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• The motivation for wetland eco-volunteering were ecological and social reasons. • Wetland eco-volunteers faced transportation difficulties, inadequate equipment, limited refreshments, and interpersonal conflicts. • Challenges had no effect on future eco-volunteerism of volunteers motivated by ecological reasons. • Challenges negatively moderated future eco-volunteerism of volunteers motivated by social reasons. Depending on planned behaviour theory most studies have assumed a direct effect between socio-demographics and biophilia attitudes on eco-volunteerism without considering prior eco-restoration challenges. Using the expectancy motivation theory, this study assessed the challenges eco-volunteers faced during an eco-restoration exercise within the Muni-Pomadze Ramsar Site (Ghana) and its effects on future eco-volunteerism. The study collected data from eco-volunteers and analysed it using a paired-sampled t -test and generalised linear modelling. Per the results, eco-volunteers face challenges including transportation difficulties, limited refreshment, inadequate equipment, and interpersonal conflict with other eco-volunteers. Ecological reasons superseded social reasons as a motivating factor for eco-volunteerism. Expectancy motivation theory influence of valence played out when the combined effect of transportation difficulties, limited refreshment, inadequate equipment, and interpersonal conflicts on social reasons negatively affected future eco-volunteerism. The study recommends that organisers of eco-restoration exercises should be more sensitive to the needs of eco-volunteers and address these challenges to help encourage future eco-volunteerism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communities in the Ankobra estuary are generally rural and have a high vulnerability and risk to floods. However, there is little scientific evidence on the nature of floods; exposure of communities to floods and a flood risk map to help effective flood risk reduction and management within the estuary. This is as a result of limited attention given to flood occurrences at local scales. This study therefore sought to assess flood risk within the Ankobra estuary. Data were collected through interviews, community participatory mapping, observations and geographic information systems techniques (onscreen digitising, global positioning system mapping and spatial multi-criteria evaluation). Results from the study indicated that the estuary experiences three types of flood namely riverine, coastal and urban. Risk levels derived ranged from extreme, 0.75–1; high, 0.5–0.74; medium 0.25–0.49 to low, 0–0.24. The extreme risk zone covered an area of 46,725 m 2 ; high risk zone covered 701,525 m 2 ; moderate risk zone, 248,150 m 2 and low risk zone, 9,167,758 m 2 . The study therefore recommends that people who live within extreme and high risk zones should be relocated to low risk zones while those in medium risk should undertake retrofitting of their buildings to minimize flow of flood water into their houses and rooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though global interest in mangrove research has increased in recent years, unveiling their immense ecological and economic roles, very little work has been done to investigate the primary driving factors motivating long-term community-based mangrove restoration and management on local scales. In Ghana, policy makers and coastal management practitioners have recently embraced the concept of community-based and co-management of coastal and marine resources. Community-based and co-management approaches require that key stakeholders, most notably the resource users themselves, play significant roles and responsibilities in the management process. However, there is little evaluation of the process in Ghana to assess the success or otherwise, particularly of the few and long standing examples of community-based approaches in coastal resource management. With special reference to an over two decade old community-based mangrove forestry programme along the Volta estuary of Ghana, this paper provides concepts for examination of the ecological and socioeconomic factors influencing mangrove restoration and management by fishers, fish mongers, farmers and their socioeconomic groupings. Participatory GIS mapping and the use of orthophotos generated for the period 1974–2011 provided additional information on temporal evolution of the extent of mangrove areas restored and managed by local stakeholders. Socioeconomic assessment of mangrove products utility was done through questionnaire interviews. The results indicate that livelihoods and economic benefits are the primary factors that motivate local stakeholders' participation in mangrove restoration and management. Mangroves provisioning services, markets and low livelihoods diversification are major drivers of mangrove resources exploitation. The study has shown that mangroves resources can be sustainably exploited, restored and managed if local customary rules are enforced and institutional arrangements put in place to mediate mangrove exploitation and regeneration rates. Such an approach if well developed, could promote coastal resources conservation with high economic returns for the users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Both nature and humans equally need each other for environmental sustainability. • Humans provide restoring and protecting services to nature while nature provides cultural and provisioning services to human. • Cultural services from nature had a positive interactional effect on protecting and restoring services to nature. • The level of vegetation cover and belief that nature is an abode for numinous beings helped in explaining the variance in services to and from nature. Ecosystem services are often conceptualised as a unidirectional flow of services from nature (S f N) to societies, neglecting services provided by societies to nature (S t N). Using respondents from four Ga/Dangme communities in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, this study sought to develop a scale for measuring the dimensions of perceived S t N and S f N, assess the interactional effects between them and determine the changes they have undergone over time. Results showed that from 1987 to 2018, the services provided by the Ga/Dangme to nature were predominantly restoring services (through nature-rejuvenating activities like planting and pruning) and protecting services (via safeguarding measures such as taboos and prohibitions) while they received provisioning (food, water, fuel) and cultural services (which satisfy non-material needs including identity and spirituality) from nature. The study found a symbiotic relationship between S t N and S f N as provisioning services had a positive interactional effect on cultural and restoring services and a negative effect on protecting services. Cultural services, as well, positively influenced protecting and restoring services. The main determinants of S t N and S f N were the level of vegetation cover, the land cover type and the belief that nature is an abode for numinous beings. The effects of the socio-demographic characteristics of respondents on S t N and S f N and were marginal. We recommend that to ensure environmental sustainability, environmentalists should concentrate on cultural services that improve restoring and protecting services. Thus, traditional beliefs need to be contextualised and organised for transfer to younger generations through cultural channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]