I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4819 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 18, 2018 

Mr. FORTENBERRY (for himself, Mr. ROYCE of California, Ms. MCCOLLUM, 

Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, 

Mrs. LAWRENCE, and Ms. BASS) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

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 northern Angola 

9 to northeastern Namibia and northern Botswana, is 

10 the largest freshwater wetland in southern Africa. 

11 (2) The greater Okavango River Basin is the 

12 main source of water and livelihoods for over a mil13 lion people, and the effective management and pro14 tection of this critical watershed will help advance 

15 important conservation and economic growth objec16 tives for such countries, local communities, and the 

17 broader region. 

18 (3) The greater Okavango River Basin is home 

19 to the largest remaining elephant population in the 

20 world, as well as other threatened wildlife species. 

21 (4) Poaching and trafficking of threatened wild22 life species in the greater Okavango River Basin has 

23 increased in recent years, and has the potential to 

24 undermine regional stability by disrupting local gov25 ernance and management of resources, and supVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Jan 19, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4819.IH H4819

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1 planting key economic opportunities for community 

2 members. 

3 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

4 It is the sense of Congress that it is in the strategic 

5 interest of the United States to engage with the Govern6 ments of Angola, Botswana, and Namibia, along with do7 nors, regional organizations, nongovernmental organiza8 tions, local communities, and the private sector, to ad9 vance conservation efforts and promote economic growth 

10 and stability in the greater Okavango River Basin. 

11 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

12 It is the policy of the United States to promote inclu13 sive economic growth through conservation and biodiver14 sity programs that facilitate transboundary cooperation, 

15 improve natural resource management, and build local ca16 pacity to protect and preserve threatened wildlife species 

17 in the greater Okavango River Basin. 

18 SEC. 5. STRATEGY. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State and the 

20 Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter21 national Development, in coordination with other relevant 

22 Federal agencies, shall seek to work with the Governments 

23 of Angola, Botswana, and Namibia, and in partnership 

24 with donors, regional organizations, nongovernmental orVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Jan 19, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4819.IH H4819

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1 ganizations, local communities, and the private sector, to 

2 develop a strategy to— 

3 (1) create and advance a cooperative framework 

4 to promote sustainable natural resource and wildlife 

5 management practices in the greater Okavango 

6 River Basin; 

7 (2) protect traditional migration routes of ele8 phants and other threatened wildlife species; 

9 (3) combat wildlife poaching and trafficking; 

10 (4) address human health and development 

11 needs of local communities; and 

12 (5) catalyze economic growth in such countries 

13 and across the broader region. 

14 (b) ELEMENTS.—The strategy established pursuant 

15 to subsection (a) shall include a description of efforts to— 

16 (1) promote cooperative and sustainable natural 

17 resource and wildlife management policies and prac18 tices within and among the countries of Angola, Bot19 swana, and Namibia, with a particular focus on the 

20 greater Okavango River Basin; 

21 (2) protect and restore wildlife habitats and 

22 traditional migratory patterns of elephants and 

23 other threatened species; 

24 (3) combat wildlife poaching and trafficking in 

25 Angola, Botswana, and Namibia, including within 


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1 regional and national parks and reserves, by building 

2 the capacity of the governments of such countries, 

3 local law enforcement, community leaders, and park 

4 rangers to detect, disrupt, and prosecute poachers 

5 and traffickers; 

6 (4) promote conservation as a foundation for 

7 inclusive economic growth and development within a 

8 comprehensive assistance strategy that places An9 gola, Botswana, and Namibia on a trajectory toward 

10 graduation from the need for foreign assistance; 

11 (5) identify opportunities and mechanisms to le12 verage public-private partnerships to contribute to 

13 support the implementation of this strategy; and 

14 (6) establish monitoring and evaluation mecha15 nisms, to include measurable goals, objectives, and 

16 benchmarks of success, that are included in grants, 

17 contracts, cooperative agreements to ensure the ef18 fective use of United States foreign assistance. 

19 SEC. 6. UNITED STATES SUPPORT FOR RESPONSIBLE NAT20 URAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND ELE21 PHANT CONSERVATION. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State and the 

23 Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter24 national Development, in coordination with other relevant 


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1 Federal agencies, are authorized to prioritize and advance 

2 ongoing efforts to— 

3 (1) promote inclusive economic growth through 

4 responsible natural resource management and wild5 life protection activities in the greater Okavango 

6 River Basin; 

7 (2) provide technical assistance to governments 

8 and local communities in Angola, Botswana, and 

9 Namibia to create a policy-enabling environment for 

10 such natural resource management and wildlife pro11 tection activities; and 

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

13 park rangers, and community leaders to combat 

14 wildlife poaching and trafficking. 

15 (b) COORDINATION WITH PRIVATE SECTOR.—The 

16 Secretary, the Administrator, and other relevant Federal 

17 agencies are authorized to work with the private sector 

18 and nongovernmental organizations to leverage public and 

19 private capital to promote sustainable resource manage20 ment, combat wildlife poaching and trafficking, and sup21 port inclusive economic growth and local livelihoods in the 

22 greater Okavango River Basin. 

23 (c) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.—The Secretary 

24 and the Administrator shall establish monitoring and eval25 uation mechanisms, to include measurable goals, objecVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Jan 19, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4819.IH H4819

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1 tives, and benchmarks, to ensure the effective use of 

2 United States foreign assistance to achieve the objectives 

3 of this Act. 

4 SEC. 7. REPORT. 

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

6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 

7 and the Administrator of the United States Agency for 

8 International Development, in coordination with other rel9 evant Federal agencies, shall submit to the appropriate 

10 congressional committees a report on the implementation 

11 of this Act. 

12 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re13 quired under subsection (a) shall include a description of 

14 the strategy required by section 5, including— 

15 (1) the monitoring and evaluation plans and in16 dicators used to measure performance under the 

17 strategy; 

18 (2) any legislative impediments to meeting the 

19 objectives of such strategy; 

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

21 Namibia have demonstrated a commitment and will22 ingness to cooperate to advance efforts described in 

23 section 5(b); and 

24 (4) progress made to date in meeting the objec25 tives of such strategy. 


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1 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘appro2 priate congressional committees’’ means— 

3 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

4 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep5 resentatives; and 

6 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

7 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 

Æ 


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