Community Participation in Forest Management in the Yilo Krobo District

Gerardo Oscar Paez

November 2009

This dissertation is submitted to the University of Ghana in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of MA in Development Studies degree

DECLARATION
I declare that this work has been my original research project carried out under the Supervision of Dr. Daniel Kwabena Twerefou of the Department of Economics and Dr. George Owusu of Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra All references cited in this work are duly acknowledged. However, I am solely responsible for any errors and omissions. Supervisor Dr. Daniel Kwabena Twerefow Dr. George Owusu Date ................... ................... Signature .......................... ..........................

DEDICATION
I wish to dedicate this work to my two major sources of inspiration, Amanda and Nestor. Also to my family as this work would not have been possible without their support.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to thank Dr. Daniel Kwabena Twerefou for his invaluable contributions and time spent. Also thank the Director of ISSER Prof. Ernest Aryeetey for his support. I am grateful to all the respondents of the survey and the members of all the institutions that kindly participated. Special thanks to the members of the Yilo Krobo District Authority, the Regional Forestry Commission Office and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture for providing me with valuable data.

ABSTRACT
This study addresses the challenges of participation in forest management in the context of political decentralization in the Yilo Krobo District of Ghana in order to debate the possible implications of an inclusive natural resource management approach for the local livelihoods. This paper argues that capacity in the communities studied ought to be built up by providing the UCs with the physical as well as educational infrastructure that would enable the communities to be included in the participation process. Moreover, District Authorities should establish a process of negotiation with members of the community with regards to the best uses the community can give to the forest reserve. It also supports a shift to empowerment that ought to be sought by the District Authorities to allow people to take part in the decisions taken with regards to forest management as well as providing women with special mechanisms for participation, that adjust to their necessities and time availability. The study recommends actions in four priority areas: setting up mechanisms for indigenous practices and institutions, provision of capacity to the Unit Committees, encouraging participation of women and other excluded groups and clarifying land tenure.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1.................................................................................................................................. 11 INTRODUCTION OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................... 11 1.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 11 1.2. Problem Statement .............................................................................................................. 12 1.3. Objective of the study .......................................................................................................... 13 1.4. Justification.......................................................................................................................... 14 1.5. Structure of the study .......................................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER 2.................................................................................................................................. 16 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................... 16 2.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 16 2.2. Participation General Concepts ............................................................................................ 17 2.3. The Ghanaian Context .......................................................................................................... 22 2.4. Problems Found in Forest Management Globally ................................................................. 30 2.5. Alternative approaches to participation in forest management ............................................ 32 CHAPTER 3.................................................................................................................................. 36 METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................................... 36 3.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 36 3.2. General description of the study area and sites .................................................................... 37 3.3. Methods applied .................................................................................................................. 42 3.4. Data analysis ........................................................................................................................ 48 3.5. Some methodological issues in research design ................................................................... 49 CHAPTER 4.................................................................................................................................. 52 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS........................................................................................................... 52 4.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 52 4.2. Demographic Characteristics................................................................................................ 52 6

4.3. Extent and nature of participation ....................................................................................... 55 4.4. Capacity for effective participation ...................................................................................... 58 4.5. Forest Resource Management and political decentralization................................................ 59 4.6. Forest Resource Management and the Boti Falls Reserve ..................................................... 61 4.7. Discussion of findings ........................................................................................................... 66 CHAPTER 5.................................................................................................................................. 72 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................... 72 5.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 72 5.2. Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 72 5.3. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 74 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................................ 77 APPENDIX ................................................................................................................................... 81

LIST OF TABLES
Number Table 2.2.3 Table 3.2.2.4 Table 4.2.2 Table 4.2.3 Table 4.5.1 Table 4.5.2 Table 4.6.2 Description Typology of Participation Population Distribution by Area Council Level of education by sex (Percentages) Occupation of respondents Perception of participation in decision making Perception of political participation by sex Location of the Forest Reserve

LIST OF FIGURES
Number Figure 4.2.1 Figure 4.3.1 Figure 4.3.2 Figure 4.3.2 Project Figure 4.3.3 Figure 4.4 Figure 4.6.2 Project activities description Proposition of projects perception Perceptions of best use of reserved land Description Age distribution forest users interviewed Participation in FRM projects Participation in FRM projects by sex Participation in FRM projects Sort of

LIST OF ACRONYMS/ABREVIATIONS
ACs FC NTFP RFD RRA UCs Area Councils Forestry Commission Non-Timber Forest Products Rural Forestry Division Rapid Rural Appraisal Unit Committees

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION OF THE STUDY

1.1. Introduction Forest histories are revealed as mutually constituting interplays of ecological process, social practice, policy intervention and response. Policy makers often do not see this, and are thus surprised when their schemes fail. (Leach, 2008:1) Amanor (2003) observes that contemporary environmental policies in West Africa are increasingly becoming decentralized, arguing that these policies are not more democratic. In Ghana, Wiggins et al. (2004) argue that with the 1994 Forest and Wildlife Policy, communities were given a central role in participation in natural resource management. In addition, the authors suggest that despite the good intentions and effort put in formulating environmental policy, little of this translates into effective action in the field. This work aims to study the degree of participation of forest communities in natural resource management in the Yilo Krobo District in order to debate the possible implications of an inclusive natural resource management approach for the local livelihoods.

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As an introduction to the thesis, this chapter provides a background to the study and clarifies the research problem seeking to introduce the concepts that inform and guide the study. After situating the study within the broader concept of political community participation in Ghana in general and the district in particular, the study objectives are presented. The last part of the chapter briefly introduces the chapter-by-chapter organization of the thesis.

1.2. Problem Statement This study explores the interactions of people living in the Boti Forest Reserve margins of the Yilo Krobo District with its environment, authorities and institutions. In particular it focuses on identifying the key tensions of the decentralization process in order to address the causes of the low community participation in forest management in the district. According to the Medium Term Development Plan 2006-2009 (Yilo Krobo 2006:15) community participation in governance is generally low in the district. There is high level of apathy among some people. The situation is more serious with the women, than their male counterparts. The same document states that the River Ponpong, which supplies water to the fall (Boti waterfall), dries up at certain times of the year, especially between December and April due to problems with the maintenance of the reserve protecting the river. There are illegal farming and felling of trees for fuel wood and charcoal in the reserve and along the river upstream. (Yilo Krobo 2006:63)
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Ribot (2003) suggests that decentralization takes place when a central government formally transfers powers to actors and institutions at lower levels in a political-administrative and territorial hierarchy. In order to increase both efficiency and equity in natural resource management, decentralization is being promoted by development agents, natural resource managers and some environmentalists. However, Ribot argues that the implementation of environmental decentralization laws fall short of producing the most basic conditions necessary for effective decentralization. Research questions that arise are how do forest users interact with their environment and with the environmental authorities in the conservation of their forests? what are people's perceptions of their relationship with the authorities regarding forest management? what are the barriers to participation in forest management in the area studied and what may be the possible solutions?

1.3. Objective of the study The objective of this study is to explore the different interactions that the Yilo Krobo residents have with the local forests and the environmental authorities in order to examine their actual participation in forest management. I aim to contribute to research that could be used by the district authorities and conservation bodies in order to achieve the outcome of sustainable development with social justice in the Yilo Krobo District.

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1.4. Justification According to Forsyth et al. (1998), since the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972, the role of poverty in both causing and being caused by environmental degradation was acknowledged. In the Yilo Krobo District, where according to the Medium Term Development Plan 2006-2009 (Yilo Krobo 2006) more than 60% of the population live in rural areas and the average per capita income ... is very low and cannot pay for individuals basic necessities, the conservation of the environment represents a key priority for the District authorities. In addition, since the year 2000 Ghana has adopted the targets of the Millennium Development Goals as the minimum requirements for socio economic development and poverty reduction (Republic of Ghana, 2006). This research contributes to the realization of MDG's 1 (eradicate extreme poverty and hunger), MDG3 (Promote gender equality and empower women) and MDG7 (ensuring environmental sustainability). This research will also contribute at the national level to the strategies of the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy II (Republic of Ghana, 2006) towards decentralization of powers. At the local level, this study will contribute to the District priorities in promoting good governance, civic responsibility and the objective of ensuring ...transparency, accountability, rule of law, public participation in decision -

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making and improve service delivery of public institutions and security (Yilo Krobo, 2006:18).

1.5. Structure of the study The study is divided in 5 chapters, where chapter 1 is the introduction; the review of literature on similar issues occurring worldwide is analyzed in chapter 2; in chapter 3 the study describes the methodology applied to collect and analyze the information necessary; chapter 4 contains the analysis of the data and chapter 5 contains the conclusion and recommendations.

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CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. Introduction The importance of forests and of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to the quality of life and even survival of very large numbers of poor rural people in tropical developing countries now seems indisputable. Trees and forests contribute in many ways to improving diets, combating hunger and increasing incomes in local communities and rural households in developing countries. Thus, food security, income, employment, energy sources and overall well being of rural people in these countries are linked to the forests (Shand, 1997). Since 1994 a number of policies have been put in place to promote community participation in forest management in Ghana, however, these policies have had little impact on their implementation. Several studies highlighted the need to go beyond increasing participation for its own sake to making participation effective. These studies concluded that in Ghana despite the fact that policies on forest decentralization are well developed, its implementation has been slow (Oppon Sasu, unpublished; Wiggins et al. 2004).

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This chapter reviews relevant literature on the interactions of forest users with their environment and with political systems. This review seeks to both build on the strengths of relevant studies as well as to bring together the information available on community participation in forest management in the West African and the global contexts.

2.2. Participation General Concepts 2.2.1 Terms used in this study Participation: According to Agarwal (2001: p. 1624), views diverge on how participation is defined, whom it is expected to involve, what is expected to achieve, and how it is brought about. At its narrowest, participation in a group is defined in terms of nominal membership and at its broadest, in terms of a dynamic interactive process in which the disadvantaged have voice and influence decision making. In terms of objectives, at its narrowest participation is judged almost entirely by its potential efficiency effects and at its broadest by its ability to enhance equity, efficiency, empowerment and environmental sustainability. This study adopts the broadest definition of participation that, as suggested by Agarwal, it is believed to achieve the outcomes of sustainable forest management in the communities studied. Decentralization: Mawhood and Smith define decentralization as any political act in which a central government formally cedes powers to actors and

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institutions at lower levels in a political-administrative and territorial hierarchy (Mawhood, 1983; Smith, 1985; cited in Ribot et al., 2006: 2). Institutions: O'Donell defines them as regularized patterns of interaction that are known, practiced, and regularly accepted (if not necessarily normatively approved) by given social agents who by virtue of those characteristics, expect to continue interacting under the rules and norms formally or informally embodied in those patterns. Sometimes, but not necessarily, institutions become formal organizations: they materialize in buildings, seals, rituals, and persons in roles that authorize them to speak for the organization (O'Donell, 1993:4). Forest management: According to Wiersum, it refers to the total set of technical and social arrangements involved in the protection and maintenance of forest management for specific purposes, and the harvesting and distribution of forest products. In this respect, the author suggests that forest management should therefore be considered to include all conscious human activities directed at maintaining its production capacity. (Wiersum 1997: 7) 2.2.2. Political Decentralization Decentralized institutions are viewed as likely to perform better on the criteria of efficiency and equity for several reasons. Local authorities are presumed to have better time- and place-specific information which leads to better-targeted policies and lower transaction costs (World Bank, 1997). According to Ribot et

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al. (2006), decentralization improves competition among jurisdictions and promotes greater political participation. Olowu (2001) argues that by simply assuming that a more democratic participation will be possible by bringing the power closer to the people we are excluding the political aspects of decentralization. In this sense, devolutionary decentralization confronts two major political problems. The first one is the unwillingness of political and administrative leaders to share the power inherited from colonial times. The second political issue is that in many instances is the local elite who may capture decentralized power and utilize it to repress the local minorities, women and foreigners in the various communities. Agarwal (2001) suggests that there are limits to what participation alone can achieve in terms of efficiency, given pre-existing socio-economic inequalities and relations of power. In this respect, Boone also observes the pre-existence of a social context as influencing decentralization schemes. The author states that governments may have important stakes in established power-brokers as well as in local-level social and political hierarchies that can extend beyond the reach of the state (Boone, 1998: 25; cited in Crook & Sverrison, 1999) 2.2.3. Decentralization and Community Participation According to Ribot (2003) decentralization takes place when a central government formally transfers powers to actors and institutions at lower levels in a political-administrative and territorial hierarchy. In order to increase both efficiency and equity in natural resource management decentralization is being
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promoted

by

development

agents,

natural

resource

managers

and

environmentalists. However, Ribot argues that the implementation of environmental decentralization laws fall short of producing the most basic conditions necessary for effective decentralization. Ribot (2007) suggests that representative local authorities can be strengthened through recognition; however, they may be weakened if they receive too little power to be effective, or if parallel institutions overshadow or appropriate their ability to serve public interest. Manor (2005), in this sense, provides the example of under-funded local governments with a mandate to manage natural resources operating in an arena with over-funded environment committees. As a result, Ribot (2003) concludes that countries and agencies claiming to undertake or support democratic decentralization of natural resources have widely failed to empower democratic local governments as they transfer just a few public powers over natural resources to existing and new democratic local governments. As a result, governments, international agencies and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are choosing to transfer these powers to a wide array of other local institutions, empowering chiefs, headmen and other customary leaders across Africa, in some cases threatening democratic decentralization reform efforts. 2.2.4. Community Participation Typology Agarwal (2001) provides a typology of participation (see table 2.2.3). According to the author, achieving effective participation would involve a shift from the
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lower level (Nominal Participation) to the higher level (Empowerment), with levels defined not by how a group is initiated but by the extent of peoples activeness. Mathbor (2008) suggests that local peoples involvement in all stages of development projects enhances effective participation. Table 2.2.3 Typology of Participation Form/Level of participation Nominal Participation Passive Participation Characteristic features Membership in the group Being informed of decisions ex facto; or attending meetings and listening in on decision making, without speaking-up. Being asked and opinion in specific matters without guarantee of influencing decisions. Being asked to (or volunteering to) undertake specific tasks. Having voice and influence in the groups decisions.

Consultative Participation Activity-Specific Participation Interactive (empowering) Participation Source: Agarwal (2001)

2.2.5. Decentralization and the role of indigenous institutions Korten and Alfonso (1983) suggest that the most effective way to ensure success of development efforts is through encouraging local participation in development planning decisions. The authors suggest that an alternative to Western approaches to environmental project planning in developing countries may be developed by exploring and improving indigenous approaches to environmental conservation.

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According to development scholars, historically, the use of improper planning strategies with little use of indigenous local knowledge has often resulted in inefficient allocation of resources and manpower resulting in failed attempts to alleviate rural poverty. In this regard, Appiah-Opoku & Mulamootil (1997) observe that the Western concept of development is widely interpreted as necessitating change, and is often characterized as a movement from the old or archaic (traditional) to the new (modern). This concept has proved unsuitable to be applied in the African context and brings the necessity for development planners of the introduction of traditional and indigenous institutions in development processes.

2.3. The Ghanaian Context 2.3.1. Political Decentralization in Ghana According to Owusu (2004), the present form of decentralization being implemented in Ghana can be traced back to 1988 when a comprehensive set of policies were designed to decentralize the system of Government. The aim of these policies is to promote popular participation and ownership of the machinery of government by shifting the process of governance from command to consultative processes, and by devolving power, competence and resources to the district level. In this context of decentralized government, Owusu (2004) suggests that District Assemblies were given responsibilities for the development of the
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districts. For this purpose, they were provided with executive, legislative and deliberative powers, as well as administrative and technical support in order to articulate the views and aspirations of the people within districts. On a lower level are the sub-district structures, Unit Committees (UCs) and Area Councils (ACs) that are local organs of the District Assemblies with no independent powers. UCs and ACs are essentially consultative bodies with no budgets of their own. According to Oppon Sasu, (unpublished) UCs are the base structure of the local government system, which play the important roles of education, organization of communal labor, revenue raising, ensuring environmental cleanliness, and implementing and monitoring self-help projects among others. Oppon Sasu (unpublished), observes that District assemblies are made up of 67 percent elected representative and 33 percent government appointees. This split between elected and appointed members leaves a significant participation and accountability deficit, with the appointment system encouraging upward accountability to the Central Government rather downward accountability to the local electorate. Owusu (2004) mentions two different sources of revenue for the District Assemblies, internal and external, the latter includes grants from central governments, whilst internal ones includes rates, fees, licenses, and trading services. However, Owusu suggests that in many districts these internal revenue generating resources are either inadequate or poorly developed due to
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the general poverty level and the underdevelopment of infrastructure and services. Therefore most District Assemblies depend on government revenue for the implementation of their development projects. Evaluating the effectiveness of Ghanas decentralization process, Korateng & Larbi (2008) argue that notwithstanding all the institutional and legal backing to decentralization, in practice there has been an increased concentration of power and resources in key sector Ministries, Departments and Agencies. The authors affirm that key actors in the process have been competing rather than cooperating, resulting in a weakening of the local governments capacity to manage the decentralization process. In addition, Wardell & Lund (2006) suggest that recent decentralization initiatives in Ghana have witnessed a proliferation of actors with the maintenance of central government controls that are aimed to limit the political and fiscal autonomy of the District Assemblies. This has led to an increasing reliance of District assemblies on the central government and/or external funding. As a result, the authors conclude, District Assemblies are now more dependent on central government assistance and/or external funding to meet their recurrent expenditure than they were in the 1960s.

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2.3.2. Forest management and participation in Ghana 2.3.2.1. Background Wiggins et al. (2004) highlight the importance of sound environmental policies for rural communities of the forest margins suggesting that given the high degree to which they depend on the use of local natural resources, inappropriate environmental policy may reduce jobs and incomes of people, most of whom are already poor by any definition. According to Appiah-Opoku & Mulamoottil (1997) Ghana has experienced development planning without systematic analysis of the potential

environmental impacts since 1919 when the colonial British government introduced a 5-year development plan. According to the authors, this trend continued after the countrys independence from the British with a strong reliance on modernization theory as the major development strategy which focused on urban industrialization and rejected indigenous life-styles in favor of modern systems. In the late 1980s under the auspices of the Forest Resource Management Project, a Rural Forestry Division (RFD) was established with a specific mandate to promote community participation in forestry activities in northern Ghana. The RFD channeled much-needed resources to the regional and district forest offices to support the maintenance and patrolling of forest reserve boundaries as well as the establishment of village woodlots. RFD was dissolved as part of the major sectoral reforms implemented in the late 1990s
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through the Forest Sector Development Project that culminated in the creation of a Forest Services Division accountable to a revamped Forestry Commission (Forestry Commission, 2001; cited in Wardell & Lund 2006). The FC formed community forestry committees at the unit level to enhance community empowerment and participation in resource management (Oppon Sasu, unpublished). 2.3.2.2. Problems faced in forest management in Ghana Oppon Sasu (unpublished) suggests that in Ghana decentralization policies in the forest sector have been evaluated by several studies, which in many occasions concluded that implementation of policies on decentralization of forest management has been slow despite the fact that policies are well developed. Major problems outlined by the literature are: top-down approaches from government, the capture of power by local elites, under-resourcing of local institutions, under-value of indigenous knowledge, low women participation in decision making processes. 2.3.2.2.1. Top-Down approaches to Natural Resources Management Amanor (2003) suggests that most West African states have initiated decentralization programs, with devolution of natural resource management as an important component. Most national forestry services in the region now recognize the importance of community forestry, collaborative forestry, or joint forest management and have developed a critique of previous practices based
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on exclusionary top-down approaches. However, the author argues that global and national agencies aim to get rural communities to participate in the programs, rather than creating a platform where rural people can make their own inputs into natural resource policy. (Amanor 2003:1) Moreover, the author highlights that participatory forest management policies applied are rooted in neoliberal economic philosophy which needs to make forestry management more efficient by involving communities therefore lowering the transaction costs of management (Amanor 2003:1). This, in the authors opinion would explain the low participation in forestry projects of many local communities. 2.3.2.2.2. Capture of power by the local elites The problem of local elites capture of power in Ghanaian communities has been described by Crook (2003). The author observes that even though in recent years local peoples participation in community development associations has thriven, these are run by local elites that do not necessarily enhance representation of the poor. Thus, existing social hierarchies are seldom challenged in decisions taken in public meetings called by such associations. Wardell and Lund (2005) study on access to forest reserves in Northern Ghana shows that the restrictive laws on access to land and resources in forest reserves and policies put in place by the government as well as regulations of the Forestry Department, have provided a context for monetary and political rent seeking for other political agents (Wardell and Lund, 2005: 1888) who
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may use central government policy and directives to reinforce their authority at the local level. The authors demonstrate in their study that access to land is not a right but a tolerated crime. 2.3.2.2.3. Under-resourcing of local institutions Agrawal and Gibson (1999) suggest that effective institutionalization of community-based conservation requires that local groups have access to adequate funds for implementing the rules they create. In addition, Amanor and Brown (2003) in a review of the impact of decentralization and local environmental management observed that the performance of the

decentralized structures have been weak as far as environmental management is concerned due probably to the chronic under-resourcing of the decentralization process and its resulting incapacity. Oppon Sasu (unpublished) further suggests that the weaknesses of local institutions in the Ghanaian decentralization process and effective

implementation of collaborative forest management approaches are one of the key shortfalls of the decentralization process. 2.3.2.2.4. Low women participation in forest management The importance of including women in forest management in West African Countries is highlighted by several studies. A major reason is, as Agrawal et al. (2006) point out, that women are active users of forest management. This has to do, in large part, with social and cultural expectations which accord women primary responsibility for collecting forest products for household use.
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Elmhirst & Resurreccion (2008) suggest that sustainable development policy initiatives that seek to ameliorate environmental degradation and its negative livelihood effects not only bring gendered impacts and responses, but also produce particular framings of gender and gendered power relations. In this sense, Agrawal et al. (2006) suggest that the state plays a very important role in ensuring the interests of women are protected. Someshwar (1993) emphasizes the importance of the state on facilitating the formation of institutions that give voice to the disempowered groups suggesting that in unequal societies, decentralization of decision-making does not necessarily result in increased participation by all sections of the population, the disempowered groups would likely continue to be outside such process. Someshwar argues that contrary to current perceptions, management of natural resources cannot and should not be completely divorced from the state. Leach (1994) points out that a gender-sensitive forest management strategy accounts for gender-differentiated activities, property rights, and forest resource claims, and situates them within the context of a web of social relations. A gendered approach to community-based resource management recognizes that questions of rights and control, above all others, implicate the social relationships within which resources are managed and used. Furthermore, focusing exclusively on women obscures their relations with men, implying that womens and mens resource-management activities proceed along isolated, parallel tracks.
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2.4. Problems Found in Forest Management Globally 2.4.1. Communities seen as static bodies According to Biesbrouck (2002) working with communities has become a cultural policy paradigm alongside linked to attempts at sustainable forest management. Mearns et al (1999) suggest that communities are assumed to be relatively homogeneous, with members' shared characteristics that distinguish them from 'outsiders'. Equally fundamental is the assumption of a distinct and relatively stable local environment which may have succumbed to degradation or deterioration, but has the potential to be restored and managed sustainably. The community is seen as the appropriate unit to carry out such restoration and care, and is envisaged as being capable of acting collectively towards common environmental interests. Agrawal & Gibson (1999) expand on this matter suggesting that the vision of a community as a homogeneous whole fails to attend to differences within communities. This vision ignores how these differences affect resource management outcomes, local politics, and strategic interactions within communities as well as the possibility of layered alliances that can span multiple levels of politics. The authors conclude that the term community must be examined in the context of development and conservation by focusing on the multiple interests and actors within communities, on how these actors influence decision-making, and on the internal and external institutions that shape the decision-making process. The authors suggest that a focus on
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institutions rather than community is likely to be more fruitful for those interested in community-based natural resource management. 2.4.2. Assumptions about deforestation and forest cover Leach & Fairhead (2000) suggest that analyses of determination of past forest cover in Ghanaian forests used in today's estimates are highly questionable. Many authors have simply assumed that the entir e forest zone (around 8 million hectares) was forest. Such statistics are usually linked to images of rapid population growth from and initially low baseline, swelled by immigration into forest areas. The authors argue that in fact even as early as 1933, the forester Meniaud suggested that statistics exaggerated the extent of forest cover. Moreover, study renders invalid the notion that an equilibrium of low (or no) population and undisturbed forest existed throughout the West African forest zone at the turn of the twentieth century. Leach & Fairhead (2000) argue that neo-Malthusian deforestation narratives misrepresent the relationships between people and forests and obscure processes by which people have enriched landscapes with trees, and in which the peopling of a landscape has sometimes meant an expansion of tree and forest cover. These perspectives usually result in policies and programs that fail to include local people from taking part on decision making processes, and end up excluding local peoples access to their property (to combat or redress forest loss) in the name of biodiversity and resources preservation or climate change.

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2.5. Alternative approaches to participation in forest management Mathbor (2008) suggests that peoples involvement in all stages of development projects (such as needs assessment, decision making, implementation and evaluation) enhances effective participation. Taking into account the problems faced by mainstream participatory approaches put in practice by the central and local governments of Ghana, this study reviews alternative approaches that may be incorporated to address the issues of sustainable forest uses and practices. 2.5.1. Indigenous approaches or Endogenous Development According to Wiersum (1997) several studies have indicated that local people living in or near forests should not be considered as mere gatherers of forest products and/or as people who are transforming forests into agriculture. In many cases they are active forest managers who are involved in purposeful activities to safeguard the continuous availability of the valuable forest management. Wiersum (1997: 9) suggests that for common property forest management regimes to function properly there should exist an indigenous institution for forest management with the following characteristics: A structure for group members to make decisions on the required resource management practices;

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 Group control over the behavior of the group members, which ensures that the planned management practices are carried out; Control over the distribution of collected forest products; Ability to exclude outsiders. Such an institution need not be a formal forest management organization. A cultural/religious institution may ensure a similar effect (Wiersum 1997: 9). Appiah-Opoku & Mulamoottil (1997) highlight some limitations that can be found in the integration of indigenous systems in environmental assessment. The barriers include the higher illiteracy rate among members of indigenous institutions, language problems, and the difficulty in changing entrenched attitudes. There is also skepticism on the part of government officials and scientists that indigenous institutions and their ecological knowledge systems have been almost irreversibly eroded by the assimilation of indigenous peoples into Western culture. The authors observe that some of these barriers could be removed through community-based action research and intensive public education through the media, formal education system, and with the help of non-governmental organizations. 2.5.2. Adaptive and Deliberative governance approaches According to Leach (2008), moves towards alternative governance approaches that respond adaptively and reflexively must be seen as essentially political. Such politics is in part a politics of knowledge, which can be informed by
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scientific analyses of contexts, systems, and their properties, but fundamentally requires an opening up of debate through a diversification of knowledge bases. But it is also a politics linked to the real political economy of environment and development. Leach (2008) suggests that science policy processes which have emerged historically through the intersection of national and globalised needs and practices, have produced a set of dominant concepts and approaches which strongly drive environmental development in relation to tropical forests. By contrast, the author observes that recent work on adaptive governance offers suggestions for addressing some of the challenges of dealing with intertwined and dynamic socio-ecological systems. Rather than the implementation of singular plans, adaptive governance emphasizes the interaction of multiple institutions in guiding a complex system towards an improved state or trajectory (transformability) or maintaining it in a desired state or trajectory (resilience) (Leach, 2008: 1791). Leach (2008) emphasizes that adaptive governance emphasizes flexibility, experimentation and learning as strategies for anticipating and dealing with unintended consequences. Such governance approaches are thus deemed appropriate to situations of rapid change and high uncertainty. Nevertheless, they tend to assume that there are shared goals around what system properties should remain resilient, or that consensus can be built through the governance process. To address these, it could be argued, requires approaches to forest
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governance that are also deliberative and reflexive which emphasize bringing together diverse actors to render explicit, and discuss and negotiate, their particular views of the world. Leach (2008) suggests that deliberation would need to bring local forest users into dialogue with policy makers and scientists of both equilibrial and nonequilibrial persuasions. Reflexive governance goes further to engage with the implications of plural framings of what constitutes the social-ecological system, and the implications of sustainability goals, recognizing that these are contingent and conditioned by divergent social values, historical experiences, interests, and institutional commitments. Goals are thus rarely determined once and for all, since knowledge, values and interests in social-ecological systems evolve and develop over time.

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CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

3.1. Introduction Models and policies could go awry if intra-household dynamics are assumed (as they often are) to exist in isolation, without examining the extra household socio-economic and legal institutions within which households are embedded, and how these institutions might themselves be subject to change (Agarwal, 1997: 2). In order to gather information which would contribute to an understanding of the complexity of issues surrounding community participation and local people's use of forest management, no one method is sufficient. Thus, a multiple methodology is required in order to clearly understand the complex relationship between nature (forests), society (human activities) and the authorities. This chapter discusses the strategy and the various methods of data collection employed in this study. Some methodological issues in research design and fieldwork have also been considered. The chapter begins with a description of

36

the study area and choice of the study sites. The final section discusses the main methods of data analysis applied in this study.

3.2. General description of the study area and sites The study was conducted in the Yilo Krobo District which covers an estimated area of 805 sq km. It shares boundaries with Manya Krobo District in the North and East, Damgbe West and Akwapim North Districts in the South; New Juabeng, East Akim and Fanteakwa Districts in the West (Yilo Krobo, 2006). There are two forest reserves in the district. These are the Boti Falls Forest Reserve and the Volta River Block 2 Forest Reserve at Klo-Begoro. Together, they add up to 21.83sq km. The specific area of study lays in the surrounding communities of the Boti Forest Reserve specifically the villages of Boti, Amanfro and Huhunya. According to the District's Authority (Yilo Krobo, 2006) one of the most

important items of aesthetic and scientific importance in the district is the forest reserve of Boti. In this reserve, there are various tree species of scientific importance due to conservation of biodiversity. These forest reserves also serve as habitats for wildlife and as water sheds for the rivers. 3.2.1. Selection of the study area A number of factors influenced the selection of the Boti Forest Reserve surrounding villages for the purpose of this study.

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Firstly, Boti is a rural area. According to the 2000 Census the Boti area council has the lowest per capita income of the seven area councils in the district (Yilo Krobo, 2006), which means that many households rely on subsistence farming in order to provide for their basic needs. Therefore the reserve provides a great potential for land use, subsistence farming and trade in non-timber forest products (NTFP) for the communities of the area. Secondly, as the Medium Term Development Plan (Yilo Krobo, 2006) shows, the Boti Falls Forest Reserve is one of the most important items of aes thetic and scientific importance in the district. However, as the same document states, problems with the maintenance of the reserves include illegal farming and illegal felling of trees. The extraction of wood is done for fuel-wood and charcoal burning. Therefore this zone offered the opportunity to uncover or reveal possible conflicts and divergent opinions (regarding use rights) between the local people who depend on the forests for NTFPs and the district authorities whose motive has been to raise revenue by utilizing the Forest Reserve as a tourist attraction. Thirdly, Chambers analysis of project biases on field research notes that research generate more research, and investment by donors draws research after and funds it (Chambers, 1983: 17). As a consequence of what he calls project bias, the area has not yet attracted the attention of researchers, more attracted to study areas that have already been supported by donors funds (e.g. areas utilized for commercial timber production or that have already been
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exploited as tourist attraction). Hence, the Boti Falls Forest Reserve is an area where little information has been previously gathered. In order to capture the full set of issues about how forest and tree resources form part of livelihood structures, data was collected from communities around the Boti forest reserve area for a period of five months - between February and June 2009. The communities studied are Boti Falls Village, Asiafo Amanfro and Huhunya, which are situated near the forest reserve margins. 3.2.2. General description of the Yilo Krobo District 3.2.2.1. Topography The district lies within the semi-deciduous rain forest and the coastal savanna zone of the country. There is the dry semi-deciduous (fire zone) which stretches from the district to the lower part of the Manya Krobo District covering 855 square kilometers. The area is predominantly mountainous. The Akwapim Ranges stretch into the district from south-west to north-east across the district. With its accompanying deep valleys, it provides an undulating landscape. There are two main watersheds forming three river basins in the district. One of the watersheds is located on the Akwapim Ranges where rivers flow in the eastward direction on the lowlands into the Volta River. On the west of the ranges, the rivers flow into he Ponpong River, which empties into the Volta Lake.
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3.2.2.2. Climate and drainage The Yilo Krobo District lays within the dry equatorial climatic zone which experiences substantial amount of precipitation. This is characterized by a bimodal rainy season, which reaches its maximum during the two peak periods of May June and September October. The annual rainfall is between 750mm in the southeast and 1600mm on the slopes of the ranges in the northwest. Temperature ranges between a minimum of 24.90 C and a maximum of 29.90 C. A relative humidity of 60 93 percent is characteristic of the district. 3.2.2.3. Local natural resources The Akwapim Range stretches into the district and divides it into a series of highlands starting from the west of Somanya. There are several other isolated rock outcrops depicting an undulating landscape. In between these highlands, there are relatively flatlands of about 800ft above see level. Most of the settlements are found on these lowlands. Part of the Volta Lake stretches into the district at Bukunor. This has provided opportunities for fishing and fishing related activities in the area. Numerous streams and rivers drain into the lake. River Ponpong is the major river that runs through the district. There are two forest reserves in the district. These are the Boti Falls Forest Reserve and the Volta River Block 2 Forest Reserve at Klo-Begoro. Together, they add up to 21.83sq km. There are herbal species in these forest reserves. Apart from individual herbalists who have been collecting some species from
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here, the Mampong Centre for Herbal Research is known to have harvested some plants there for the purpose of preparing herbal medicine. Other species that are found in these reserves are Wawa, Odum, Onyina and Mahogany. The District is endowed with deposits of quality limestone and other stones that are good for constructional works. There are also clay deposits in several parts of the district including Okwenya. 3.2.2.4. Population, settlements and roads The district total population, according to the 2000 population Census was 86,107 signifying a 4.1% increase over the population in 1984. With a growth rate of 2.6%, the districts population is currently estimated at 97,898. The district is predominantly rural with more than 67% of its population living in rural areas. The district is divided into seven area councils namely, Somanya, Oterkpolu, Boti, Nkurakan, Nsutapong, Klo-Agogo and Obawale (Yilo Krobo, 2006). Table 3.2.2.4 shows the population distribution for selected Area councils. Table 3.2.2.4 - Population Distribution by Area Council (selected) Area Council Total Population % No. of % hhold households size Somanya 33,080 38.42 8,065 4.1 Nkurakan Boti 16,078 12,321 18.67 14.31 3,343 2,347 4.8 5.3

Source: Yilo Krobo Medium Term Development Plan, 2006; Compiled from 2000 Population Census.

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3.3. Methods applied The complexity of the issues investigated, the use of both quantitative and qualitative methodologies was needed and a less standardized and more flexible approach. A desktop data search was conducted in various institutions resources during the initial stages of the study. Other methods of data collection applied included, focused groups, interviews with key informants, survey and participant observation. These methods are described in detail below. 3.3.1. Use of Rapid Appraisal Techniques Rapid appraisal (RA) refers to a family of methodologies designed to encourage the participation of local communities in the collection and use of information to improve their livelihoods (Freudenberger, 1994: 1). Given the nature of the study and the kind of information to be collected, the research was based on qualitative data and complemented by the use of quantitative methods. According to Bryman (1988), the advantages of combining quantitative and qualitative research include: The logic of 'triangulation'. This is an approach in which multiple observers, theoretical perspectives, sources of data, and methodologies are combined. Within this context, quantitative and qualitative research may be perceived as different ways of examining the same research problem albeit with differing objectives. By combining the two, the

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researcher's claims for the validity of his or her conclusions are enhanced if they can be shown to provide mutual confirmation. Quantitative and qualitative research can be combined in order to produce a general picture Structure and process - qualitative research presents a processual view of social life whereas quantitative research provides a static account. RRA has been considered an appropriate tool to be applied throughout this study, as it helped to identify the competing, convergent, complementary and conflicting interests and knowledge base among individuals as well as among the 'experts' and 'locals', in the overall environmental/forest management and community participation issues. Furthermore, adopting on field work a learning principle has enabled the researcher to obtain important and sensitive information about the local setting and to reduce the influence of ethnocentrism. This principle is based on the premise that rural forest dwellers are a repository of knowledge about their local environment, trees, management skills and utilization of resources, therefore, researchers should be able to open their mind, be good listeners and be open to learn from the local people respecting their culture and traditions. Sampling, data collection and analysis techniques are described in the following sections.

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3.3.2. Sampling Methods The communities studied were selected considering their location near Boti Falls Forest Reserve. However, it was not possible to obtain adequate sample frame from the District authorities, as no such list was readily available. In addition, it would have been very time consuming and expensive to survey all the households and population features, hence the use of purposive sampling. Considering these aspects, a sample of 50 people willing to participate in the survey were selected, which would be the sample frame of the study. Following this, 24 forest users were selected using a systematic random sampling technique. Participants from the District Assembly, Forestry Commission, Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Traditional Authorities were purposively selected. The same applies for participants of the focused group discussion. Discussions were held with the district Planning Officer and Assembly Person, the Forestry Commission Regional Manager and field and administrative officers as well as the Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. 3.3.3. Methods of data collection In investigating how local people interact with their environment and the local authorities it seemed that neither qualitative nor quantitative methodology alone were able to achieve the research objectives. Therefore, an integration of quantitative and qualitative methods was chosen to help unpack the

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interlocking deep-seated structures and processes that influence decision making in the communities studied. Methods of data collection applied include focused group discussions, desktop data search, key informant interview, survey and participant observation. 3.3.3.1. Desk-top data search A literature search was conducted in various institutions in Ghana, including the districts Forestry Commission Office and Achimota Headquarters, District Assembly offices and the Traditional council as well as the University of Ghana and ISSER libraries to bring together what has already been done relating to forestry and local livelihood security in Ghana. Also on-line journals and foreign academic institutions' on-line sources were searched. Relevant documents (such as policy and legislation materials) obtained from the search were analyzed, in order to provide the framework for evaluating the situation on the ground. 3.3.3.2. Focused group discussions Focused group discussions and transect walks were used in the initial stages of data collection to gain an initial understanding of the rural setting and to establish rapport with the local people as well as village leaders and key informants. After the initial participation by the researcher in community meetings as an outsider, separate meetings were held with different groups such as women, men and youths.

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In addition, individual meetings with the 'experts' of each village were organized in order to give them the opportunity to talk freely and to capture a wide range of issues relating to forest use and participation. These meetings were aimed at capturing information relating to aspects of culture, attitudes and perceptions regarding farming practices and forest product use, land rights and access issues and local people's perception of participatory approaches. 3.3.3.3. Key informant interview Key informants are persons with particular occupational skills, persons in positions of leadership in village political and/or administrative units, activists or representatives of particular groups in the community and individuals who for one reason or another are in a position to know 'something special' about the community. Following the forest user questionnaire interviews and analysis of the data, semi-structured interviews were conducted with selected respondents and key informants to further investigate key issues that emerged from the analysis of the data. Interviews were held in different places and times with teachers, members of the traditional authority, the director of the Ministry of food and Agriculture and older residents living in the area. 3.3.3.4. Survey A household is usually defined as a set of persons most of whom are linked by kinship and marriage, acting as a joint consumption/residential unit having a single budget; operationally, members of the group, whose core is a "family",
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eat from the same pot and live under the same roof (Almeida, 1996: 122). Elson recognizes that households are in some sense pooling and sharing organizations, but instead, she argues that this intra-household interaction is problematic as there is considerable evidence that while women typically pool and share their income, especially with their children, men are more inclined to reserve part of their income for discretionary personal spending (Elson, 1995 in Agarwal, 1997). In Addition, Agarwal (1997) argues that households are comprised of a variety actors, with often conflicting preferences and interests. They are arenas where decisions are made with respect to consumption, production and investment of labor and resource allocation. In this sense, ignoring the gender division of labor that happens intrahousehold would have undermined the results of this study, hence interviewing forest users at an individual level has been considered a more appropriate approach. For the reasons above presented, the Forest User Questionnaire was designed and administered to even number of male and female forest users randomly selected from the villages studied and in depth interviews were conducted to gather the data used in the analysis. The questionnaire contains relevant sections for this study such as Sociodemographic Characteristics, Economic Activities, Community Participation and Forest Perceptions. The Forest User Questionnaire is enclosed to this study as Appendix I. In order to interview the district authorities and other officials the

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Forest User Questionnaire was adapted to cover all the relevant information needed. Open ended questions were used to collect qualitative data. 3.3.3.5. Participant observation To supplement the above methods, I have also conducted my own detailed direct observation and assessment of the environment as pertains to the condition of the forests and forest management use, farm and off-farm activities of the villagers, and product gathering in the forest reserve whilst engaging in informal talks and discussions with the villagers. These informal discussions were an essential component of this study as they allowed the researcher to gain the confidence from the community and get informed of cultural and everyday life issues villagers live. According to May (2001), one of the main advantages of participant observation is its flexibility. May suggests that participant observation is a continual process of reflection and alteration of the focus of observations in accordance with analytic developments. It permits researchers to witness people's actions in different settings and routinely ask themselves a myriad of questions concerning motivations, belief, and actions (May 2001: p.159).

3.4. Data analysis The data was analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively using statistical and non-statistical techniques. The various responses for the close ended questions were edited and coded accordingly. The open ended questions were classified
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into categories after studying the responses and analysis was based on discussion and interpretation of trends and patterns in target participants perceptions. Thereafter the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for data entry and analysis. The analysis yielded frequency tables and cross tabulations to facilitate examination of relationship between variables. Some of the results are presented in tables, diagrams and figures where it was considered necessary. The conclusions drawn from the statistical analysis supplemented qualitative assessments conducted in each community. These assessments allowed for checks on indicators against the perceptions of community members to ensure that they were accurate and reflected the reality of each community. 3.5. Some methodological issues in research design An important issue has been how to become an insidee of the communities studied, so as to achieve a thorough observation and acquire a deep and comprehensive understanding of the issues being studied. In order to identify potential informants and introduce myself to the communities, assistance from the Forestry Commission District Manager and officers was required given their experience working with the communities. Prior to the field visit, a series of meetings were held with the District Forestry Commission Manager, Forestry Officials and MOFA Officers aimed to ensure that the study is focused on relevant themes and to establish the relevance of the study objectives. After these initial discussions, mostly held in Somanya,
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permission to enter the communities was first sought from the District Assembly's Planning Officer. After gaining permission from him, permission was sought from the local chiefs and their elders followed by the local committee chairman and its members. 3.5.1. Ethics in the interviewing process Problems concerning the privacy and anonymity of sensitive issues that arose during the interviews were avoided by maintaining constant neutrality and a careful use of the information provided throughout the interviewing process and subsequent stages of the research. Despite the precautions taken, difficulties were found in communicating with some members of the community given the fact that I can not speak Krobo, the language used by most members of the communities for communication. In these cases, I mediated these difficulties through the use of an interpreter and cultural translator. 3.5.2. Limitations Understanding in what ways values and research practice interact is the beginning of the process of pursuing maximum accuracy. In this sense, May (2001:47) suggests that an awareness of the limitations of our work, as well as its strengths, enables us to reflect upon them in a productive fashion and take appropriate action. In this respect, I am conscious that the research dynamic and the data I collected have been influenced by my status as a white, male researcher.
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CHAPTER 4 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

4.1. Introduction This chapter presents critical, objective and systematic analysis of empirical data collected from a survey on Community Participation in Forest Management in Yilo Krobo District. The research findings are presented in 7 sections that reflect the studys objectives. The first section deals with the socio-demographic characteristics of the population surveyed. The chapter is further organized into sections and sub-sections that deal with forest management and community participation issues in Yilo Krobo District.

4.2. Demographic Characteristics Before discussing the main issues this research presents the demographic characteristics of respondents. 4.2.1. Age distribution of forest users interviewed In order to undertake systematic analyses, the study surveyed respondents of varying backgrounds and occupations. The age distribution of the twenty-four forest users interviewed is given in figure 4.2.1

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Source: Authors survey , 2009. Figure 4.2.1 shows that majority of interviewees occupied age groups 25-34 and 35-44, forming 50% of forest users interviewed. In the 25-34 group, 12.5% of women and 16.7 % of males were interviewed, whilst for the age group 35 44, 12.5% of women and 8.3% of men were interviewed. This implies the survey covered more youthful respondents with a cumulative response rate of 66.7% when we include the 15-24 group. 4.2.2. Educational level of respondents by sex According to Mohamed-Anwar (unpublished), education is usually associated with greater knowledge and participation in decision making at both the household and community levels. Table 4.2.2 below shows the educational level of respondents disaggregated by sex. From this table it is clear that 21% have completed primary school and 58% of the respondents have completed secondary school. 8% of the respondents have completed post secondary
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education and 13% had no formal education. 88% of respondents had completed at least one form of formal education. Level of education is an important variable to consider as it has positive relationship with participation. Table 4.2.2 shows the level of education disaggregated by sex. Table 4.2.2 Level of education by sex (Percentages) Educational level (Percentage) None Sex Male Female Total 4% 8% 13% Post Primary Secondary secondary 13% 8% 21% 29% 29% 58% 4% 4% 8% Total 50% 50% 100%

Source: Authors survey , 2009.

4.2.3. Occupational Distribution of respondents Farming was the occupation of 29% of the people interviewed. The second most common occupation of interviewees was trading with 21% of the survey respondents. These occupational groups represent 50% of the respondents against a remaining 50% composed of occupations such as charcoal burners, teachers and civil servants among others. Table 4.2.3 shows the occupational distribution of respondents.

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Table 4.2.3 Occupation of respondents Frequency Percent Farmer 7 Charcoal burner 2 Teacher 2 Civil servant 2 Student 2 Trader 5 Tour guide 2 Other 2 Total 24 Source: Authors survey , 2009. 4.3. Extent and nature of participation 4.3.1. Participation in forest management projects Participation in Forest Management in Yilo Krobo District is described in Figure 4.3.1 which shows that 29.2% of the people interviewed participate in Forest Resource Management projects, whilst 70.8% do not. This number does not show the extent and character of participation, which is analyzed in section 4.3.4. 29 8 8 8 8 21 8 8 100

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Source: Authors survey , 2009. 4.3.2. Participation in forest management by sex Figure 4.3.2 below shows the participation in forest management projects disaggregated by sex; the majority of interviewees that participate in forest resource management are male (57% of participants).

Source: Authors Survey, 2009. 4.3.3. Project Activities As shown in Figure 4.3.3, from the respondents that have participated in forest activities, 42.9% participated in tree planting, 28.6% participated in workshops,
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14.3% participated in afforestation projects and 14.3% in environmental education projects.

Source: Authors Survey, 2009. 4.3.4. Character of activities performed by participants. As shown in figure 4.3.4 , 57% of the respondents described their participation as manual labor,, 29% described their participation as attending project meetings and 14% participated in the financial management.

Source: Authors Survey, 2009.

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4.4. Capacity for effective participation The decentralized model of forest management that Ghana adopted relies largely on the ability of the Unit Committees to identify the community priorities (see Owusu, 2004). In this light, how projects are proposed is one of the variables that this study seeks to analyze. From the projects in which people participated, 42.9% were brought to the community by NGOs, 14.3% of projects were brought by the Forestry Commission and 14.3% by the District Assembly. It is important to highlight that, according to the district authorities, Unit Committees (UCs) have not been set up in the Yilo Krobo District. This would mean that district authorities have limited information on the communitys needs at the time of decision making as UCs, as we have seen in previous sections, are the structures put in place that take the decentralization process to the grass-root level. Another problem highlighted by the district authorities is the lack of competent personnel working for the District Assembly. This was identified as a contributory factor to the UCs ineffectiveness in mobilizing community participation. This situation is unlikely to change in the shorter term as the district authorities have not planned any major training for their personnel on participatory practices. District authorities cited persistent lack of resources for the implementation of the decentralization process as one of the main reasons they did not provide capacity-building in participatory methods for UCs staff.
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Source: Authors Survey, 2009. 4.5. Forest Resource Management and political decentralization It is not possible to separate participation in forest management from the broader context of political decentralization in which it happens. For this reason, this study evaluated the perception of political decentralization of the inhabitants of the villages selected. In particular, perceptions of measures that promote participation of women were analyzed. 4.5.1. Perception of participation in decision making When participants were asked about their ability to influence political decisions in their communities, 75% answered yes,, and no in 20.8% (See Table 4.5.1)

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Table 4.5.1 - Perception of participation in decision making Do you influence decision-making? Frequency Percent Yes 18 75.0 No 5 20.8 N/A 1 4.2 Total 24 100.0 Source: Authors Survey, 2009. 4.5.2. Perceptions of Community Meetings by Sex An important finding of this study arose when we cross-checked peoples perceptions of their political participation by asking them about their participation in community meetings, one of the key arenas of participation in rural towns. The results, cross tabulated by sex, were that women perceive their opinions in community meetings are not as valued as male participants. While 75% of respondents perceive that participate in decision making, only 20% of women think their opinions are as valued as mens. This discrepancy may in some way be explained by the fact that participation in decision-making takes place largely through community meetings, in which mens opinions were felt to hold greater weight. Table 4.5.2 - Perception of Consideration Given to Opinions in Community Meetings by sex Do you perceive your opinion is considered in community meetings? Yes Sex Male Female 80% 20% Total 100% Source: Authors Survey, 2009. No 11% 89% 100%
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It seems unlikely that womens opinion will be increasingly considered in the short term as 91% of the respondents were not aware of mechanisms for womens participation in the Yilo Krobo District, including district authorities and Forestry Commission officers.

4.6. Forest Resource Management and the Boti Falls Reserve 4.6.1. Brief description of the Forest Reserve According to the Districts Medium Term Development Plan 2006-2009, the Boti Falls Forest Reserve, serves as habitat for wildlife and as watershed for the river (Yilo Krobo,2006: 121). The ecological purpose of the reserve is complemented by the use of the site as a tourist attraction. The reserve is, according to the district authorities, a strictly reserved site. The area is demarcated with boundary pillars, walls around the entrance, and lines of trees along the back perimeter. Staff is paid by the local government to control these boundaries, enforce laws governing use and access, and to carry out management activities. According to the caretakers, there are also Forestry Commission wildlife officers patrolling the site, although they were not available to meet with the researcher at the time of surveying the reserve. As a consequence of access restrictions, villagers are not allowed to enter the reserve to enjoy the ecological benefits of the site unless they pay an entry fee to the district authorities; an entry fee that due to the level of poverty of the villages studied many villagers cannot pay.
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It is important to point that even though the Boti Forest Reserve has been kept by the district authorities for conservation purposes, there are noticeable signs of human activity inside the reserve. For example, there are several refuse dumps and a significant amount of litter on the footpaths leading toward the Umbrella Rock, another tourist attraction within walking distance of the Boti waterfalls. 4.6.2. Forest reserve land issues We note during our interviews that interviewees referred to the reserve area as a farm or our farms a description we decide to investigate further in our survey given the apparent contradiction between villagers and authorities perceptions about the land the Forest Reserve lies on (See table 4.6.2). Table 4.6.2 - Location of the Forest Reserve Frequency 19 3 2 Percent 79.2 12.5 8.3 100

Farm land Wild area Don't know

Total 24 Source: Authors Survey, 2009.

The general perception of the villagers interviewed is that the reserve is located on farm land (79.2%) which, in addition has been considered unfairly expropriated by the authorities since colonial times. The term expropriated has been used by the villagers to describe this situation even though Ghanaian
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forest reserves remain property of their original owners as the land has never been officially expropriated (see Ntiamoa Baidu, 2001). This perceived expropriation of their land, in addition to the policy of externally-enforced exclusion from using the reserve by local authorities generates considerable antagonism and often results in conflicts between local communities and wildlife or forestry officers. Although in this study none of the interviewees claimed to have been arrested for entering the reserve, the entry restrictions and fear of arrest for violating them was the most prevalent reason cited for not entering the site. In addition, differing perceptions between authorities and members of the community show that involvement of communities in the management of the forest reserve has not been actually achieved in the Boti Falls Forest Reserve, often resulting in land conflicts between these two actors. It is important to mention that, according to the local officers, land conflicts have held back the development of the site as a tourist attraction since the 1970s. This has been an important finding of the study, as the perception of villagers is that the reserve is located on farm land, in contrast with that of the District Authorities who, according to the MTDP, see the reserve a resource to be conserved and to be developed as a tourist attraction through a project that aims to build a hotel and restaurant facilities (see MTDP 2006).

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In conclusion, participation of the local population in the decision over the best use for the currently reserved territory was not enabled by local authorities who are still considering the development of the reserve as a tourist attraction against the will of the local community who would rather keep land for community use (45.8% of responses) or have it form part of their farms (21% of responses). Figure 4.6.2 shows the opinion of villagers about the best use for the reserved land.

Source: Authors Survey, 2009.

4.6.3. Villagers reasons for not entering the forest reserve Among the reasons given by the villagers that have not recently entered the forest reserve, the interviewees responded that entry restrictions were the main reason in 55.6% of the cases. From this number, 75% said they would likely enter in the future if they were allowed by the authorities.

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Villagers also mentioned that they feared they would be arrested if they were caught inside the reserve. Additionally, some of the villagers interviewed who have not accessed the reserve claim to own part of the land the reserve lies on, and consider that accessing their land would provide them with extra income or food for their families. 4.6.4. The politics of access and law enforcement in the Forest Reserve Inside the Boti Falls Forest Reserve, there exist several businesses managed by residents from the area that include trading of various products (including fruits and vegetables, drinks and carved wood crafts among others) and tourist guiding. When interviewed, they informed that in order to gain the right to perform their duties as traders or guides they are asked by the reserve caretakers to perform daily extra jobs such as sweeping and maintaining the main yard. This daily routine is usually performed in the morning before starting with their actual jobs. This situation has been described by the interviewees as unfair as they claim there are district employees who are paid to perform these jobs. As an example, it is worth mentioning the case of a tour guide who has been assigned to sweep the area of the waterfall, including a 250 step stair every morning before starting his guiding duties. Other tour guides and traders that are allowed to trade their goods inside the reserve described similar situations. It has been found that some traders have been excepted from performing these extra duties, a situation that led the researcher to conclude that inside the
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reserve there is a well-established hierarchies, in which the young (who usually work as tour guides) and women (who own most trading businesses) are the most disadvantaged with the reserve caretakers on top of the hierarchy.

4.7. Discussion of findings This section analyzes the findings of the study in relation to the arguments set out in the literature review. The discussion is organized by providing a detailed analysis of the constraints found in the communities studied with respect to forest management. Each of these constraints is analyzed in detail below. 4.7.1. Inadequate institutional capacity for effective participation As discussed in the literature review, Unit Committees (UCs) are the structures in charge of taking decentralization to the grass-root level by involving local communities in decision-making processes (see Owusu, 2004). This study has found that Unit Committees are not functioning in the areas surveyed. This lack of functional UCs has prevented the effective participation of villagers in decision-making with respect to forest management. As Owusu (2004) has suggested, most District Assemblies depend on government revenue for implementation of their projects. In this sense, underresourcing of the decentralization process by the central government was mentioned as the main argument by the District Authorities for not providing communities with UCs. Furthermore, the lack of competent personnel trained

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in participatory techniques is recognized by district authorities as constraining community participation in forest management in the district. 4.7.2. Land tenure and forest reserve access issues It was mentioned in Chapter 4 that land tenure conflicts between owners and the District Authorities are ongoing since the 1970s and that contrasting perceptions exist between the district authorities and the residents of the area towards the status of the land on which the Boti Falls Forest Reserve lies. The study has shown that local residents perceive the forest reserve is located on farm land and that many participants would prefer to keep the reserve for community use. Villagers perceptions differ with those of the district authorities, who view the forest reserve as a resource to be kept for conservation purposes and consider it has the potential to be developed as a tourist attraction that would generate revenue for the District Assembly (MTDP, 2006). We have discussed in the literature review that scholars have argued protected areas were created during colonial times based on Western knowledge and values that regarded African rural areas as wild, whilst often ignoring villagers customs that had incorporated the land as part of their livelihoods. In fact, the creation of forest reserves in Ghanas rural areas has often resulted in conflicts between local populations and authorities (see Ntiamoa-Baidu, 2001; Wardell and Lund, 2005). In this way, the authors argue that a discretionary
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enforcement of regulations have provided local elites with chances for monetary and political rent seeking (Wardell and Lund, 2005). The study has demonstrated that the Boti Falls caretakers who are District Assembly and Forestry Commission employees, have benefited from an ambiguous enforcement of access regulations that have allowed local residents to negotiate access to the forest reserve, which is usually needed in order to run their small businesses. Thus, local people must daily bargain their access to the resources located within the boundaries of the reserve which is granted discretionarily by the reserve caretakers. It is argued in this study that by keeping with the status-quo in term of land access rights, district authorities will continue to promote the exclusionary practices that were introduced by the colonial authorities and that have been criticized in development literature for discouraging participation. It is precisely these types of exclusionary practices which stifle participation in forest management projects which often fail as a result of lack of ownership within communities. The failure of forest management projects has serious consequences in terms of poverty reduction, as many income-generating activities are prevented from development. In order to correct this, the district authorities should establish a process of negotiation with members of the community with regard to the best uses of the forest reserve. In this sense, recommendations are given in Section 5.2 that emphasize the need to adopt an alternative forest management approach in the Yilo Krobo District.
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4.7.3. The nature and extent of community participation It has been observed in the data analyzed that the vast majority of participants (57%) described their participation in forest management as a contribution of work but that the communities studied have had little influence in the decisions taken with respect to forest management. As we have seen in the literature review, scholars have argued that achieving effective participation should involve a shift to empowerment of the community (see Agarwal, 2001; Mathbor, 2008). Agarwal (2001) in this respect suggests that empowerment means that people should have voice and influence in the groups decisions with levels defined not by how a group is initiated but by the ext ent of peoples activeness. As we have mentioned in the literature review, Amanor (2003) has argued that national and global agencies, seek to get rural communities to participate in forest management projects rather than empowering members of the community to design their own inputs into natural resource management policies. A shift to empowerment in the development process ought to be sought by the District Authorities to allow people to take part in the decisions taken with regards to forest management in a more participative way.

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4.7.4. Women excluded from participation The study has found that 89% of women interviewed perceive that during community meetings, in which one of the activities is to make forest management decisions, their opinion is less valued than the opinion given by male participants. This has an impact in terms of womens voices in decisionmaking processes and to how their interests are represented. As we have discussed in the literature review, groups excluded from the decision-making process will likely show antagonism to conservation activities if they are not fully integrated (see Ntiamoa Baidu, 2001). Given the importance of conservation activities toward poverty reduction in rural areas, such disenfranchisement has serious material consequences for poor people and poor women in particular. Given the difficulties women cite in participating in decision making and disproportionate amount of unpaid labor required to gain access to conservation sites, some feminist scholars advocate in favor of stateled management of forest management (see Someshwar, 1993) as a way of lowering the workload of women. It is argued here that a more decentralized and participative way to resolve these dilemmas should be to provide women with special mechanisms for participation, that adjust to their necessities and time availability, and that would not add to their time burden. This should be achieved through advocacy groups and state funded agencies, through educating men and women on womens rights and the importance of participation for forest conservation.
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Recommendations for improving womens participation in forest management are given in Chapter 5.

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CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1. Introduction This concluding chapter summarizes the main findings of the study and presents recommendations relating to the issues under discussion. It considers the implications of the finding for the management of forest resources in ways that benefit local people and contribute to poverty reduction.

5.2. Recommendations The study reveals the problems faced by the communities living on the Boti Forest Reserve margins in relation to their participation in forest management. This section outlines the potential for improving participation and suggests several recommendations to achieve this. 5.2.1. Giving priority to indigenous practices and institutions It is argued by the study that involving local people in the management of their resources will help to reduce antagonism and promote ownership over reserves. In order for this to take place, indigenous practices and institutions should be implemented in forest management. Indigenous institutions provide a good example of indigenous protected areas within rural communities. As we
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have seen, these have proved beneficial in forest resources conservation in Ghana and as ways of promoting participation. 5.2.2. Capacity building of to the Unit Committees The District Assembly should encourage establishment of Unit Committees by providing them with the capacity necessary for effective participation of the local communities in the decision making process. Adoption of the UCs may be operationalized by the provision of physical and material resources, training in participatory practices at the community level as well as the implementation of incentive systems to motivate and attract qualified personnel. 5.2.3. Encouraging participation of women and other excluded groups Womens and other groups currently excluded from participation should be encouraged by the local authorities in a form that would benefit them whilst protecting their interests. In this regard, as suggested by Leach (1994) this should take the form of a relational approach which targets women as well as men. Greater participation of excluded groups should be sought through the creation of incentives for local communities to set up mechanisms for effective participation of these groups, not only in community meetings but also in the implementation and evaluation of forest management projects. These

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participatory mechanisms should be carefully developed with the involvement of the majority of women from the communities. 5.2.4. Clarifying land tenure The central government should provide the elements for the institution of a clear and fair land tenure system in which the local communities will have greater control over their natural resources. In order to achieve a fairer land tenure structure, the approach adopted should not ignore the social stratification that exists at the community level nor the linkages between local political elites and the state. Careful consideration of these linkages would prevent local elites, companies or government agencies from taking over the decentralized power from the villagers.

5.2.5. Areas for further research In addition to the above recommendations more research is needed into areas such as land tenure and womens rights, indigenous practices and institutions of forest management and lessons learned from successful participatory forest management projects in the Yilo Krobo District or elsewhere.

5.3. Conclusion The study has revealed in detail some relevant issues pertaining to participation in forest management in the Yilo Krobo District, particularly with regard to participation in the Boti Falls Forest Reserve. As we have seen,
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participation in FRM projects has been encouraged by the Ghanaian state since the 1990s social scientists have seen decentralization as a way to reduce public spending by passing the states political and financial responsibilities on to under-resourced local communities (see Amanor, 2003; Crook, 2003). In this respect, our study has found that one of the major causes of low participation in forest management in the Yilo Krobo district has been the minimal funding provided by the central government to create the mechanisms and to build staff capacity for effective participation. This study has shown that even though people from the communities have participated in forest management, the quality of this participation is debatable. A shift toward an empowerment approach is needed, where people are encouraged to participate actively in the decisions made towards forest management which would most likely see a devolution of the Boti Falls Forest Reserve to community use. More broadly, this study highlights the importance of stable land rights for local development as it became clear that uncertain land rights have been one of the major constraints to development in the Boti area. In this regard, restricted access to the Boti forest reserve is also implicated in political corruption, failure to fulfill citizens rights and represents a major cause of conflict between land owners and the district authorities.

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It is hoped that the present study will be of use to forest management policy makers in the Yilo Krobo District through its concrete recommendations to improve forest management in the district and by highlighting some areas for further research. Ultimately, the aim of this study has been to contribute toward improved forest management policy and implementation that is responsive and supportive of citizens rights and that contributes toward wider development goals.

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Agarwal, Bina (1997) Bargaining and Gender Relations: within and beyond de Household; Feminist Economics 3 (1) 1-51; IAFFE 1997 ------------- (2001), Participatory Exclusions, Community Forestry and Gender: An analysis of South Asia and a Conceptual Framework, World Development Vol. 29 No. 10, pp. 1623 1648; Elsevier Science Ltd., Great Britain Agrawal A & Gibson C (1999) Enchantment and Disenchantment: The Role of Community in Natural Resource Conservation World Development Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 629649, 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd, Great Britain Agrawal et al (2006) Arun Agrawal, Gautam Yadama Raul Andrade, Ajoy Bhattacharya; Conservation: Gender Effects from Participation in Joint Forest Management; CAPRi Working Paper No. 53 Almeida, M. W. B. (1996) 'Household Extractive Economies'; In Perez and Arnold (Eds. ) Current Issues in Non-Timber Forest Products Research; Proceedings of the Workshop "Research on NTFP"; Hot Springs, Zimbabwe; 28 August -2 September 1995, pp. 119-143 Amanor, K. and Brown, D. (2003) Making environmental management more responsive to local needs: Decentralization and evidence-based policy in Ghana. ODI Forestry Briefing Number 3, April 2003. 4 pp. Overseas Development Institute, London. Amanor, Kojo S. (2003) Natural and Cultural Assets and Participatory Forest Management in West Africa. Paper presented in the International Conference on Natural Assets January 2003, revised December 2003. Appiah-Opoku & Mulamootil (1997) Indigenous Institutions and Environmental Assessment: The Case of Ghana, Environmental Management Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 159171; Springer-Verlag New York Inc. Ayee (2000) Sub-district structures and popular participation; paper presented at conference and published in A Decade of Decentralization in Ghana: Retrospect and Prospects Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Gold Type Ltd., Accra. Biesbrouck K. (2002) New Perspectives on Forest Dynamics and the Myth of Communities: Reconsidering Co-management of Tropical Rainforests in Cameroon IDS Bulletin Vol 33 No 1.
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Crook Richard (2003); Decentralization and Poverty Reduction in Africa: the Politics of Local-Central Relations; Public Administration and Development 23, 7788 (2003); Wiley InterScience. Crook R & Sverrisson A (1999); To what extent can decentralized forms of government enhance the development of pro-poor policies and improve poverty-alleviation outcomes? Document downloaded from www.siteresources.worldbank.org Elmhirst Rebecca and Resurreccion Bernadette P. (2008) Chapter One: Introduction; Gender, Environment and Natural Resource Management: New Dimensions, New Debates; in Gender and natural resource management: Livelihoods Mobility and Interventions; 268 pages; Earthscan. Fisher, R.J., (1989) Indigenous systems of common property forest management in Nepal. Environment and Policy Institute; Working Paper No. 18, 23 pp. East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Forestry Commission (2001) Protecting our forest and wildlife resources for the future: the service Figure of the new Forestry Commission. Forestry Commission, Accra. Forsyth T. et al. (1998) Poverty and Environment: Priorities for Research and Policy, an Overview Study; Institute of Development Studies, Sussex. Freudenberger, K, S. (1994) Tree and land tenure: rapid appraisal tools; Community Forestry Field Manual 4, FAO, Rome. Korateng R & Larbi G (2008); Policy Networks, Politics and Decentralization Policies in Ghana; Public Administration and Development 28, 212 222; Wiley InterScience. Korten, D., and F. Alfonso (1983) Bureaucracy and the poor: Closing the gap; Kumarian Press, West Hartford, Connecticut. Leach M (1994); Rainforest relations, Gender and Resource Use Among the Mende of Gola, Sierra Leone; Edinburgh University Press for the International African Institute, London. -------- (2008); Pathways to Sustainability in the forest? Misunderstood dynamics and the negotiation of knowledge, power, and policy; Environment and Planning A 2008, volume 40, pages 1783 1795. Leach et al (1999) Environmental Entitlements: Dynamics and Institutions in Community-Based Natural Resource Management; World Development Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 225247, Elsevier Science Ltd, Great Britain. Leach M & Fairhead J (2000) Challenging Neo-Malthusian Deforestation Analyses in West Africa's Dynamic Forest Landscapes; Population and Development Review, Vol. 26, No. 1, 17-43; JStor.
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Manor, James (2005) User Committees: A potentially damaging second wave of decentralization?, in Jesse C. Ribot and Anne M. Larson (eds.) Decentralization of Natural Resources: Experiences in Africa, Asia and Latin America; Frank Cass. London. Mathbor Golam (2008) Effective Community Participation in Coastal Development, downloaded from Lyceum books Inc, http://lyceumbooks.com/ Mawhood, P. (1983). Local government in the third world. Chichester: John Wiley. May Tim (2001) Social research, Issues, methods and process, third edition, Open University Press; London . Mearns R & Leach M & Scoones I (1999) The institutional dynamics of community-based natural resource management: an entitlements approach World Bank Environment Group Washington DC; Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex Mohamed-Anwar (unpublished); The effectiveness of Unit Committees in Mobilizing Community Participation on Decision-Making: A case study of the Ga Districts, Dissertation submitted to the University of Ghana; Legon, Ghana. Ntiamoa-Baidu (2001); Indigenous versus introduced biodiversity conservation strategies. The case of protected area systems in Ghana, Yale University. O'Donnell, Guillermo (1993); Delegative Democracy?; Research paper presented in the framework of the project East -South System Transformation Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Olowu, Dele (2001) Decentralization Policies and Practices under Structural Adjustment and Democratization in Africa; UNRISD, Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Program Paper Number 4. Oppon Sasu (unpublished) Decentralization of Federal Systems in Forests and National Forestry Program: The case of Ghana; Forestry Commission, Ghana Owusu, G (2004) Small towns and decentralized development in Ghana, Theory and Practice; afrika spectrum 39 (2004) 2: 165 195; 2004 Institute fur Afrika-Kunde, Hamburg. Rajasekaran B., Warren D. M., Babu S. C. (1991) Indigenous Natural Resource Management Systems for Sustainable Agricultural Development a global perspective; Journal of International Development: Vol. 3, No. 4, 387- 401, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Republic of Ghana (2006); Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II) (2006 2009); National Development Planning Commission, Ghana.
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Ribot, Jesse (1995); From exclusion to participation: turning Senegals forestry policy around. World Development, 23(9), 15871599. --------------- (2003); Democratic decentralization of natural resources: institutionalizing popular inclusion; Paper submitted to the XII world Forestry Congress, FAO. --------------- (2007); Representation, Citizenship and the Public Domain in Democratic Decentralization Development, 2007, 50(1), (43 49) 2007 Society for International Development 1011-6370/07 www.sidint.org/development Ribot Jesse et al. (2006); Recentralizing while Decentralizing: How National Governments Expropriate Forest Resources; World Development. Sen, A, (1984). Rights and capabilities. In: Sen, A. Resources, Values and Development; pp. 307324; Basil Blackwell, Oxford. Shand, H. (1997) Human Nature: 4gricultural Biodiversity and Farm-based Food Security. Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI) / FAO, Rome. Silverman David (2005); Doing Qualitative Research Second edition Sage publications Ltd. London. Smith, B. C. (1985). Decentralization: The territorial dimension of the state. London: George Allen. Someshwar, S. (1993); People versus the State? Social Forestry in Kolar, India. In Defense of livelihood: Comparative studies on environmental action, ed. by Friedmann, J. and H. Rangan. West Hartford: Kumarian Press. Wardell A & Lund C (2006); Governing Access to Forests in Northern Ghana: Micro-Politics and the Rents of Non-Enforcement; World Development Vol. 34, No. 11, pp. 18871906; Elsevier Ltd. Wiersum K. F. (1997) Indigenous exploitation and management of tropical forest resources: an evolutionary continuum in forest-people interactions; Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 63 (1997) 1-16. Wiggins et al. (2004) Protecting the Forest or the People? Environmental Policies and Livelihoods in the Forest Margins of Southern Ghana World Development Vol. 32, No. 11, pp. 19391955. World Bank (1997); World Development Report; Oxford University Press, Washington DC. Yilo Krobo (2006); Yilo Krobo District: Medium Term Development Plan 20062009; Yilo Krobo District Authority.

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APPENDIX
FOREST USER QUESTIONNAIRE COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN FOREST RESOURCE MANAGEMENT in YILO KROBO DISTRICT NOTE: this section is to be completed by the interviewer before the interview takes place ____/____/______ Huhunya Boti

Date: (dd/mm/yyyy) Area of study Place of interview:

House Farm Forest Reserve Other (specify) Please specify here: Name of interviewer:

House Number Farm Number

SECTION 1: SOCIO DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS 1 Do you live in this area? A Yes B No 2 How long have you lived in this area for? 1 Less than 5 years 2 Between 5 and 15 years 3 between 15 and 30 years 4 More than 30 years (go to next) (go to 3)

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3 Name of town/village of Residence 4 Origin of respondent to the area studied 1 Indigenous 2 Migrant 3 Other (specify) Please specify here 5 Age of respondent 1 15-24 2 25-34 3 35-44 4 45-54 5 55-64 6 65 or more 6 Religion 1 Christian 2 Protestant 3 Muslim 4 Traditionalist 5 No religion 6 Other (specify) Please specify here 7 Ethnic group A - Ashanti B - Fanti C - Wassa D - Nzema E - Brong F - Kwahu G - Krobo

H - Akuapern I - Akirn J - Northern K - Ewe L GaAdamgbe MOther(specify) Please specify here

8 Family size (number of people in household) 82

age less 18 1 Female 2 Male 9 Sex (please tick one) 1 Female 2 Male

Number of people Age 18 60

Age more 60 (please write number) (please write number)

10 Language spoken First Second Other (specify) Please specify here Akan, Krobo, Ewe, Ga/Adangbe, Dagbani, Hausa, Nzema, English 11 Marital status 1 Single 2 Married 3 Divorced 4 Widowed 5 Other (specify) Please specify here 12 Educational level 1 None 2 Primary 3 Secondary 4 Post secondary 5 Non formal 6 Other (specify) Please specify here

FOREST USER QUESTIONNAIRE SECTION 2: LIVELIHOODS ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES 83

1 What is your occupation?

2 What is your weekly income? How much did you spend last week? 1 less than 50 GHC 2 between 51 -150 GHC 3 between 151 250 GHC 4 More than 251 GHC 5 Other (specify) Please specify here 3 Do you own land? A Yes B No (go to next) (go to 5)

4 If yes, what do you use your land for? (tick as many as they apply) 1 - Home 2 Farm 3 Business 4 Other (specify) Please specify here 5 If no, who owns your land? 1 Family land 2 Chief 3 Government 4 Other (specify) Please specify here

6 Do you engage in farming activities? (e.g. Animal farming or agriculture) A Yes (go to next) 84

B No

(go to 10)

7 Do you keep cattle? A Yes B No (go to next) (go to 9)

8 Which of the following animals do you keep? Number of Animal Animals 1 Cattle 2 Sheep 3 goat 4 Pig 5 Poultry 6 Other (Specify)

Used for

9 - What proportion of your household's income (e. g. last year's income) comes From animal farming or agriculture? 1 All 2 A quarter 3 Half 4 Three quarter 5 More than 6 None 7 Other (Specify) Please specify here: 10 - Apart from your main occupation, what is another important activity (can be economic or community action (Go to 11) 1 Fishing (Go to 2 Forest product 11) gathering/processing/sale (Go to 11) 3 hunting (go to 15) 4 Trading (Go to 11) 5 - Casual laborer 85

6 Formal employment (e.g. Teaching) 7 Other (Specify Please specify here

(go to 16) (Go to 11)

12 Do you harvest any product in the forest? Note: can be in or off reserve (go to next) A Yes (go to 15) B No 13 How often do you harvest products in the forest ? Note: can be in or off reserve 1- Daily 2- Once a week 3- Once a month 4- Once a year 5- Less/more often (specify) Please specify here 14 What products do you harvest from the forest? Note: can be in or off reserve and can tick more than one) 9 1- Household products honey 2 Agricultural products 10 Medicines 3 Bush meat 11 Leaves 4 Chew stick 12 Bamboo 13 5 Charcoal Fruits 6 Fuel wood 14 Other (specify) 7 Snails Please specify here 8 Mushrooms 15 Only if you trade, what sort of products do you trade? Please respond only if the person trade. Tick as many as applicable 9 1- Household products honey 2 Agricultural products 10 Medicines 3 Bush meat 11 Leaves 4 Chew stick 12 Bamboo 13 5 Charcoal Fruits 6 Fuel wood 14 Other (specify) 86

7 Snails 8 Mushrooms

Please specify here

16 - Do you or any member of your household obtain any income from forest products or forest-based activities? A Yes B No Go to 17 Go to 23

17 How much of your income comes from forest sources? 1 All 2 A quarter 3 Half 4 Three quarter 5 More than 6 None 7 Other (Specify) Please specify here:

18 Do you think that the availability of forest products such as leaves, fruits, mushrooms, snails, bushmeat, etc. and other forest products has changed during the last 5 to 10 years? (go to next) (1) today forest products are less available (go to next) (2) today forest products are more available (go to 23) (3) no change (go to 23) (4) don't know 19 - Why do you think forest foods (such as fruits, leaves, snails, mushrooms, bushmeat, etc) and other products (such as firewood, medicines, raphia, cane, etc. ) are less/more available today? (You May tick more than one). (1) over-harvesting of forest resources (2) destructive harvesting practices (3) fires (4) forest guards restricting access (5) logging operations damaging resource (6) logging workers harvesting the resource (7) clearance of source areas for agriculture (8) invasive weeds (e. g. akyempong weed) 87

(9) Nature (10) Other (specify) Please specify here 20 Have this change had any effect on your economic activities / livelihoods? (go to 21) A- Yes (go to 23) B- No (go to 23) C- Don't know 21 How does it affect your economy / livelihood? (go to next) 1 Positively (go to next) 2 Negatively 22 Please expand on your previous answer explaining how this change is positive or negative

23 Including farming, trading and sell of forest products, are you able to Collect enough products or generate enough income to meet your basic needs? Go to 25 A Yes Go to 24 B No 24 Please expand on your previous answer explaining why you are not able to meet your basic consumption needs and how do you manage when goods are scarce?

25 What other activities do you currently undertake in the forest?

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PLEASE GO TO NEXT SECTION FOREST USER QUESTIONNAIRE SECTION 3 COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION PROJECT ACTIVITIES

1 Do you know any environmental projects in the forest? A Yes B No (go to next)

2 Have you ever participated in an environmental project in the forest? A Yes B No (go to next) (go to 17)

3 If yes, what sort of project do you participate in the forest? 1- Tree planting 2 Afforestation 3 Env. Education 4 Workshop/events 5 Enforcement 6 Other (specify) Please specify here 4 Who proposed or initiated those projects? The Unit Committees The Town councils District Assembly An NGO The Forestry Commission Other (specify) Please specify here:

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5 - How do you describe your participation in forest management projects? 1 - by contributing work (manual labor) 2 - by participating in meetings 3 - by proposing ideas 4 - by controlling project activities 5 - by controlling finances/expenses/benefits 6 - by evaluating results 7 - by participating in all aspects of projects 8 Other (specify) Please specify here 6 Have these projects been completed/abandoned? Completed Abandoned

(go to next)

7 - Could you explain why they have been abandoned? Lack of funds Poor design Conflict of interest I don't know

8 As member of the community do you have influence in decision making? A Yes B No (go to next) (go to 10)

9 If yes, How do you influence decision making?

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10 If no, could you explain why as member of committee you don't influence decision ma (jump if answered yes to q 8)

11 Do you perceive your opinions as member of the community are considered ? A Yes B No

12 - In your opinion, what do you think is the problem why your opinions are not considere

13 What projects were brought to the community by the district authorities?

14 - Do you know your assembly member? A Yes B No (go to next) (go to next)

15 - What is your opinion of the assembly member?

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a - Positive b - Negative c - Don't know

16 - How often does your Assembly member consult the community on forest managemen issues? 1- Once a month 2 - Twice a month 3 - Every week 4 - No consultation 17 If no , why do you decide not to participate? (from Q. 2)

FORESTRY COMMISSION PERCEPTION

18 Do you know the Forestry Commission? A Yes B No (go to next) (go to 20)

19 - Have you ever had any contact with the Forestry Commission? A Yes B No (go to next) (go to 24)

20 If yes, what sort of contact did you have with the forestry commission? 1- Participation in activities/education 2- Participation in consultation/forum 3- Enforcement of law 92

4- Collecting levies/taxes 5 Acquiring permit for entry to forest reserve 6 - Other (specify) Please specify here:

21 What is your opinion of the Forestry Commission? 1- Positive 2- Negative 3- Don't know

22 Do you know about the Forestry Commission activities? A Yes B No

(go to 24)

23 What is your opinion about the Forestry Commission activities? 1- Positive 2- Negative 3- Don't know (go to next) (go to next) (go to next)

24 What would you expect from the Forestry Commission/ district authorities in respect t The Forest Reserve. Please elaborate below

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION 25 Do you know any recent concrete measure from the authorities to promote Community participation in forest management? 93

A Yes B No

(go to next) (go to 30)

26 If yes, Please specify how would these measures promote community participation in the forest?

27 So far, have these measures been successful? A Yes B No (go to 28) (go to next)

27a - Can you explain why these measures have not been successful? Lack of funds Lack of political will Lack of resources Negligence Conflict of interests Other (please specify) Please specify here: 28 In general, what is your opinion about the authorities' approach to community participation in the forest? 1 Positive 2 Negative 3 - Don't know (go to next) (go to next) (go to 25)

29 Please give reasons for your answer in 28.

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WOMEN PARTICIPATION 30 Do you know any specific mechanism for women participation in Forest Management in the area? (go to next) A Yes Go to next section B No

31 What legislation is in practice for women participation in Forest Management in the area?

32 According to that legislation, how do women participate in decision making ?

33 Are these mechanisms effectively put in practice? A Yes B No (go to next) Go to next section

34 How are these measures for women participation in forest management are put in practice in the area? 95

35 So far, have these measures for women participation been successful? A Yes B No Go to next section Go to next section

FOREST USER QUESTIONNAIRE SECTION 4: FOREST PERCEPTIONS 1 Have you ever entered Boti forest reserve? A Yes B No (go to next) (go to 7)

2 - Do you need a permit to harvest these products in the Forest Reserve? A Yes B No (go to next) (go to next)

3 Do you know the forest reserve is a restricted area? A Yes B No (go to next) (go to next)

4 - Have you ever been reprimanded or arrested by a forest guard for harvesting any product from the forest reserve before? A Yes B No (go to next) (go to 6)

5 If yes, could you describe the situation when you were arrested/reprimanded? 96

6 How do you describe the condition of the forests today? (please state clearly)

7 If no, please give a reason why you never entered the Forest Reserve? (from Q. 1) 1- No reason 2- Have nothing to do there 3- Restriction to enter 4- Other (specify) Please specify here End of questionnaire End of questionnaire (go to 8) (go to 8)

8 - In your opinion, how would you describe the area the reserve lies on? 1- Farm area 2- Wild area 3- Don't know 4- Other (specify) Please specify here 8 - In your opinion, what would be the best use of the land? 1 - As a reserved site 2 - As farm land 3 - As a private development 4 - For community use 5 - Don't know 6 - Other (specify) Please specify here 97

9 If you are currently restricted to enter the Forest Reserve , would you like to enter in the future? A- Yes B- No C- Don't know (go to 9) End of questionnaire End of questionnaire

10 What activities would you like to undertake in the Forest Reserve in the if you are allowed to enter?

Thank you for your collaboration

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