The vast Kalahari wilderness is a battleground between ancient traditions and modern industrial interests

Countries & Cities · Published 30 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Spanning over 52,000 square kilometers, the Central Kalahari Game Reserve is the world's second-largest game reserve. While it teems with lions, elephants, and ancient fossilized river valleys, the land is also the site of a long-standing struggle over human rights, forced relocation, and the lucrative promise of diamond mining.

Established in 1961, the Central Kalahari Game Reserve occupies nearly 10 percent of Botswana's total land area. The landscape is defined by flat, undulating terrain covered in grasses, acacia, and terminalia trees, punctuated by fossilized river valleys like Deception Valley, which began forming approximately 16,000 years ago. This expansive environment supports a diverse array of wildlife, including cheetahs, leopards, African bush elephants, and various antelope species.

For thousands of years, the Bushmen, or San, inhabited this region as nomadic hunters. However, the mid-1990s marked the beginning of a contentious era of state-led relocation. By 1997, three-quarters of the San population had been moved, and by October 2005, only about 250 permanent residents remained in the reserve. Although a 2006 court ruling declared these evictions illegal and upheld the right of the Bushmen to return, most remain barred from their ancestral lands as of 2015. A nationwide ban on hunting has further criminalized their traditional way of life, even as private game ranches continue to offer hunting opportunities to tourists.

The conflict is compounded by the presence of significant natural resources. In 2014, Gem Diamonds opened the Ghaghoo mine in the southeastern portion of the reserve, a project estimated to yield $4.9 billion in diamonds. The launch drew criticism from industry observers, who noted the ethical tension of operating on ancestral lands. This human struggle exists alongside environmental volatility; in September 2008, an unexplained fire scorched approximately 80 percent of the reserve, illustrating the fragile and unpredictable nature of this protected, yet deeply contested, desert ecosystem.

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