Inland fisheries play a critical role in the ecology of the Okavango Delta, but their conservation is particularly complex. For nearly a decade, communities, conservancies, policy makers, and partner organisations have worked to establish fish reserves across the Kavango and Zambezi. Guidelines on the establishment of fish reserves have been developed to delineate the process through which these protected areas are established, and a structured learning process has unpacked knowledge held by different stakeholders to better understand the opportunities and limitations of fish reserves and to subsequently revise these guidelines. This article aims to share these lessons and to contribute to the debate on the most effective institutional arrangements for this unique space of conservation. Keywords: fish reserve, Okavango, land management, community participation.