Jeff Fortenberry, US Representative for Nebraska's 1st congressional district, Ed Royce House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, and Eliot L. Engel Ranking Member, have introduced the Defending Economic Livelihoods and Threatened Animals (DELTA) Act.
A press statement said the bipartisan bill sought to promote sustainable economic development and to combat wildlife trafficking in the critical Okavango River Basin.
“This transnational conservation initiative marks a new approach to protecting majestic species such as the African elephant and rhinoceros, while creating dynamic new benefits for the surrounding countries and indigenous people,” said Fortenberry.
“Today the critical Okavango River Basin is near a breaking point. Unwise development and wildlife poaching and trafficking threaten to destroy this rare inland delta,” said Royce.
To save this unique habitat, its iconic wildlife and the communities that rely on the responsible management of the watershed, co-ordination among governments in the region must be strengthened and leverage public-private partnerships.
“We’ve seen this work before, with the Congo Basin Forest Partnership.” said Royce.
Engel said closer collaboration with partners in Angola, Namibia, and Botswana would help support both the people and the wildlife living in the greater Okavango River Basin. Working together in a spirit of mutual respect could help promote sustainable development, prevent wildlife trafficking, and preserve this unique and irreplaceable ecosystem, he said, something that the bill aimed to do.
“I’m glad to join with Representative Fortenberry and Chairman Royce in this bipartisan effort.”
The Okavango River Basin supports more than one million people in Angola, Botswana and Namibia and is home to several threatened wildlife species, including the largest remaining elephant population in the world.
