MANAGEMENT, CONSERVATION AND RESEARCH OF INTERNATIONALLY SHARED WATERCOURSES IN SOUTIIERN AFRICA—NAMIBIAN EXPERIENCE WITH THE OKAVANGO RIVER AND RIVERS OF THE EASTERN CAPRIVI

Summary Although the emphasis of the recent National Rivers Research Initiative (now the Research Programme for the Management of Rivers) in South Africa was on river research in that country, the reality is that in southern Africa many watercourses are shared by more than one country. Therefore a central issue in integrated river basin management and development should be the recognition of the principle of international joint planning, conservation, monitoring and research. Co-operation and a better understanding of shared waters would prevent deleterious impacts, not only in the country where they occur, but also in those downstream. With this in mind, since the early 1980s Namibia has worked on joint cross-border projects in efforts to manage and conserve her shared water bodies. These include joint river gauging exercises, biological control of Saivinia molesta in the eastern Caprivi region and, more recently, the application of a biological monitoring technique, the South African Scoring System vers...