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Forests play an important role in the ecological, environmental, socio-economic and cultural lives of people. However, human-nature-forest interactions bring imbalances in the state of these resources, hence the need to monitor and manage the forest proactively. This chapter, therefore, assessed the gains and losses of three national parks in Ghana (including Mole, Digya and Kakum) for the period 1986 to 2020. Landsat TM and Landsat8 OLI images were used for the assessment. The Digya National Park has a spatial extent of 4121.89 km2. In 1986, the extent of the close forest cover was 88.0% of the park and it declined to 82.8% in 2020, a loss of 6.2%. The Kakum National Park covers an area of 463.42 km2. The close forest cover was 90.15% and 89.52% of the extent of the park in 1986 and 2020, respectively. The Mole National Park covers about 4602.19 km2. In 1986, 86.73% of the park was open forest, which was reduced to 80.83%, a loss of 5.90%. The study revealed 67% of open forest degradation, 33% loss of close forest and a reported ritual bushfire, wood harvesting and lumbering as the unsustainable practices in the forests. Reclamation of degraded areas is recommended to the Forestry Commission.

Forest reserve degradation is a global concern because it is a storage facility of global biodiversity. In addition, forest reserves contain the wealth of several poor countries, particularly in Africa. Such is the situation in Ghana, which possesses portions of the tropical African rainforest. The timber species thereof has been harvested to create wealth since the 1800s. The wealth of the soils for cocoa production was realised in the first decade of the nineteenth century in Asunafo. Hence, the desire to reserve portions of the forest as protected areas began in 1910. Therefore, the aim of this study is an investigation of the degradation of the forest reserves of Asunafo. The methods of the study include a survey of farmers, key informant interviews, community meetings, and transect drives. The results reveal a progressive increase in the human population, expansion of settlements, and a drastic reduction in the forest reserves by –24.59%. The timber industry, cocoa farming, and population increase have caused forest reserve degradation, a loss of wildlife habitats, an out-migration of elephants, buffalos, and chimpanzees, a loss of plant biodiversity, and an invasion by weeds. The Government of Ghana should increase efforts to halt forest reserve degradation.

The Savannah woodland and forest ecosystems are considered as fragile ecosystems in Ghana. They are located in pro-poor areas of the country. They serve as livelihood support systems for the poor in those areas. In the midst of climate change, the same woods are expected to provide mitigation support against climate change. These woodland and forest ecosystems are in a state of dilemma: providing adaptation support to humans and at the same time providing mitigation support against climate change in the midst of climatic and seasonal challenges: low rainfall, excessive heat, harmattan and annual bushfires. The sustainability of these ecosystems depends on the net effect resulting from the pressures of adaptation, efforts of mitigation, resilience of the ecosystems and other natural support systems. This chapter explores the relationship among woodland, adaptation and mitigation activities. In this relationship, the human face has played a central role, thus influencing the direction of the net effects of the pressures on woodland ecosystems. Adaptation is over-emphasised, misunderstood and decoupled from mitigation resulting in maladaptation. This has contributed to the worsening impacts of climate change. Climate change adaptation needs to be re-emphasised to ensure mitigation is considered in every adaptation measure.

Background Modelling aboveground biomass (AGB) in forest and woodland ecosystems is critical for accurate estimation of carbon stocks. However, scarcity of allometric models for predicting AGB remains an issue that has not been adequately addressed in Africa. In particular, locally developed models for estimating AGB in the tropical woodlands of Ghana have received little attention. In the absence of locally developed allometric models, Ghana will continue to use Tier 1 biomass data through the application of pantropic models. Without local allometric models it is not certain how Ghana would achieve Tier 2 and 3 levels under the United Nations programme for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. The objective of this study is to develop a mixed-species allometric model for use in estimating AGB for the tropical woodlands in Ghana. Destructive sampling was carried out on 745 trees (as part of charcoal production) for the development of allometric equations. Diameter at breast height (dbh, i.e. 1.3 m above ground level), total tree height (H) and wood density (ρ) were used as predictors for the models. Seven models were compared and the best model selected based on model efficiency, bias (%) and corrected Akaike Information Criterion. The best model was validated by comparing its results with those of the pantropic model developed by Chave et al. (Glob Chang Biol 20:3177–3190, 2014) using equivalence test and conventional paired t-test. Results The results revealed that the best model for estimating AGB in the tropical woodlands is AGB = 0.0580ρ((dbh)2H)0.999. The equivalence test showed that this model and the pantropic model developed by Chave et al. (Glob Chang Biol 20:3177–3190, 2014) were equivalent within ±10% of their mean predictions (p-values t-tests for both lower and upper bounds at 5% significant level), while the paired t-test revealed that the mean (181.44 ± 18.25 kg) of the model predictions of the best model of this study was significantly (n = 745, mean diff. = 16.50 ± 2.45 kg; S.E. = 1.25 kg; p Conclusion The model developed in this study fills a critical gap in estimating AGB in tropical woodlands in Ghana and other West African countries with similar ecological conditions. Despite the equivalence with the pantropic model it remains superior to the model of Chave et al. (Glob Chang Biol 20:3177–3190, 2014) for the estimation of AGB in local tropical woodlands. It is a relevant tool for the attainment of Tier 2 and 3 levels for REDD+. The model is recommended for use in the tropical woodlands in Ghana and other West African countries in place of the use of pantropic models.

The combination of water and land ecosystems as found in riparian areas offers valuable ecosystem resources, in dryland areas. The aim of this paper was to draw a management plan for the utilisation, and protection of the riparian forests or woodlands along the Black Volta River in Nandom Municipality. An exploratory research design was used together with quantitative and qualitative approaches. A survey of 75 respondents from 10 communities, 10 key informant interviews, and five focus group discussions in five communities were used to collect primary data. Satellite images for 2001 and 2014 were sourced from USGS site. The results revealed that riparian forest loss was 6.4% over 13 years. There was an increase in bare area by 10.6% over the same period. The study identified 49 plant resources, 14 wildlife resources, and 25 halieutic resources. A five-year management plan was developed with community participation; the implementation of which would engender sustainability of the riparian ecosystem.

This study presents a multi-level analysis of land cover change in the Kintampo Municipality of Ghana using Landsat TM, ETM + and Landsat 8 images from 1986, 2001 and 2014, respectively. The expected and observed annual rates of land cover change for the periods 1986 to 2001 and 2001 to 2014 were analyzed at temporal and intra and inter-land cover levels using post-classification change detection. The results reveal that the expected annual rate of land cover change for the time intervals is 2.55 %. The observed annual rate of change from 2001 to 2014 is 2.63 %, which is greater than the expected value. This shows that land cover changed faster than expected in this period. The observed intra-land cover gains and losses for woodland is 2.49 % which is less than expected for the change periods. This suggests that the observed gain and loss in woodlands are attributable to random changes. The inter-land cover level changes for both periods reveal that when woodland gained or lost, it did not target shrub/grassland. This shows that the process of gain or loss in woodland in both periods was random. This is an indication that woodland cover is sustained by a slow, natural regeneration process and not by anthropogenic activities. The findings highlight the relevance of multilevel land cover analysis in land cover assessment. The temporal level highlights the need to relate changes in land cover to anthropogenic activities for a better understanding of the changes. The study also revealed that multi-level land cover analysis can facilitate management decisions on whether to reduce loss in woodland or increase gain in woodland cover from shrub land.

The impacts of charcoal production on woodland were assessed in the Forest-Savannah Transition Zone of Ghana to facilitate policy formulation for a win-win situation for both sustainable woodland management and charcoal production. Twenty-three harvested sites in two charcoal producing communities were assessed in terms of the extent of harvested sites, changes in biomass carbon stock and tree basal area. The boundary of each site earmarked for charcoal production was mapped with a hand-held Global Positioning System, and the diameters at breast height ( d bh ) and the heights of trees of d bh ≥ 5 cm were measured, prior to harvest. The extent of harvested sites was compared with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change criterion of “devegetation” using Wilcoxon test, while the biomass carbon and basal area of the harvested trees were compared with those of the remnant trees using Mann Whitney t-test. The median of the extent of harvested sites ( M = 0.23 ha, P = 1.00) was significantly higher than 0.05 ha, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change minimum criterion for “devegetation”, while the difference between median basal area of harvested and remnant trees was significantly greater than zero (G h − G r = 2.6 m 2 ha −1 ; P = 0.001) at 95% significant level. The Mann Whitney test also provided sufficient evidence (n = 23; M hc − M rc = 12.07 t ha − 1 ; P per se . Therefore, the evidence of the impact of charcoal production on woodlands shown in this study should be basis for sustainable woodlands management and not basis for halting charcoal production in the study area.

Access to woodland plays a critical role in woodland degradation, yet policy efforts at addressing woodland degradation have focused on access to woodland for farming and lumbering to the detriment of access to woodland for charcoal production. Access arrangement to woodland for charcoal production is subsumed under access to woodland for farming, complicating the efforts at understanding the nexus between charcoal production and woodland degradation. This study assessed access arrangement to woodland for charcoal production and how it influences the state of the woodland in the Kintampo Municipality, a sub-political administrative area of Ghana. The views of 103 randomly selected charcoal producers from Asantekwa and Kunsu communities in the Municipality were assessed in relation to woodland access arrangement for charcoal production. Binary logistic regression was used to identify factors of charcoal production that influence woodland degradation. The results showed that procedures of access to woodland (P = 0.003), attitude of producers toward the woodland access arrangement (P = 0.023) have significant negative influence on woodland degradation. Producers perceived the procedure of access as unfair and are unwilling to follow it. Perceived unfairness in the procedure of access and unwillingness to follow it are pointers of circumventing the procedure of access to woodland, which is a recipe for conflict and woodland degradation. Woodland owners, chiefs and charcoal producers must make concerted efforts to revise the current access arrangement to woodland so that they become fair and acceptable to all parties in order to ensure sustainable woodland use.

Academic institutions have come under criticism for not living up to their research expectations. In response, the University for Development Studies (UDS) in Ghana runs a student-community engagement programme termed the Third Trimester Field Practical Programme (TTFPP), where students stay in and research with rural communities on development issues as part of their academic work. This paper analyses communities and students’ assessment of the TTFPP in relation to its core objectives. Data were obtained from 35 communities and 315 students during the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 TTFPP sessions in the Upper West Region, using key informant interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation. The study established that the TTFPP is beneficial to communities and students and has the potential of being an effective vehicle for academia-community linkage. However, the preliminary field preparation prior to the student-community engagement was unsatisfactory and a weakness on the engagement. Nonetheless, communities are willing to host and work with students. Therefore, this paper argues that while this student-community engagement is justified, more needs to be done to ensure effective and efficient academia-community linkage. There is more to academia-community engagement than sending students out to field. This paper calls for a re-examination of the structure and content of the TTFPP. Keywords : Community-based Research, Student-Community Engagement, Third Trimester Field Practical Program, University for Development Studies, Ghana

This paper assessed encroachment of streams due to physical development in Wa Urban Area of the Upper West Region of Ghana. The assessment was informed by the recognition that the roles played by streams in flood control are undermined by physical developments. This affects sustainable urban development and renders the urban area vulnerable to floods. The assessment was based on the 300m buffer zone standard set by the Ghana Water Resources Commission as a protective zone for such streams in the country. It is mandatory to offset all physical development from this zone but that is not the situation on the ground. For the purpose of this study each buffer zone was divided into sub-buffer zones of 100m in order to appreciate how far development has moved into the prohibited buffer zone. The streams and physical structures were mapped with a Trimble GPS receiver while land owners and tenants were purposively selected and interviewed. The buffer zone and sub-buffer zones were defined using GIS and overlaid with map of the physical structures. The categories of structures found in the buffer zones were residential (93.4 %), commercial (5.1%), public (1.3%) and agriculture (0.2%). The results of the study indicates that more than 50 % of physical structures mapped are located in the inner buffer and the land acquisition process for development of these structures amongst others in Wa is mostly initiated by developers.

This paper presents the use of Public Participatory GIS (PPGIS) which enables better appreciation of water resource management at the community level based on two case studies conducted in Northern Ghana. The case studies were aimed at enhancing water resource management for irrigation purposes through participatory means. Emphasis was played on letting community members understand how to monitor water coverage in the reservoir using PPGIS. Selected community members were engaged in mapping the spatial extents of the reservoir and the existing gardens or farms around the reservoir. These points were overlaid on satellite images for them to understand the temporal variation of the water levels. The satellite images, which captured the extent of the water in the reservoir, served as bases to appreciate the level of reduction or increase in the water coverage in the reservoir. The overlay shows that in both communities, there was a reduction in the spatial extent of the water in the reservoir. In Kokoligu, the situation was attributed to human activities such as farming close to the reservoir, and situating gardens within the reservoir while in Vea it was attributed to weather conditions such as low rainfall amounts and intense sunshine which facilitated evaporation. In Kokoligu, people farm within hundred metres from the edge of the reservoir. It was observed that some gardens were situated in the dry parts of the reservoir so as to have easy access to the water in the reservoir or dugouts. Field observations also revealed that the surrounding land cover of the reservoir was bare especially at Kokoligu. Though the farmers were aware of the reduction of the level of the water in the reservoir, it was difficult to appreciate the extent of the reduction. The overlay of the GPS coordinates and the images helped them visualised the extent. The involvement of rural communities helped professionals to learn indigenous water conservation methods such as mulching, application of manure and continues loosen the soil. This paper therefore has demonstrated that PPGIS is rendering both communities and professionals an integrated learning environment for both indigenous communities and professionals to share their knowledge, and build GIS databases that have meaningful impact for resource management, use and development.