115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4819 

AN ACT 

To promote inclusive economic growth through conservation 

and biodiversity programs that facilitate transboundary 

cooperation, improve natural resource management, and 

build local capacity to protect and preserve threatened 

wildlife species in the greater Okavango River Basin 

of southern Africa. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Defending Economic 

3 Livelihoods and Threatened Animals Act’’ or the 

4 ‘‘DELTA Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) The greater Okavango River Basin, which 

8 ranges from the highland plateau of Angola to 

9 northeastern Namibia and northern Botswana, and 

10 also provides critical natural resources that sustain 

11 wildlife in Zambia and Zimbabwe, is the largest 

12 freshwater watershed in southern Africa. 

13 (2) The greater Okavango River Basin is the 

14 main source of water and livelihoods for over 1 mil15 lion people, and the effective management and pro16 tection of this critical watershed will help advance 

17 important conservation and economic growth objec18 tives for Angola, Botswana, Namibia, local commu19 nities, and the broader region. 

20 (3) The greater Okavango River Basin is home 

21 to the largest remaining elephant population in the 

22 world, as well as other threatened wildlife species. 

23 (4) Poaching and trafficking of threatened wild24 life species in the greater Okavango River Basin has 

25 increased in recent years, and has the potential to 

26 undermine regional stability by disrupting local gov-
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1 ernance and management of resources, and sup2 planting key economic opportunities for community 

3 members. 

4 (5) Governments in the region have taken im5 portant steps to coordinate through existing con6 servation frameworks to combat trafficking, ensure 

7 responsible resource management, support local live8 lihoods, and protect threatened wildlife species. 

9 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

10 It is the sense of Congress that it is in the interest 

11 of the United States to engage, as appropriate, with the 

12 Governments of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and neigh13 boring countries, and in partnership with donors, regional 

14 organizations, nongovernmental organizations, local com15 munities, and the private sector, to advance conservation 

16 efforts and promote economic growth and stability in the 

17 greater Okavango River Basin and neighboring water18 sheds and conservation areas. 

19 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

20 It is the policy of the United States to promote inclu21 sive economic growth through conservation and biodiver22 sity programs that facilitate transboundary cooperation, 

23 improve water and natural resource management, and 

24 build local capacity to protect and preserve threatened 
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1 wildlife species in the greater Okavango River Basin and 

2 neighboring watersheds and conservation areas. 

3 SEC. 5. STRATEGY. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary and the Adminis5 trator, in coordination with the heads of other relevant 

6 Federal agencies, shall seek, as appropriate, to work with 

7 the Governments of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and 

8 neighboring countries, and in partnership with donors, re9 gional organizations, nongovernmental organizations, local 

10 communities, and the private sector, to develop a strategy 

11 to— 

12 (1) create and advance a cooperative framework 

13 to promote responsible natural resource, water, and 

14 wildlife management practices in the greater 

15 Okavango River Basin; 

16 (2) protect traditional migration routes of ele17 phants and other threatened wildlife species; 

18 (3) combat wildlife poaching and trafficking; 

19 (4) address human health and development 

20 needs of local communities; and 

21 (5) catalyze economic growth in such countries 

22 and across the broader region. 

23 (b) ELEMENTS.—The strategy established pursuant 

24 to subsection (a) shall— 
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1 (1) promote cooperative and responsible water, 

2 natural resource, and wildlife management policies 

3 and practices within and among the countries of An4 gola, Botswana, and Namibia, with a particular 

5 focus on the greater Okavango River Basin and the 

6 critical headwaters located in Angola; 

7 (2) protect and restore wildlife habitats and 

8 traditional migratory patterns of elephants and 

9 other threatened species; 

10 (3) combat wildlife poaching and trafficking in 

11 Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and those areas of 

12 Zambia and Zimbabwe that border Angola, Bot13 swana, or Namibia, including within regional and 

14 national parks and reserves, by building the capacity 

15 of the governments of such countries, local law en16 forcement, community leaders, and park rangers to 

17 detect, disrupt, and prosecute poachers and traf18 fickers; 

19 (4) promote conservation as a foundation for 

20 inclusive economic growth and development within a 

21 comprehensive assistance strategy that places An22 gola, Botswana, and Namibia on a trajectory toward 

23 graduation from the need for United States foreign 

24 assistance; 
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1 (5) identify opportunities and mechanisms to le2 verage regional organizations, nongovernmental or3 ganizations, and public-private partnerships to con4 tribute to support the implementation of the strat5 egy; 

6 (6) establish monitoring and evaluation mecha7 nisms, including measurable goals, objectives, and 

8 benchmarks of success, that are included in grants, 

9 contracts, and cooperative agreements to ensure the 

10 effective use of United States foreign assistance; and 

11 (7) coordinate with and build the capacity of re12 gional conservation frameworks in order to advance 

13 regional conservation objectives. 

14 SEC. 6. UNITED STATES SUPPORT. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary and the Adminis16 trator, in coordination with the heads of other relevant 

17 Federal agencies, are authorized to prioritize and advance 

18 ongoing efforts to— 

19 (1) promote inclusive economic growth and de20 velopment through responsible water and natural re21 source management and wildlife protection activities 

22 in the greater Okavango River Basin; 

23 (2) provide technical assistance to governments 

24 and local communities in Angola, Botswana, and 

25 Namibia to create a policy-enabling environment for 
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1 such responsible water and natural resource man2 agement and wildlife protection activities; and 

3 (3) build the capacity of local law enforcement, 

4 park rangers, and community leaders to combat 

5 wildlife poaching and trafficking. 

6 (b) COORDINATION AND INTEGRATION WITH RE7 GIONAL CONSERVATION FRAMEWORKS.—The Secretary 

8 and the Administrator, in coordination with the heads of 

9 other relevant Federal agencies, shall coordinate assist10 ance provided by Department of State, the United States 

11 Agency for International Development, and such other rel12 evant Federal agencies with existing regional conservation 

13 frameworks in order to ensure regional integration of con14 servation, wildlife trafficking, and water management ini15 tiatives, to prevent duplication of efforts, and to advance 

16 regional conservation objectives. 

17 (c) COORDINATION WITH PRIVATE SECTOR.—The 

18 Secretary and the Administrator, in coordination with the 

19 heads of other relevant Federal agencies, are authorized 

20 to work with the private sector and nongovernmental orga21 nizations to leverage public and private capital to promote 

22 responsible resource management, combat wildlife poach23 ing and trafficking, and support inclusive economic growth 

24 and local livelihoods in the greater Okavango River Basin. 
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1 (d) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.—The Secretary 

2 and the Administrator shall establish monitoring and eval3 uation mechanisms, to include measurable goals, objec4 tives, and benchmarks, to ensure the effective use of 

5 United States foreign assistance to achieve the objectives 

6 of this section. 

7 SEC. 7. REPORT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary and the 

10 Administrator, in coordination with the heads of other rel11 evant Federal agencies, shall submit to the appropriate 

12 congressional committees a report on the implementation 

13 of this Act. 

14 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re15 quired under subsection (a) shall include a description of 

16 the strategy required by section 5, including— 

17 (1) the monitoring and evaluation plans and in18 dicators used to measure performance under the 

19 strategy; 

20 (2) any legislative impediments to meeting the 

21 objectives of such strategy; 

22 (3) the extent to which Angola, Botswana, and 

23 Namibia have demonstrated a commitment and will24 ingness to cooperate to advance efforts described in 

25 section 5(b); 
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1 (4) progress made to date in meeting the objec2 tives of such strategy; 

3 (5) efforts to coordinate, deconflict, and stream4 line conservation programs in order to maximize re5 source effectiveness; 

6 (6) the extent to which Angola, Botswana, and 

7 Namibia and other government in the region are in8 vesting resources to advance conservation initiatives; 

9 and 

10 (7) the extent to which other funding sources, 

11 including through private sector investment and 

12 other investment by Angola, Botswana, and Na13 mibia, have been identified to advance conservation 

14 initiatives. 

15 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis18 trator’’ means the Administrator of the United 

19 States Agency for International Development. 

20 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT21 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com22 mittees’’ means— 

23 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

24 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

25 of Representatives; and 
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1 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

2 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

3 Senate. 

4 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of State. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 17, 2018. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4819 

AN ACT 

To promote inclusive economic growth through conAfrica. in the greater Okavango River Basin of southern protect and preserve threatened wildlife species resource management, and build local capacity to tate transboundary cooperation, improve natural servation and biodiversity programs that facili-