A Chronology of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve: Update III, 2002 – 2012

The Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana has seen disagreements between local people and both local and international non-government organizations and the state over land and resource rights. Botswana government policy has tended to emphasize biodiversity conservation, high-end tourism, mining, and settlement development outside of the reserve. Residents and former residents of the reserve attempted to secure their rights to live in and utilize the resources of the reserve through negotiation, lobbying, and, eventually, the filing of two legal cases in the High Court. This paper discusses the issues relating to the Central Kalahari during the period beginning January, 2002, when the second major relocation of residents of the reserve occurred, through 2012, when some of the former residents of the reserve had returned to the Central Kalahari after having won what some see as two precedent-setting legal cases.