A/HRC/31/59/Add.1 2. Okavango Delta 59. The Okavango Delta has been on the UNESCO list as a natural World Heritage Site since June 2014, representing a great success for Botswana. The site is well-known for its beauty and biodiversity, but less-known for the peoples who have lived there for thousands of years, interacting with the environment and building their cultural practices and world visions in relation to it. The delta supports the livelihood of thousands of people by providing freshwater, food, building materials, medicinal plants and employment through the tourism industry.36 The anticipated effects of the listing include a long-term strategy for the conservation of the biodiversity of the delta as well as a new opportunity for the San peoples to share in the duties of conservation and the benefits of sustainable tourism and natural resource use.37 60. Five ethnic groups inhabit the Okavango Delta, each with its own language and identity. These are the Bugakwe, the ||Anikhwe (San indigenous peoples), the Dxeriku, the Hambukushu and the Wayeyi (Bantu peoples). All face serious challenges which impact on their well-being and the sustainability of their cultures. In particular, the shift from a traditional market economy to a cash market economy requires a change in livelihood systems, which many resist. Many people face poverty and discrimination, particularly during the transition period. The inscription on the UNESCO list was supported by the majority of the local communities living in and around the delta. The Special Rapporteur welcomes, in this regard, the Government’s efforts to conduct a series of consultations with the communities concerned prior to the submission of the nomination dossier. She stresses, however, that some of the people with whom she met had expressed the view that the consultation process was confusing and not appropriate, and that only leaders were consulted, not the people. 61. In order for the delta to be considered for nomination, and thanks to the work, in particular, of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 38 the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC), as well as local NGOs such as the Kuru Family of Organizations (KFO) and San activists, Botswana was required to provide detailed information about the cultural heritage and user access rights of the San peoples. Key additional information included in the nomination dossier recognized that the Delta has been inhabited for centuries by indigenous peoples, including the Khwe (Bugakwe and ||Anikhwe) and that these peoples have a special relationship with their land (forests and the Delta) and attach high social, spiritual and cultural significance to it. The nomination dossier acknowledged the land uses by the Khwe peoples, including the performance of rituals, hunting, tracking and gathering practices, conservation techniques and skills used to maintain the fauna and the flora. It also provided some key cultural landmarks of the San, including ancestral graves, spiritual and sacred sites, and sites of historical importance.39 62. 36 37 38 39 See International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), “Iconic Okavango Delta becomes 1,000th World Heritage Site”, news release, 22 June 2014, available at www.iucn.org/?16018/IconicOkavango-Delta-Becomes-1000th-World-Heritage-site. See Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, “Botswana accepts San as indigenous to the Okavango Delta”, 25 June 2014, available at www.osisa.org/indigenous-peoples/Botswana/ Botswana-accepts-san-indigenous-okavango-delta. See Botswana, Okavanga Delta World Heritage Nomination Dossier, annex, IUCN letter, 13 December 2013. See Botswana, Okavanga Delta World Heritage Nomination Dossier, annex, Supplementary information, January 2014. 15