DYNAMICS OF NATURAL RESOURCE USE CONFLICTS AND MULTI-STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION IN GHANA: THE CASE OF THE MOLE NATIONAL PARK, LARABANGA

Abstract

The competition over opportunities to access, ownership, control and management of Natural Resources (NR) by multi-stakeholders at all levels has been the bane of Natural Resource Management (NRM) in Africa. This is exacerbated by the inherent conflicts generated from the complexities of management structures, especially in areas where livelihoods of local people depend on NR. Therefore, the study was aimed at assessing the dynamics of natural resource use conflicts and multi-stakeholder collaboration in Ghana. This study adopted the qualitative research design approach. Data was collected using Focus Group Discussions, indepth interviews and observation. Participants, including the Chief, hunters, farmers, herbalist, the Mole Park Manager, and A Rocha Ghana, were contacted and interviewed. The results show that: first, renewable natural resources such as land and water bodies, thatch and wildlife were essential to the livelihood, prestige and socio-cultural sustenance of farmers and hunters as well as the traditional authority in Larabanga; second, it was revealed that the natural resources in the Mole Park have many stakeholders whose interests in NR use and management conflict revolves around livelihood survival and ecological sustenance; third, underlying factors such as access, ownership and control of NR, centralized management of the Park, absence of compensation for crop raiding, trust among the local resource users and the Park Staff are the main causes of resource use conflicts in the study communities; and fourth, the weak collaboration among the major stakeholders of NRs in the Mole Park is associated with resource use conflict in the study area. The study recommends that the FC and the Park Management adopt a bottom-up approach to reviewing and negotiating the principles of the Collaborative Wildlife Management Policy. Mainstreaming policies of collaborative management of NRs in some parts of Africa and in actions of global like the SDGs (Goal 15) which focuses on Life on Earth is recommended.