long-term resilience.

The programme also highlighted the potential for nature-positive approaches to contribute to new business opportunities while addressing vulnerabilities linked to nature-related risks.

Botswana’s tourism industry relies on natural assets as an important component of the visitor experience, making biodiversity and nature-related considerations relevant to the sector.