ABSTRACT
Botswana formed a specialized agency for nature conservation in 1961, which was late among southern African countries. This chapter traces the early growth of this agency and the institutions that developed to manage Botswana’s spectacular wild resources, inside and outside the impressive spread of conservation areas. It focuses on the period 1960 to 1972, when the bulk of Botswana’s present parks and reserves were proclaimed, and hints at the early emergence of a rural economy in which the formalized use of wildlife and wild lands played a significant role, but suffered setbacks in support of a dominant livestock industry.
