The World’s Most Rebellious River: The Okavango

The Okavango Delta is primarily located in northern Botswana, but it also extends into parts of Angola and Namibia.

Unlike most rivers, the Okavango River flows into an inland delta. As the river reaches the Kalahari Desert, it spreads out into a vast network of lagoons, swamps, and grasslands, eventually evaporating or seeping into the ground.

The Okavango Delta is home to several indigenous communities, including the Bayei, Hambukushu, and Herero people. These communities have a deep connection to the delta and have developed sustainable practices to live in harmony with the environment.

To be designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a site must meet at least one of ten criteria outlined in the World Heritage Convention. These criteria are divided into two categories: cultural and natural.

Cultural Criteria:

1. To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius.
2. To exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design.  
3. To bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living, or which has disappeared.
4. To be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history.
5. To be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, illustrating a culture (or cultures), or a human interaction with the environment which is (or was) exceptional.  
6. To be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, ideas, beliefs, artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance.  

Natural Criteria:

1. To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance.
2. To be outstanding examples of major stages of Earth’s history, including records of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features.  
3. To be outstanding examples of significant on-going ecological processes of biological evolution and development of landforms or geomorphic or physiographic features.  
4. To contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.  

The Okavango Delta, for example, meets several of the natural criteria, particularly those related to its unique ecosystem, biodiversity, and exceptional natural beauty.

The Okavango Delta is home to a diverse range of wildlife, including elephants, lions, leopards, hippos, crocodiles, and numerous bird species.