Community forest management in Ghana. Research Paper

Community Forest Management in Ghana
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State control over forests in various countries faces significant challenges. Thus, the affected countries, including Ghana, have developed participatory community approaches to manage their forests. Although the community members agree to the participation at the beginning of the programs, they complain about the lack of motivational packages. Consequently, they are no longer resilient to the plans' achievement, an event that deters the principal aim of forest management's development plans. The Ghanaian fringe communities engaged to only maintain reserve boundaries and plant seedlings through the planned programs initiate illegal activities that eventually pose degradation threats to the forests. The country's forest ecosystems cannot eventually provide essential goods and services to the people and nature. The idea of people involving other illegal than the purposed activities induce conflicts in the evolved forest management plans since it does not attain its intended aim of protecting and managing but poses a degradation threat to the forests.
Literature review
The local community, private sector, and government engage in an evolving vital aspect of forests' maintenance. According to Appiah (2001), engagement is significant to tropical forestry policy and practice. The management should base their forestry management rules and regulations on the engagement to ensure that every implemented step correlates and adheres to the collaborations' requirements. Besides, they engage multiple groups with different beliefs, needs, and ways of handling issues. The most important point is ensuring that the forestry policy and practice does not detriment either the community, private sectors, or the government in the management plans. Appiah (2001) claims that the local community's involvement, private industry, and government are central components of most international forest aid programs. The three groups must evolve to a joint development plan group with a significant aim of protecting and managing their forests to acquire the aid plans they need to execute their projects successfully. Actions such as reviving a degraded forest may prove difficult to the active collaborations. Still, if they strategize on achieving the requirements necessary for international aids, they can easily acquire substantial fund packages to finance their projects.
Extended case study discussion
The Ghana Primewood Products Ltd and Dalhoff Larsen & Horneman timber firms collaborated with the local community in Gwira-Banso of Ghana in a joint forest management program in commitment to managing the Gwira-Banso forest. The collaborators intended to participate in a local joint process to achieve the objective (Appiah, 2001). However, their presence and participation could not yield the expected results. The research by Appiah (2001) shows that the two companies and the local people needed excellent incentives and proper communication to enhance the desired participation in the collaboration. Otherwise, their engagement would not lead to the achievement of the common objectives. The core-partners would also engage in tree planting, multiple land use, and sharing all the benefits from the collaboration (Appiah, 2001). However, the local community support involved in the plan posed various challenges that could deter the project's completion. According to Appiah (2001), the people raised questions regarding issues, including their livelihood sources and tenure arrangements. While the companies may have been comfortable with the project's initial requirements and processes, the community people's issues become significant challenges to the joint project, barring its achievement of the intended goals.
Relevant theories and models
The community resilience model is a compelling theory showing the families' participation in the forest management collaboration. The study by Akamani & Hall (2015) reveals that the models tested the role of institutions, capital assets, and community and social population as the significant factors determining the collaborative program's outcomes. What roles did the variables play in Ghana's local people's participation in the local forest management plan? The data investigating the determinants' role originated from forest-dependent communities (Akamani & Hall, 2015). The investigation of the households from these communities would yield excellent results since any woods' activity would directly impact their lives. Their involvement in the community forest management program depended on the community's location, a past connection with institutions, and linked share capital.
Regression analysis of the aspects shows that the most significant determinants of the community forest management plan's outcomes included community location and past capitals. According to Akamani & Hall (2015), the judgment depended on the general capital levels. The local community's participation in the program impacted human capital positively. However, Akamani & Hall (2015) show minimal or no effect on other resources influencing household welfare and resilience. The results show that co-management impacts on families may be modest. They depend on the issues impacting the engaged communities directly.
Knowing that the local community's participation in forest program management led to both positive and no positive impact on some aspects of their lives, community resilience may investigate the communities' immediate reaction to ...