CSIR – FORESTRY RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF GHANA TENURE AND FOREST RELIANCE IN GHANA Beatrice Darko Obiri 1* , Emmanuel Marfo 1 , Eric Nutakor 1 , Joseph Cobbinah 1 and Thorsten Treue 2 1 Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, University P. O. Box 63, Kumasi, Ghana 2 Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark Acknowledgement: DANIDA – funds; Ghana rural Households-data Univ. Copenhagen-coordinating, CIFOR PEN-data manager IUFRO-FORNESSA CONGRESS, 25-29 June 2012. Nairobi, Kenya 11 September 2012
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CSIR – FORESTRY RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF GHANA
TENURE AND FOREST RELIANCE IN GHANA
Beatrice Darko Obiri1*, Emmanuel Marfo1, Eric Nutakor1, Joseph Cobbinah1and Thorsten Treue2
1Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, University P. O. Box 63, Kumasi, Ghana 2Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
IUFRO-FORNESSA CONGRESS, 25-29 June 2012. Nairobi, Kenya11 September 2012
INTRODUCTION
11 September 2012
Relative importance of forests to rural livelihoods is widely acknowledged
Yet there are questions about the key elements of forest governance that dictate the extent to which forest benefits are derived particularly by local people Ownership Access Use and management rights over forests
Failure to address questions appropriately have resulted in: Upsurge in illegalities Deforestation and forest degradation Difficulty in implementing emerging forest governance initiatives that seek to
pay for environmental services to forest owners to contribute to poverty alleviation while ensuring environmental sustainability
WHY INABILITY TO ADDRESS FOREST GOVERNANCE PROBLEMS?
Forest tenure is crucial for sustainable use, management and conservation of forest resources but:
Limited understanding of local people’s forest needs and forest tenure/regulatory mechanisms
Limited empirical evidence to inform policy decisions on forest tenure mechanisms aimed at forest use and conservation
11 September 2012
FOCUS OF PAPER/OBJECTIVES
Paper explores house how forest tenure is influencing forest dependency among rural households in Ghana
Draws implication for forest based interventions for sustainable forest management for improved rural livelihoods in the country
11 September 2012
2 KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS1. HOW IS FOREST TENURE INFLUENCING ACCESS AND USE OF
FORESTS BY LOCAL COMMUNTITIES?
Which forest tenure regimes are key sources of forest incomes Which products are exploited from which regimes and what is the
significance in livelihood sustenance What is the magnitude of the monetary value of collection from tenure
regimes Who collects what from which tenure regime in the household
2. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR IMPROVED FOREST GOVERNANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS? Ghana community based forest interventions Emerging forest governance mechanisms eg. REDD+, etc.
11 September 2012
METHODOLOGY WHAT IS TENURE?
Tenure systems are about ownership and user rights to a given resource for a given time span and under some conditions (FAO, 2002).
THEORETICAL FRAME Discussion is centered on
Forest-poverty/livelihood discuss Study is part of the CIFOR Poverty and Environmental
Network (PEN) studies in Ghana
11 September 2012
METODOLOGY:Study area
DRY forests1100 mm rain
WET forests2000mm rain
Key features of study sites: vegetation/forestWet forest Dry forest
Key features of study sitesFeature Wet site Dry siteForest type Wet evergreen Forest-Savannah Transition
Forest management •Most Gov. Forest reserves are GSBAs for community protection
•Production forests for logging
•Most forest areas degraded•Replanting reserves & private lands•Ecotourism
Rainfall 2000mm 1100mm
Population 51-100 people per sq km 51-100 people per sq km
Agricultural production CocoaOil palmRubberStaples
•Cashew•Tobacco •Staples•Vegetables
Other economic activities •Gold mining•Logging•NTFP’s: Rattan, Bamboo, Medicine, Charcoal, firewood
•Charcoal•Fuelwood
Key features of study sites: other economic activitiesWet site :Small scale gold mining/dredging Dry site: charcoal
METHODOLOGY – Data collection1. Village surveys Ownership, access, use and
management of forests
2. Household level surveys Questionnaire Interviews of 600
households (300 each in wet & dry sites) Household incomes & sources Forest land use regimes& Tenure Products quantities & value Gender, etc.
Why are communities collecting?HOUSEHOLD INCOME SHARES BY SOURCE
(Cash and subsistence)
DryWet
When do they collect? SEASONALITY INCOME SHARES
January-March
April-June
July-September
October-December
January-March
April-June
July-September
October-DecemberDry
Wet
GENDER & FOREST USE : who collects what in the household? (WET)
GENDER & FOREST USE : who collects what in the household? (DRY)
HIGHLIGHTS Forests contributes to over 9% of total household income and mainly for
subsistence in Ghana
Most products are collected from state and private reserved forests with strict/high and medium regulation
Community managed forests with high enforcement of rules are hardly exploited
Open access forests probably severely degraded
There is higher reliance on game, poles and fuelwood which are collected by males for cash
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
PFM/CFM Community involvement in forest protection may reduce exploitation and
save government policing bill but what must we do to ensure that community forest needs are secured?
SFM promotion of smallholder forests with short rotation species
that provide fuelwood, poles and a range of commercial products in the off-reserve areas they own Could serve as buffers and/or corridors that effectively protect reserved
forests while providing the cash and subsistence needs of forest fringe communities
Communities mainly need woodfuel, game and poles for now not timber Involving them in timber plantation development alone is insufficient as
short term needs are key to household survival
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
REDD+, Certification, etc. Emphasis on innovative small holder forests to provide community
forest needs both by the government and private forest plantation developers with carbon and certification in mind
If innovative strategies are not adopted to address access, control and user rights challenges associated with forest exploitation There will be ghost forest to govern for REDD+