Contribution of Modified Taungya System to Forest Cover And Livelihood of Forest-Fringe Communities. A Case Study of Worobong South Forest Reserve in Ghana

ABSTRACT

Decline of natural forest cover through deforestation in Ghana has reached a critical stage. Loss of forest poses many problems, mostly to the communities that rely on the forests for their livelihoods. In the last decade several schemes to protect the remaining forest, restore degraded areas and improve people's access to forest resources have been introduced, of which the Modified Taungya System (MTS), an agro-forestry system, is one of them. The objective of this thesis was to examine the role of the MTS in contributing to forest restoration and improving livelihoods of farmers within the Worobong South Forest Reserve (WSFR, Akim portion). Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) were used to assess the extent of forest cover change from 1990-2010. Analysis of the contribution of the MTS Scheme to forest cover restoration was also carried out by comparing the natural forest to the MTS plantation by using the 100 m x 100 m square transect techniques and applying the Simpson’s Index of Diversity. A socio-economic survey involving semi-structured interviews was carried out to seek the opinion of the MTS farmers in the Akwansrem, Feyiase and Miaso communities and forestry officials on forest restoration as well as the contribution of the MTS to livelihoods of farmers in the study area. The results of the study indicated that the forest cover in the WSFR had witnessed varying rates of transformation and/or improvement particularly in the closed forest canopy. The forest cover had decreased by 0.41% and 0.17% between 1990-2000 and 2000-2010 respectively. However, in terms of forest vegetation classes, a significant transformation was observed within the closed canopy. Between 1990-2000, the closed canopy experienced a percentage decrease of 45.55% but increased by 1.25% (41.4 ha) between 2000-2010. It was projected that between 2010-2020, there will be xiii further improvement in the closed canopy if current rate of restoration continuous. Results from the calculation of the Simpson’s Index of Diversity indicated that the natural forest transect was more diverse (1-D = 0.93) in terms of richness and evenness, than the MTS transect (1-D = 0.41). However, stem counts was close to 50% higher favouring the MTS plantation. Information from the study indicated that between 600 to 800 trees on a 0.8 ha land was planted by individual farmers annually on degraded lands. Improvement of close forest canopy within WSFR was attributed to the success of the MTS scheme. The results also indicated that the livelihoods of MTS farmers (with reference to their access to income and farm produce as well as their ability to afford the education of their children and put up buildings) had improved. However, fear of future prospects and sustainability of the MTS, unequal allocation of MTS farms, wildfires and illegal logging were some issues they saw as threats to the scheme. As a result, a number of recommendations were made. Some of these were: Regular assessment of the composition and spatial extent of the forest cover to keep track of changes through the application of GIS and RS; The need to clarify the dictates and benefits of the MTS scheme to farming communities and; the enforcement of laws to cater for policies that will ensure sustainable management of the forest.