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Title: | Emerging forest regimes and livelihoods in the Tano Offin Forest Reserve, Ghana: Implications for social safeguards |
Authors: | Derkyi, Mercy Ros-Tonen, Mirjam A.F. Kyereh, Boateng Dietz, Ton |
Keywords: | Globally Significant Biodiversity Areas Forest regimes Social safeguards Interactive governance Forest-based livelihoods Competing claims |
Issue Date: | 2013 |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Abstract: | Greater attention for law enforcement resulting from new forest governance initiatives may make livelihoods of
people living in or near protected areas in the tropicsmore vulnerable due to restricted access and competing claims.
This paper aims to provide a deeper insight into the livelihoods of inhabitants of the Tano Offin Globally Significant
Biodiversity Area (GSBA) in Ghana's high forest zone and howthese are becoming under greater pressure. It assesses
the governance implications of the implementation of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) under the Forest
Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) ActionPlanof the EuropeanUnion andprojectswithinthe framework
of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation plus (REDD+),with a focus on the need for social
safeguards. The study shows that the inhabitants of admitted villages in GSBAs already have few legal livelihood
options due to restricted access to the forest, which results in competing claims among resource users and with forest
managers. Stronger law enforcement resulting from the FLEGT/VPA to combat illegal logging and the Ghana
Forestry Commission's consideration to include GSBAs in its REDD+ programme is likely to further restrict inhabitants'
access to forest resources, with the result being increasing competition for scarce resources. Social safeguards
therefore need serious consideration when implementing new forest governance regimes. The authors argue that
the politics of protected areas need to reconsider the position of the inhabitants by creating space to build a livelihood,
paying them for taking care of nature or relocating them beyond the protected area. This might involve
hard choices. What eventually is needed is a change towards interactive governance and adaptive co-management. |
Description: | This article is published in Elsevier and also available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2013.03.005 |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/13488 |
ISSN: | 10.1016/j.forpol.2013.03.005 |
Appears in Collections: | College of Agric and Natural Resources
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