00:02UNESCO World Heritage listed Botswana's Okavango Delta is one of the planet's most pristine wetlands bristling with wildlife.
00:12It's home to more than a quarter of Africa's 400,000 elephants, as well as an array of iconic species
00:22which remain relatively untouched.
00:25Unlike many of the rivers of the world, this one is still pretty much free flowing.
00:30But much like Lake Eyre, Kaditunda or the Murray-Darling Basin, the Okavango Delta faces increasing challenges.
00:38Rivers all over the world are getting the same sort of pressures, over extraction, climate change, pollution.
00:47Not only is it a tourism drawcard, but it's the lifeblood of communities in Botswana, Angola and Namibia.
00:54All three countries manage its resources.
00:58The biggest threat is development upstream. In particular, agriculture, irrigated agriculture is cropping up at a very fast pace.
01:07Mirroring issues in Australia.
01:09And we know we've got real challenges in Australia with states sharing water.
01:13So there are real parallels in terms of their understanding of water management in big river systems and what we
01:20actually need to protect these for the future.
01:22You keep doing that non-stop until they tell you to stop.
01:25For a decade, university students and staff from Australia, Botswana, the UK and the US have been travelling here as
01:32part of the Plus Alliance.
01:35Spending a week deep in the Delta, surveying animals and birds, collecting data to help assess the health of the
01:42system.
01:43I feel very lucky to be here and I feel like I have learned a lot and gained a lot
01:47of insight into larger scale management.
01:50You really grow an appreciation for what you see and the environment and why it's important to protect it.
01:57Tato Mutumba is one of two Botswanan students in the program.
02:01She already works as a wildlife researcher in the country's south, but says the knowledge she's gained, along with the
02:08connection she's made with students and experts, has left her newly inspired.
02:13It kind of makes me fall in love all over again with the art of wildlife research and conservation.
02:21Over the course of a decade, students and staff have noted large variations in the size of flooding and the
02:28number of animals living in this part of the Delta.
02:31The hope is that the students are able to take the knowledge they've learnt here and apply it to various
02:36projects back home.
02:37They are able to learn from one another, to share knowledge and resources, not only the scientific knowledge but also
02:45the cross-cultural knowledge, which is a really important part of their overall scientific training.
02:50I do hope that these relationships continue on and they continue growing.
02:57Lessons from Africa, inspiring and informing the next generation of conservationists back home.
03:04Thank you, share!
03:05Thank you very much.
03:06You
