Thorsten Treue

Neither Fast, Nor Easy: He Prospect of Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) in Ghana

SUMMARY On the basis of a detailed case study of the High Forest Zone of Ghana, the paper challenges the common narrative of REDD as being fast and easy. The paper analyses proximate and underlying causes of deforestation and degradation and finds that these processes are driven by multiple underlying causes. The paper goes on to argue that the causes of deforestation and degradation that are found within the realm of the forestry sector, to which REDD measures will be largely confined, have emerged as a result of a political economy that gives priority to economic development over forest conservation, while at the same time allowing powerful interest groups, in particular the political and administrative elite, to financially benefit from resource depletion. The analysis suggests that forest conserving policy reforms are unlikely to come fast and easy, and that the prospect of future REDD payments may not accelerate them. It is argued that the case of Ghana is not unique and that REDD implementation may face similar constraints in many developing countries.

Does Participatory Forest Management Promote Sustainable Forest Utilisation in Tanzania

SUMMARY Over the past 20 years, Participatory Forest Management (PFM) has become a dominant forest management strategy in Tanzania, covering more than 4.1 million hectares. Sustainable forest use and supply of wood products to local people are major aims of PFM. This paper assesses the sustainability of forest utilisation under PFM, using estimates of forest condition and extraction rates based on forest inventories and 480 household surveys from 12 forests; seven under Community Based Forest Management (CBFM), three under Joint Forest Management (JFM) and two under government management (non-PFM). Extraction of products is intense in forests close to Dar es Salaam, regardless of management regime. Further from Dar es Salaam, harvesting levels in forests under PFM are, with one prominent exception, broadly sustainable. Using GIS data from 116 wards, it is shown that half of the PFM forests in Tanzania are likely to be too small to satisfy current local wood demand.

Deforestation and the Limited Contribution of Forests to Rural Livelihoods in West Africa: Evidence from Burkina Faso and Ghana

Forest degradation in West Africa is generally thought to have negative consequences on rural livelihoods but there is little overview of its effects in the region because the importance of forests to rural livelihoods has never been adequately quantified. Based on data from 1014 rural households across Burkina Faso and Ghana this paper attempts to fill this knowledge gap. We demonstrate that agricultural lands and the non-forest environment including parklands are considerably more valuable to poor as well as more well-off rural households than forests. Furthermore, product types supplied by the non-forest environment are almost identical with those from forests. Accordingly, forest clearance/degradation is profitable for and, hence, probably performed by rural people at large. We attribute rural people’s high reliance on non-forest versus forest resources to the two countries’ restrictive and inequitable forest policies which must be reformed to promote effective forest conservation, e.g., to mitigate climate change.

Floristic Composition, Structure, and Species Associations of Dry Miombo Woodland in Tanzania

For the majority of forest reserves in Tanzania, biodiversity is poorly documented. This study was conducted to assess species richness (woody species), diversity, and forest structure and to examine relationships between species occurrence and topographic and edaphic factors in the Gangalamtumba Village Land Forest Reserve, a dry Miombo woodland area in Tanzania. A total of 35 nested circular plots with radii of 5, 15, and 20 m were used to collect data on woody species and soil samples across the 6,065 ha community-managed forest reserve. Stumps were measured 20 cm above ground. A total of 88 species belonging to 29 families were identified. Generally forest structure parameters and diversity indices indicated the forest to be in a good condition and have high species richness and diversity. Vegetation analysis revealed four communities of which two were dominated by the family Caesalpiniaceae, indicating large variation of site conditions and possible disturbances in the study area. The high level of diversity of woody species and the high basal area and volume indicate that the forest is in good condition, but the effect of anthropogenic activities is evident and stresses the need for proper management to maintain or enhance the present species diversity.

Volume and Aboveground Biomass Models for Dry Miombo Woodland in Tanzania

Tools to accurately estimate tree volume and biomass are scarce for most forest types in East Africa, including Tanzania. Based on a sample of 142 trees and 57 shrubs from a 6,065 ha area of dry miombo woodland in Iringa rural district in Tanzania, regression models were developed for volume and biomass of three important species, Brachystegia spiciformis Benth. (), Combretum molle G. Don (), and Dalbergia arbutifolia Baker () separately, and for broader samples of trees (28 species, ), shrubs (16 species, ), and trees and shrubs combined (44 species, ). Applied independent variables were log-transformed diameter, height, and wood basic density, and in each case a range of different models were tested. The general tendency among the final models is that the fit improved when height and wood basic density were included. Also the precision and accuracy of the predictions tended to increase from general to species-specific models. Except for a few volume and biomass models developed for shrubs, all models had values of 96–99%. Thus, the models appear robust and should be applicable to forests with similar site conditions, species, and diameter ranges.

Forests, timber and rural livelihoods: implications for social safeguards in the Ghana-EU Voluntary Partnership Agreement.

Based on detailed income data of 478 rural households, the nexus between forest, trees and rural livelihoods in Ghana is investigated and applied to assess implications of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) between the EU and Ghana on illegal logging. It is found that, after crops, environmental income (cash and subsistence) is the most important contributor to households’ total yearly net income. Fuelwood, bushmeat and wild foods from plants are the most important environmental products. The survey shows meagre income from timber and poles, but is likely to underreport this source due to its illegal nature. Yet, when the likely incomes from illegal timber harvesting as estimated by other studies are compared with this study’s comprehensive livelihood data, it is obvious that an imagined full implementation of the VPA would have limited impact on the majority of rural households. Rather than focusing on social safeguards to mitigate any perceived or real negative impacts in the short-term, policy makers in Ghana—and the donors supporting them—should focus on other aspects of the VPA, notably forest policy reforms and in particular reforms that devolve management rights and benefits to trees on farm and fallow land to those occupying and cultivating the land. Such efforts would provide incentive for timber production and thus enhance rural livelihoods, while combatting illegal logging, deforestation and forest degradation.

Institutional Rhetoric Versus Local Reality: A Case Study of Burunge Wildlife Management Area, Tanzania:

Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) are establishments that promote wildlife conservation and rural development in Tanzania. However, through focus group discussions, key informant interviews, a questionnaire survey, and literature review, we found that the participation of local people in both the establishment and management of the WMA was limited and rife with conflict. While benefits have materialized at the communal level, local people saw neither value nor benefit of the WMA to their livelihoods. Specifically, local people’s access to natural resources got worse while private eco-tourism investors and the central government have gained financially. Contrary to the livelihood enhancing WMA rhetoric, top-down institutional choices have sidelined democratically elected Village Governments and successive legislative adjustments disenfranchised and dispossessed them and their constituencies. We conclude that village governments should consistently demand for their legal rights to the resources on their land until the WMA approach to conservation and development is democratized.