The most concentrated deforestation occurs in tropical rainforests. Even though in ghana farmers encroach on the forests to grow. Deforestation in ghana is a researchbased analytical study that explains the disconnect between the declared deforestation policy intentions and their outcomes in ghana. Many are still in extreme poverty with inequality of income rising so high to the point of no more middle class, combined with rapid. The impact of charcoal production on forest degradation. Rather, they are gross rates of deforestation, excluding increases in plantation areas. Ivory coast deforestation up to 70% of the worlds cocoa is produced by 2 million farmers in a belt that stretches from sierra leone to cameroon, but ivory coast and ghana are the giants, the. Timber organization itto, 2005, the annual rate of deforestation in ghana. Perceived causes of deforestation differ from individuals and groups perspective. Between 1990 and 2005, ghana lost over a quarter of its total national forest cover. The west african state of ghana has a forest cover of9. Ghana s battle with deforestation the ghanaian government is sounding the alarm over forest decline and wants millions of schoolchildren to plant and nurture trees. Deforestation is driven by agricultural expansion in ghana. This depends on factors including environmental knowledge, education level, market demand and socioeconomic activities.
Concluding remarks there is a clear linkages between deforestation and worlds demands of fiber, food, and fuel understanding the underlying or indirect causes of deforestation is crucial to address redd and climate change most deforestation is driven. Study on the evolution of some deforestation drivers and their potential impacts on the costs of an avoiding deforestation scheme in the context of the framework contract no. Governments incentives and policies ghana has one of the highest deforestation rates in africa and the world, at 2% per annum. Basically, many of the function s of tropical forests are not marketed and as such are ignored in decision making. The aim was to get as much quantitative information as possible about the relative importance of deforestation and forest degradation drivers as a national fraction e. Deforestation, clearance, clearcutting or clearing is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land which is then converted to a nonforest use. According to a study published by the wood products trade group, an international tropical timber organization in japan, ghana s deforestation rate is 2. Ghana forest information and data tropical rainforests. Tree cover threshold is used for defining the tree cover area. The fao rates of deforestation are not the net changes in forest area reported by the fao 1995, 2001. Between 1990 and 2000, ghana lost an average of 5,000 hectares of forest per year. One means to curb deforestation in ghana is to identify and tackle the drivers of forest loss the physical humaninduced and locationspecific drivers of deforestation such as agriculture. Deforestation in ghana is caused mainly by anthropogenic factors rather natural factors. The ashanti region has recorded the second highest deforestation rates.
They are the major and direct cause of deforestation and other forms of ecological and environmental damages. A wetland set aside for conservation because of its international importance according to set criteria. Enhancing natural forest and agroforest landscapes project english abstract. However, these resources are depleting due to a variety. Deforestation in ghana in ghana, the reason behind the cutting down of trees is usually for charcoal, pasture for livestock, farms, urban or industrial purposes. Recent years have also seen a marked increase in the deforestation rate. Deforestation rates in ghana are one of the highest in the world. Livelihood economic activities causing deforestation in. At this rate of logging, ghana s forests would disappear in the next ten years and ghana. Deforestation is changing the habitats of diseasecarrying insects and creating conditions that may help to spread malaria, river blindness and other devastating illnesses. Of all 65 countries surveyed, ghana had the third highest rate of deforestation. The impact on world oil demand if firewood and dung were replaced by oil products would be small. In ghana most rural communities live very close to the forest and are major and direct consumers of the goods and services from the forest. To evaluate the impact of deforestation and forest degradation we compared forest degradation estimates based on kiln density and deforestation from global forest change 20002014 product hansen et al 20.
The use of firewood and deforestation wise international. Causes of deforestation the causes of deforestation are numerous, interrelated and complex in nature. Chocolate industry drives rainforest disaster in ivory. The forest region of nigeriaespecially the southwestern agrarian, and other nonfarming communities have witnessed ruthless deforestation either for urbanization or other consumerist purposes, since the past few decades. In addition to forest loss, the problem in ghana is a gradual degradation, which is incremental rather than dramatic. Ghana s forests could completely disappear in less than 25 years by judy ogutu on 25 august 2014 rampant deforestation has cleared seven percent of ghana. Ghana case study food and agriculture organization.
Intended as a case study of the renewable resources policy process in. Pdf dependence on forest resources and tropical deforestation in. Ghanas vegetation is classified as closed forest, northern. A study, described by its authors as the most comprehensive analysis of tropical forests, has disclosed that ghana has the highest rate of deforestation, out of 65 nations, apart from togo and nigeria. Assessment of vegetation dynamics using remote sensing and. Study on the evolution of some deforestation drivers and. Intended as a case study of the renewable resources policy process in developing economies, this book provides complete. The effects of the structural adjustment program on. The latter is comparatively high in tropical africa. A study of woodfuel deforestation links in rural ghana. This has become necessary in the light of the fact that research and policy on deforestation has often asserted it as evil because of the long term environmental implication for sustainable development evident in global warming. The rate of deforestation in ghana is alarming due to overreliance on forest resources by forestdependent communities. At the current rate of deforestation, the countrys forests could completely disappear in less than 25 years.
In ghana, forests provide many products on which the local population subsists. Scandals have been reported in ghana s forestry industry since 1986, and they erupted again in early 1992. However, these resources are depleting due to a variety of factors including agricultural expansion and overexploitation of forest resources. For example, 75% includes only areas with more than 75% tree cover, whereas 10% includes all areas with more than 10% tree cover. Moreover, since the majority of the rural poor in ghana depends on traditional medicine for their health care needs, the present high rate of deforestation will have a. Deforestation rates tables and charts according to the u. An assessment of deforestation and forest degradation. Emission data up to around 2000 indicates that ghana was a net sink due largely to high levels of carbon. Tropical deforestation in ghana has become a topic of pro nounced interest among researchers, policy makers and develop ment practitioners in the turn of the twentieth century. Poverty causes deforestation because the poor are not able to ascend the hierarchy of domestic fuel use. The impact of deforestation of forest livelihoods in ghana.
Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Pdf deforestation, food security and environmental. With the current rate of deforestation, ghana s forests could completely disappear in 25 years. In the amazon, industrialscale cattle ranching and soybean production for world markets are increasingly important causes of deforestation, and in indonesia, the conversion of tropical forest to commercial palm tree plantations to produce biofuels for export is a major cause of deforestation on borneo and sumatra. Natural and plantation forest areas for 2000 were obtained from fao 2001. Deforestation in ghana ghana s cocoa forest landscape has one of the highest deforestation rates in africa, at 3. Deforestation is not always caused by poverty, nor is it always caused by cooking needs. Rainforest in ghana, dr congo, brazil, colombia rapidly. To identify the main driver behind charcoal production we overlaid the kilns detected in the. Unsustainable management of forests in ghana from 1900. The objective of the ghana forest investment program enhancing natural forest and agroforest landscapes project is to improve forest and tree management practices by cocoa farmers, crema communities and forest reserve managers to reduce forest loss and. This high rate of deforestation in ghana is of major national concern as forests provide.
Ndvi and change detection of brfr from 1991 to 2017. This further reinforces that plantation forestry development in ghana is the most promising option to reduce deforestation and ensure the availability of forest products to meet social, economic and environmental objectives. Challenges posed by constant deforestation with no reforestation programs and policies are high, constraints impose by lack of proper awareness, inability of government to provide basic amenities and lack of proper environmental protection law to be enforced. Agriculture, including forestry, is the backbone of the ghanaian economy. From 20 to 2015, the annual deforestation rate in ghana rose to 794,214 ha per annum. Impact of deforestation on forest livelihoods in ghana. Current attempts to address deforestation have stalled due to lack of collaboration between stakeholders and policy makers.
Ghanas protected forest reserves have suffered average annual deforestation rates of 0. The recent fao 2010 report has estimated ghana s deforestation at 5 395 ha per year. Deforestation is driven by agricultural expansion in ghanas forest. The forestry commission, republic of ghana development of. Pdf in ghana, forests provide many products on which the local population subsists. Assessment of environmental impact of deforestation in. Pdf assessment of vegetation dynamics using remote. Dependence on forest resources and tropical deforestation. Despite the governments efforts to maintain and protect ghanas forest reserves. Cocoa plays a critically important role in the local and national economies, providing jobs, improved livelihoods and social. The most notable case involved african timber and plywood, once ghana s largest exporter of round logs. Barbier this paper is a theoretical and empirical investigation into the impact of the structural adjustment program sap on forest loss in ghana between the period 196595, an optimal control model is used to derive estimable reduced form equations for forest loss. Pdf deforestation in ghana download full pdf book download.
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