Brief synthesisLocated in north-west Botswana near the Namibian Border in Okavango Sub-District, the Tsodilo Hills are a small area of massive quartzite rock formations that rise from ancient sand dunes to the east and a dry fossil lake bed to the west in the Kalahari Desert. The local communities revere Tsodilo as a place of worship and as a home for ancestral spirits. Criterion (vi): The Tsodilo outcrops have immense symbolic and religious significance for the human communities who continue to survive in this hostile environment. Declared a National Monument in 1927, the responsibility for looking after Tsodilo Hills rests with the Department of National Museum and Monuments in collaboration with the Tsodilo Management Authority, an independent advisory group comprising the Tsodilo Community Trust, community based organizations, NGOs and selected critical government based Departments. In addition to the existing site office, and the Tsodilo Management Authority Trust, the Government has opened a regional Monument office to directly oversee the implementation of the management plan for the site.