The Maun Educational Park has expanded its product offerings to ensure the facility remains operational and engaging for visitors despite severe ongoing flooding.
The flooding of the Thamalakane River has submerged most parts of the park, disrupting key outdoor activities including nature walks, trail runs, and cycling. While the main picnic site is not yet flooded, rising water levels threaten to reach the area soon.
In an interview, Tiego Mpho, Director of the Fauna Conservation Trust of Ngamiland (FCTN), assured the public that the park, which is managed under their custodianship will remain open. He emphasised that visits to the facility under the current circumstances are still worthwhile.
Mpho announced the introduction of mokoro (traditional dugout canoe) rides, allowing visitors to glide across the flooded areas of the park to experience nature. Along with viewing the park’s wild animals, visitors can enjoy birdwatching various species on the tranquil waters.
Concurrently, Mpho pleaded with corporate bodies and individuals to support urgent mitigation measures aimed at managing the flood’s impact.
He appealed to the public for supplementary animal feed. Because much of the ground cover and palatable grasses that the wildlife subsists on are underwater, the park requires urgent donations of cash or feed supplies, including grass bales, lucerne, lablab, and salt licks to sustain the animals until natural grazing land re-emerges.
Mpho added that the park also requires sandbags to serve as temporary barriers to redirect floodwaters away from the main entry point and critical internal infrastructure.
Furthermore, Mpho decried a severe lack of funds to cover staff salaries, noting that the trust recently inherited nine workers from the Ipelegeng programme. While wages are traditionally funded through gate takings, the floods have caused a sharp decline in visitor numbers. He urged members of the public to support the facility by continuing to visit the park.
Mpho expressed gratitude to the individuals and companies that have already donated feed bales, sandbags, and volunteer labour. These include Chobe Holdings, Natural Selection, Okavango Bird Safari, Travel for Impact, and INEOS Kavango.
He also thanked the patron of the Fauna Conservation Trust of Ngamiland, Kgosi Tawana Moremi II, who recently toured the facility to assess the extent of the flooding and evaluate long-term mitigation strategies.
The park, which had been closed for over a decade, partially reopened to the public in early July, with a grand official opening scheduled before the end of this year. The facility forms a core part of the broader urban regeneration project aimed at transforming Maun’s tourism profile.
