CO-MANAGING FOREST RESOURCES IN GHANA: THE REALITIES, PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES OF THE NKRABIA FOREST RESERVE MANAGEMENT

ABSTRACT

The Rio Conference in 1992 highlighted the need for co-management of natural resources. The conference challenged the centralized management of forest resources by the State and encouraged the involvement of other actors in the management of forest resources. Ghana has also been practicing co-management over a decade now. In Ghana however, although there have been forestry policy reforms intended to encourage co-management, it is uncertain whether or not these policy reforms have met the expected results after years of implementation. Meanwhile, some studies on forest co-management earlier concluded that coming decades would see steady increase in the level of local management and NGOs roles in national forests. Using the Nkrabia Forest Reserve as a case study, the key objectives of this study therefore, were to find out the extent to which forest co-management is practiced in Ghana; the entitlements and responsibilities of the co-management actors and the prospects and challenges faced in the co-management arrangement. The study was guided by interpretive research paradigm. It used a framework adapted from the Co-management Theory and the Common Pool Resource Theory which spelt out Ostrom’s Design Principles to determine the extent to which co-management is practiced in Ghana. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), direct observation and documentary review. In all, twenty-five (25) in-depth interviews and four (4) FGDs comprising eight (8) participants each were conducted in four forest fringe communities. The co-management actors used in this study include: the Forestry Commission, the local government, the civil society organization, the forest fringe communities and the private sector organization. The study found that the Nkrabia Forest Reserve has clearly defined boundaries; has graduated sanctions by other appropriators; and nested enterprises. It partially satisfies the principle of minimal recognition of rights to organize and fails to meet collective choice arrangements. The study found that the

Forestry Commission and the local government are entitled to royalties; the civil society organizations enjoy indirect benefits such as the possibility of getting funding from donors; the forest fringe communities are entitled to non-timber forest products, entitlements from the Social Responsibility Agreement; the private sector is entitled to proper ways of guarding the concession and community support as watchdog. The responsibilities of actors include overall management and protection of the reserve; making bye-laws, education of fringe communities, serving as watchdogs, among others. The prospects include ecotourism potential, reduction in conflicts, poverty reduction, among others. The forest co-management is challenged with lack of logistics; bribery and delays in court actions against culprits; non-compliance attitudes of some actors. This study concludes that the Nkrabia Forest Reserve partially meets the design principles and this has implications for the compliance level and legitimacy. Also, contrary to the Common Pool Resource Theory’s assertion that Graduated Sanctions leads to compliance of forest rules, this study observes that it is not necessarily the sanction of offences based on severity that leads to compliance of forest rules, rather it is the timely trial (sanction) of forestry cases (offences) that ensures compliance of such rules. Among others, the study recommends active involvement of the local communities in making and modifying the operational rules; intensive education for actors; and provision of alternative livelihoods.