Community-Led Governance and Management of Atewa Forest Range Landscape

About the Project

The Atewa forest reserve supports: globally significant biodiversity; good conditions for agricultural activities, Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) as well as climate regulation. Even more importantly, the upland forest reserve serves as an important water tower serving over 5 million people in at least 3 regions in Ghana. The Atewa forest supports significant communities in the adjoining landscape in terms of provision of ecosystem services. However due to threats occurring both directly within the reserve (illegal logging and hunting) and most notably in the off-reserve area (unsustainable agricultural systems, illegal mining, etc), the significance of the forest is undermined. Key underlying factors are inadequate law enforcement, governance and management structures as well as weak diversification of livelihood ventures to enhance economic development.

The project seeks to empower communities to undertake sustainable governance and management  of resources within the South-Eastern boundaries of the Atewa Range Forest Reserve.  Key project activities will also help improve livelihoods of 10 beneficiary communities as well as strengthen natural resource governance structures within the Atewa landscape.

Project interventions

• To address the challenge of environmental degradation due to inadequate governance systems. The project would set up a basic governance structure known as the Community Resource Management Committee (CRMC) using the Community Resource Management Area (CREMA) approach as established by the wildlife division of Ghana. The core function of the CRMC would be to support and undertake ground activities such as the implementation of development action plans.The project will also empower communities with tools and skills to undertake integrated landscape management within a proposed Community Resource Management Areas (CREMA) and improve cocoa value chains to increase income levels of local farmers.
• The project would also support communities to restore degraded lands on both farms and old abandoned illegal mine sites.
• Engage farmers through the introduction of agricultural best practices such as conservation agriculture to enhance their yields. Some farmers would then be supported to pilot these best practices as a form of demonstration on their farms. This is expected  to later serve as a learning points for other farmers within the landscape.