Policy thatworksforforestsandpeople4No: G Falling into place HANA Ghanaian forestry is in the process of rediscovering its past, consolidating what it does best, and G learning from innovative new forest management initiatives. Falling Into Place charts the evolution of policies that affect forests. It describes how the ‘timber-first’ orientation of forestry is giving way to more collaborative policy and forest management for a greater range of forest values, and how tactical Policy that approaches led by key opinion-formers and policy-makers have been successful at overcoming works for forests resistance to change. There are major challenges ahead: combining the economic potential of forest and people resources with maintaining environmental quality and human well-being; and rooting decision-making in places where people are really motivated to take action. Yet, after years of ‘things falling apart’, it seems that Ghanaian forestry is beginning to fall into place. “Through a careful compilation and analysis of data and case studies, Falling Into Place provides a brilliant examination of forest policy and policy processes in Ghana. Its conclusions and recommendations indicate plausible future directions for improved policy. It will be ex- tremely useful for all those interested in understanding and explaining forest policy in particu- lar, and policy in general”. E.O.Nsenkyire, Chief Conservator of Forests, Forestry Department, Ghana Policy that works for forests and people series Forest issues often concern large amounts of money, long timeframes, huge areas of land, and diverse livelihoods. The issues are complex and vary from place to place. However, a pattern of forest problems is common to many countries: continuing loss of natural forests; over-concentrated control and inequitable access to forests; an ill-informed public; and poorly-resourced, inflexible forestry hana Kotey institutions. Policy is the root cause of many of these forest problems. This series consists of six country studies - from Costa Rica, Ghana, India, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe - and an overview report. The series aims at a better understanding of the forces at play in contests over policy, the winners and losers, and the factors that affect policy outcomes. It also describes the processes that make and manage good policies and the policy instruments that Falling work in different contexts. By dealing with policy in practice - in the ‘real world’ of people and their institutions - the series aims to go beyond the frequently heard com- plaint that there is a lack of ‘political will’ to change, by showing how policy can change for the better. et al into place Nii Ashie Kotey This report was financed by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Johnny Francois Netherlands Development Assistance (NEDA) JGK Owusu Raphael Yeboah Kojo S Amanor Lawrence Antwi ISSN: 1028-8228 Figure 3.2 Forests and protected areas containing forest of Ghana Photo: James Mayers Dry semideciduous forest on the Mpraeso scarp. Eastern region Photo: James Mayers Trees in the savannah zone, near Navrongo. The savannah zone of northern Ghana does not support large commercial timber stocks, but the trees in the landscape are vital sources of products for local use and are actively managed by local people Photo: Bruce Paton/Panos Pictures Nongondi woman with fuelwood Photo: James Mayers In northern Ghana, colonial foresters planted mahogany trees along roadsides to shade the District Commissioner on his travels Photo: Bruce Paton/Panos Pictures Independent chainsaw operators are active all over the forest zone and their activities can be only partially regulated. They produce much fuelwood and a considerable quantity of timber which does not appear in government statistics Photo: Jorgen Schytte/Still Pictures Fuelwood market, Koko village. More than 75 per cent of all energy requirements in Ghana are met from fuelwood and charcoal. It has been estimated that annual fuelwood con- sumption in the country as a whole is about 16 million m3. Much urban fuelwood origi- nates in the savannah and transitional zones, where there is increasing local scarcity Photo: Anna Tully/Panos Photo: Anna Tully/Panos Pictures Sorting palm nuts for making palm oil Photo: Thelma Sanders/Panos Pictures A durbar for Nana Asiedu Agyemfra, in Larteh. Stool communities, headed by chiefs, are generally the landholding authorities in the high forest zone. They are key forest stakeholders Photo: James Mayers Harvesting cocoa in Ashanti Region. Cocoa was Ghana’s number one foreign exchange earner, until recently overtaken by gold. It is found on farms throughout the high forest zone, although it is declining in eastern areas where climate and soil are less favourable and crop diseases more severe. Farmers in some areas retain considerable numbers of high forest trees amongst the cocoa bushes, for their shade and nutrient qualities Photo: Anna Tully/Panos Pictures Making palm wine, Volta Region. Palm wine is made from the sap of raphia or oil palm. Raphia palms are tapped upright but oil palms are felled prior to tapping. In many villages, palm alcohol is distilled from the wine Photo: Liba Taylor/Panos Pictures Taylor/Panos Photo: Liba Survey work to establish a community-managed forest. Since the early 1990s, the Forestry Department has been working to establish such “dedicated forests” to be man- aged on the basis of agreed management plans Photo: James Mayers Village-level discussions with the Forestry Department on options for collaborative forest management, Abonsuaso, Brong Ahafo Region GHANA COUNTRY Policy that works for forests and people series no. 4 STUDY Falling into place Authors: Nii Ashie Kotey • Johnny Francois • JGK Owusu • Raphael Yeboah • Kojo S Amanor • Lawrence Antwi Series Editor: James Mayers Study coordinated by International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) United Kingdom In collaboration with Ministry of Lands and Forestry, Ghana 1998 Copies of this report are available from: Faculty of Law University of Ghana P.O. Box 70 Legon, Ghana Tel: +233 21 500304 Fax. +233 21 502385 e-mail: [email protected] Publications International Institute for Environment and Development 3 Endsleigh Street London WC1H 0DD, UK Tel: +44 171 388 2117 Fax: +44 171 388 2826 e-mail: [email protected] Citation: Kotey, E.N.A., Francois, J., Owusu, J.G.K., Yeboah, R., Amanor, K.S. and Antwi, L. 1998. Falling into Place. Policy that works for forests and people series no. 4. International Institute for Environment and Development, London. Cover photo: A meeting between forest department staff and local independent chainsaw operators in Abonsuaso, Brong Ahafo Region by James Mayers Design and production by Eileen Higgins at IIED. Illustration © Christine Bass: based on a lizard motif incorporated into the painted decoration of traditional compounds since the lizard is “always around where humans live”. Printed by Russell Press, Nottingham, UK. Printed on Highland Velvet Pro 115gsm, 100% chlorine free Policy that Works for Forests and People is a project coordinated by the Forestry and Land Use Pro- gramme of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) supported by the Neth- erlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UK Department for International Development. The Policy that Works for Forests and People Series derives from this project. Other studies in the series to date are: no. 1 Pakistan Javed Ahmed and Fawad Mahmood no. 2 Papua New Guinea Colin Filer and Nikhil Sekhran no. 3 India Arvind Khare, Seema Bathla, S Palit, Madhu Sarin and NC Saxena no. 5 Zimbabwe Calvin Nhira, Sibongile Sibanda, Peter Gondo, JJ Mangono and Crispen Marunda no. 6 Costa Rica Vicente Watson, Sonia Cervantes, Cesar Castro, Leonardo Mora, Magda Solis, Ina T. Porras and Beatriz Cornejo no. 7 Overview report James Mayers and Stephen Bass These studies are available from IIED at the address above. Foreword Natural resource policy development is often a minefield, while forest policy implementation can resemble a battleground; an arena littered with skirmishes, stymied campaigns, a few important victories and a frontline that is gradually moving forward. This is as true in Ghana today as it is elsewhere. Since 1994 the Government of Ghana’s overall aim for the forestry sector has however been clear: The Forest and Wildlife Policy aims at the conservation and sustainable development of the nation’s forest and wildlife resources for maintenance of environmental quality and perpetual flow of optimum benefits to all segments of society. (1994 Forest and Wildlife Policy) Using the information gathered from extensive surveys, our sector agencies have now prepared strategies to address protection, production and local people’s interests in the forest resources of the high forest zone within the context of our overall policy goal. It appears to us that these different interests in the resource can be reconciled at the policy, strategic and operational levels; they need not inherently be in conflict. Problems arise when one of the interests gains the upper hand and is able to pursue its agenda to the detriment of the rest. When this happens, the Government has to be prepared to redress the imbalances; to challenge those agencies, industries and individuals that prefer the old ways of doing business. As we begin to implement the natural resource management programme across the high forest zone we believe that collaboration with the rural forest fringe communities will be a key strategy for successful implementation of our new forest policies. The report series being prepared by IIED describes the processes behind the making and implementing of policies in six countries. It tries to understand which policies have worked, which have not worked and why. The report Falling into place i prepared by the Ghana team provides a snap-shot of our situation: the resource base, the stakeholders, the history of official forest policy and four case studies of policy being put in practice.