Botswana is reportedly outraged over a recent call for a boycott of its diamonds, as well as tourism to the country, Afrol.com reports.

The UK-based Survival International group called for a boycott last month in response to the relocation of the indigenous Kalahari Bushmen. Although a lawsuit allowed the Bushmen to return to their Kalahari home, they have no access to water.

A number of celebrities threw their lot in with the Survival campaign, staging a protest against Botswana's policies at the November London World Trade Market.

The Botswana government has released a statement condemning the campaign, calling it "arrogant" of Survival International and its sponsors, "who enjoy the comfort of life in highly industrialized countries," to want the San (Bushmen) people to "live a life of poverty and disease in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve."

The Kalahari, in addition to its value as a game reserve, is home to the Gope site, which is estimated to contain over 20 million carats of diamonds with a value of $3.3 billion. Gem Diamonds has applied for a license to develop the site, and if the project is approved it could produce as much as 1 million carats per year.



The diamond industry irepresents a major sector of the economy in Botswana, and alluvial diamond mining is second only to sustinence-level agriculture as a main source of income for the country's families. In 2009, Botswana produced 17.7 million carats of rough diamonds valued at $1.4 billion.