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Emerging forest regimes and livelihoods in the Tano Offin Forest Reserve, Ghana: Implications for social safeguards

Author

Listed:
  • Derkyi, Mercy
  • Ros-Tonen, Mirjam A.F.
  • Kyereh, Boateng
  • Dietz, Ton

Abstract

Greater attention for law enforcement resulting from new forest governance initiatives may make livelihoods of people living in or near protected areas in the tropics more vulnerable due to restricted access and competing claims. This paper aims to provide a deeper insight into the livelihoods of inhabitants of the Tano Offin Globally Significant Biodiversity Area (GSBA) in Ghana's high forest zone and how these are becoming under greater pressure. It assesses the governance implications of the implementation of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) under the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan of the European Union and projects within the framework of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation plus (REDD+), with a focus on the need for social safeguards. The study shows that the inhabitants of admitted villages in GSBAs already have few legal livelihood options due to restricted access to the forest, which results in competing claims among resource users and with forest managers. Stronger law enforcement resulting from the FLEGT/VPA to combat illegal logging and the Ghana Forestry Commission's consideration to include GSBAs in its REDD+programme is likely to further restrict inhabitants' access to forest resources, with the result being increasing competition for scarce resources. Social safeguards therefore need serious consideration when implementing new forest governance regimes. The authors argue that the politics of protected areas need to reconsider the position of the inhabitants by creating space to build a livelihood, paying them for taking care of nature or relocating them beyond the protected area. This might involve hard choices. What eventually is needed is a change towards interactive governance and adaptive co-management.

Suggested Citation

  • Derkyi, Mercy & Ros-Tonen, Mirjam A.F. & Kyereh, Boateng & Dietz, Ton, 2013. "Emerging forest regimes and livelihoods in the Tano Offin Forest Reserve, Ghana: Implications for social safeguards," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 49-56.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:32:y:2013:i:c:p:49-56
    DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2013.03.005
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ros-Tonen, Mirjam A.F. & Insaidoo, Thomas F.G. & Acheampong, Emmanuel, 2013. "Promising start, bleak outlook: The role of Ghana's modified taungya system as a social safeguard in timber legality processes," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 57-67.
    2. World Bank, 2009. "Roots for Good Forest Outcomes : An Analytical Framework for Governance Reforms," World Bank Publications - Reports 3103, The World Bank Group.
    3. repec:wbk:wbpubs:14951 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Jentoft, Svein, 2007. "Limits of governability: Institutional implications for fisheries and coastal governance," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 360-370, July.
    5. Sunderlin, William D. & Angelsen, Arild & Belcher, Brian & Burgers, Paul & Nasi, Robert & Santoso, Levania & Wunder, Sven, 2005. "Livelihoods, forests, and conservation in developing countries: An Overview," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(9), pages 1383-1402, September.
    6. Wunder, Sven & Engel, Stefanie & Pagiola, Stefano, 2008. "Taking stock: A comparative analysis of payments for environmental services programs in developed and developing countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(4), pages 834-852, May.
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    1. Sackey, Ransford & Brobbey, Lawrence Kwabena & Kumeh, Eric Mensah & Ameyaw, Joana Akua Serwaa, 2025. "Environmentality and the making of compliant subjects: Insights from collaborative forest management innovations in Southwestern Ghana," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    2. Jung, Suhyun & Hajjar, Reem, 2023. "The livelihood impacts of transnational aid for climate change mitigation: Evidence from Ghana," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    3. Song, Andrew, 2018. "Reconstructing Governability: How Fisheries Are Made Governable," MarXiv zavwc, Center for Open Science.
    4. Edwin Anakadi Butiya Juma, 2025. "Do Husbands and Wives Engaging in Forest Governance Encounter the Same Constraints and Opportunities Within Cherangany Hills Forest, Kenya?," Journal of Environmental and Geographical Studies, Global Peer Reviewed Journals, vol. 4(1), pages 36-60.
    5. repec:osf:marxiv:zavwc_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Bayala, Eric Rega Christophe & Ros-Tonen, Mirjam & Yanou, Malaika Pauline & Djoudi, Houria & Reed, James & Sunderland, Terry, 2024. "Towards more inclusive community landscape governance: Drivers and assessment indicators in northern Ghana," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    7. Ros-Tonen, Mirjam A.F. & Insaidoo, Thomas F.G. & Acheampong, Emmanuel, 2013. "Promising start, bleak outlook: The role of Ghana's modified taungya system as a social safeguard in timber legality processes," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 57-67.
    8. Oduro Appiah, Joseph & Agyemang-Duah, Williams, 2021. "Identifying spatially-explicit land use factors associated with forest patch sizes in a forest reserve in Ghana," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).

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