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Understanding people's practices, knowledge and perceptions of the use of fire and fire regimes can inform fire management plans that could contribute to savanna conservation and sustainable management. We investigated the frequency of fire use, control and perceptions of fire regimes for selected livelihood and socio-cultural activities in six districts in the Guinea savanna of Ghana. The six districts were selected to have a good representation of fire prone areas in the region based on fire frequency data obtained from the CSIR Meraka Institute, South Africa. A multiple regression analysis showed that people's use of fire for the selected socio-cultural activities from district, occupation, gender, age and ethnic group significantly predicted fire use for the activities R2 = 0.043, F (5,498) = 5.43, p < 0.000. Age and occupation added significantly to the use of fire. The study revealed that the majority of respondents (83%) across the study districts used fire once a year for at least one of the following activities: land preparation, weed/pest control, burning postharvest stubble, bush clearing around homesteads, firebreaks, charcoal burning and hunting. The study also showed a higher frequency of fire use for land preparation for cropping than for the other activities. Less than a fifth of the respondents (17%) indicated that they do not use fire for any of the selected activities. The majority of respondents (65%) mentioned that they controlled their use of fire to prevent destruction to property or injuring humans. The study revealed a higher frequency of fire use in the dry season for land preparation for cropping. However, respondents rated season of burning as the most important attribute, with little attention to the other attributes of a fire regime, contrary to what is theoretically recognized. Understanding traditional fire use practices in terms of how to regulate the mix of frequency, intensity/severity, season, size and type of fire for these and other socio-cultural purposes could help to mitigate and/or manage bushfires in West African savannas and enhance savanna conservation and management. Hence, the need to better understand people's knowledge and perceptions of fire regimes in fire assisted socio-cultural practices in West Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The West African savanna experiences a prolonged dry season with Harmattan winds which facilitate large and persistent biomass burning from November to April. The fires are mostly caused by humans, mainly in pursuit of the day to day livelihood activities. We examined how fire influences the population structure and abundance of two economically important woody species Vitellaria paradoxa (Shea tree) and Anogeissus leiocarpa (African Birch) in six land use types in the Guinea savanna, Ghana. We calculated the stand basal area, mean densities of juveniles and adult trees, Lorey's mean height of adult trees and Simpson's index of dominance. Eight diameter size classes of each species were analysed by comparing their observed distributions to a three-parameter Weibull distribution across the land use types. A total of 3366 individuals of A. leiocarpa (n = 1,846) and V. paradoxa (n = 1,520) were enumerated. The basal area of A. leiocarpa and V. paradoxa in sacred groves (16.9 m2 ha−1) and unburnt woodlands (20.6 m2 ha−1) was higher than the estimates in the other land use types. High mean densities of A. leiocarpa and V. paradoxa were found in sacred groves (22.7 ± 29.7 stems ha−1) and fallows (15.3 ± 2.2 stems ha−1), respectively. Mean density of juveniles of both A. leiocarpa (248.0 ± 89.1 stems ha−1) and V. paradoxa (68.0 ± 29.7 stems ha−1) were higher in unburnt woodlands than in the other land use types. A. leiocarpa was absent in fallows and burnt crop fields. An inverse J-shaped distribution was found in sacred groves for both species. The absence of A. leiocarpa in burnt crop fields and the decrease of some size classes of V. paradoxa in both burnt and unburnt crop fields indicate the need for sustainable conservation of both species. Furthermore, the inverse J-shape distribution found in sacred groves for both A. leiocarpa and V. paradoxa implies that these species thrive best with minimal anthropogenic disturbances. Although species conservation is achieved through conventional protection, traditional or cultural conservation practices which avoid the indiscriminate use of fire should be highly promoted to ensure sustainable conservation of species. • We examined how fire influences the population structure and abundance of two important woody species in a West African parkland. • High mean densities of A. leiocarpa and V. paradoxa were found in some land use types. • An inverse J-shaped distribution was found in community conserved groves for both species. • Decrease in size classes of V. paradoxa in some land use types are an indication of the need for conservation of species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]