COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN THE MANAGEMENT OF THE GBELE RESERVE IN THE UPPER WEST REGION OF GHANA

Abstract

Community participation is regarded by many stakeholders as the best way to involve communities to help manage forest reserves as it ensures greater conservation of natural and cultural resources, empowers host communities and improves their socio-economic well-being. Ghana's 1994 Forest and Wildlife Policy seeks to involve communities in natural resource management for sustainable management of forest reserves. The major objective of this study was to assess how fringe communities are involved or participate in the management of the Gbele Resource Reserve in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Data for the study was collected from local residents, chiefs, park guards, assembly members and members of Community Resource Management Committees (CORMAC) of six selected communities adjoining the Gbele Resource Reserve namely Sakai, Pulima, Gbele, Kojokpere, Dangi and Fian. A sample of240 respondents was selected by the use of the accidental sampling method. Key informant interviews were also conducted. Results of the study indicate that there is low level of forest-fringe communities' involvement in the reserve, though some community members had derived modest benefits. The communities' participation can be described as coercive participation on Tosun's; non-participation on Arnstein's typology; and manipulative and passive participation on that of Pretty typology. The study concluded that efforts should be intensified to include community members in reserve management, especially in benefit sharing. The main policy recommendation made from the results of this study is that resource managers as well as policy makers need to create more practical right-based participatory strategies to get meaningful participation from forest-dependent fringe communities.