Forest Management Regimes and Drivers of Forest Cover Loss in Forest Reserves in the High Forest Zone of Ghana
Forest cover loss, particularly those arising from deforestation and forest degradation, is largely driven by human activities and has attracted global attention over the decades. Globally, countries have adopted strategies to manage and conserve forests in response to these human disturbances. Ghan...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2020-01-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Forestry Research |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/8865936 |
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| author | Frank Ankomah Boateng Kyereh Michael Ansong Winston Asante |
| author_facet | Frank Ankomah Boateng Kyereh Michael Ansong Winston Asante |
| author_sort | Frank Ankomah |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Forest cover loss, particularly those arising from deforestation and forest degradation, is largely driven by human activities and has attracted global attention over the decades. Globally, countries have adopted strategies to manage and conserve forests in response to these human disturbances. Ghana’s strategy to ensure sustainable management of the forest and its estate was to zone the forest into management regimes based on the resource availability and the object of managing those particular areas. Whilst forest degradation and its drivers and actors have been widely reported in Ghana, it is not known how forest management regimes influence these issues. Focusing on four forest reserves in the high forest zone of Ghana, this paper used interviews of key forest stakeholders, analysis of Forestry Commission field reports, and field verification to demonstrate the effect of forest management regimes on drivers of forest degradation. A combination of many proximate and underlying factors was observed to drive degradation in a synergetic way. The main drivers which were identified and their corresponding actors varied and manifested differently across management regimes. The strive by forest landowners to earn revenue from the protected forest, perceived unfair payment of ground rents for protected areas by Timber Utilization Contract holders, poor forest management practices on the part of forestry personnel, nondeterrent penalties, poor forest monitoring, the granting of compartment re-entry permits to harvest residual yield, overdependence on few species, weak enforcement of forest regulations, and perceived corruption on the part of forestry officials were the major underlying factors that impact on how the drivers manifested in various regimes. Our study reveals that the primary forest stakeholders of the country are the main actors of forest degradation and have developed various means convenient for specific regimes that enable them to benefit from the forest at the expense of conservation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bc47a7ccf91e4e7b8ca02ee65e6c0931 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1687-9368 1687-9376 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Forestry Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-bc47a7ccf91e4e7b8ca02ee65e6c09312025-08-20T03:23:18ZengWileyInternational Journal of Forestry Research1687-93681687-93762020-01-01202010.1155/2020/88659368865936Forest Management Regimes and Drivers of Forest Cover Loss in Forest Reserves in the High Forest Zone of GhanaFrank Ankomah0Boateng Kyereh1Michael Ansong2Winston Asante3Timber Validation Department, Forestry Commission, Accra, GhanaFaculty of Renewable Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, GhanaFaculty of Renewable Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, GhanaFaculty of Renewable Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, GhanaForest cover loss, particularly those arising from deforestation and forest degradation, is largely driven by human activities and has attracted global attention over the decades. Globally, countries have adopted strategies to manage and conserve forests in response to these human disturbances. Ghana’s strategy to ensure sustainable management of the forest and its estate was to zone the forest into management regimes based on the resource availability and the object of managing those particular areas. Whilst forest degradation and its drivers and actors have been widely reported in Ghana, it is not known how forest management regimes influence these issues. Focusing on four forest reserves in the high forest zone of Ghana, this paper used interviews of key forest stakeholders, analysis of Forestry Commission field reports, and field verification to demonstrate the effect of forest management regimes on drivers of forest degradation. A combination of many proximate and underlying factors was observed to drive degradation in a synergetic way. The main drivers which were identified and their corresponding actors varied and manifested differently across management regimes. The strive by forest landowners to earn revenue from the protected forest, perceived unfair payment of ground rents for protected areas by Timber Utilization Contract holders, poor forest management practices on the part of forestry personnel, nondeterrent penalties, poor forest monitoring, the granting of compartment re-entry permits to harvest residual yield, overdependence on few species, weak enforcement of forest regulations, and perceived corruption on the part of forestry officials were the major underlying factors that impact on how the drivers manifested in various regimes. Our study reveals that the primary forest stakeholders of the country are the main actors of forest degradation and have developed various means convenient for specific regimes that enable them to benefit from the forest at the expense of conservation.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/8865936 |
| spellingShingle | Frank Ankomah Boateng Kyereh Michael Ansong Winston Asante Forest Management Regimes and Drivers of Forest Cover Loss in Forest Reserves in the High Forest Zone of Ghana International Journal of Forestry Research |
| title | Forest Management Regimes and Drivers of Forest Cover Loss in Forest Reserves in the High Forest Zone of Ghana |
| title_full | Forest Management Regimes and Drivers of Forest Cover Loss in Forest Reserves in the High Forest Zone of Ghana |
| title_fullStr | Forest Management Regimes and Drivers of Forest Cover Loss in Forest Reserves in the High Forest Zone of Ghana |
| title_full_unstemmed | Forest Management Regimes and Drivers of Forest Cover Loss in Forest Reserves in the High Forest Zone of Ghana |
| title_short | Forest Management Regimes and Drivers of Forest Cover Loss in Forest Reserves in the High Forest Zone of Ghana |
| title_sort | forest management regimes and drivers of forest cover loss in forest reserves in the high forest zone of ghana |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/8865936 |
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