An Exploration of Policy Implementation in Protected

AN EXPLORATION OF POLICY IMPLEMENTATION IN PROTECTED

WATERSHED AREAS: CASE STUDY OF DIGYA NATIONAL PARK IN THE

VOLTA LAKE MARGINS IN GHANA

A thesis presented to

the faculty of

the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University

In partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree

Master of Science

Jesse S. Ayivor

March 2007

This thesis entitled

AN EXPLORATION OF POLICY IMPLEMENTATION IN PROTECTED

WATERSHED AREAS: CASE STUDY OF DIGYA NATIONAL PARK IN THE

VOLTA LAKE MARGINS IN GHANA

JESSE S. AYIVOR

has been approved for

the Program of Environmental Studies

and the College of Arts and Sciences by

Nancy J. Manring

Associate Professor of Political Science

Benjamin M. Ogles

Dean, College of Arts and Sciences

Abstract

AYIVOR, JESSE S., M.S., March 2007, Program of Environmental Studies AN EXPLORATION OF POLICY IMPLEMENTATION IN PROTECTED WATERSHED AREAS: CASE STUDY OF DIGYA NATIONAL PARK IN THE VOLTA LAKE MARGINS IN GHANA (133 pp.)

Director of Thesis: Nancy J. Manring

The demise of vital ecosystems has necessitated the designation of protected areas and formulation of policies for their sustainable management. This study which evaluates policy implementation in Digya National Park in the Volta Basin of Ghana, was prompted by lack of information on how Ghana Forest and Wildlife policy, 1994, which regulates DNP, is being implemented amidst continues degradation of the Park. The methodology adopted involved interviews with government officials and analysis of institutional documents. The results revealed that financial constraints and encroachment are the main problems inhibiting the realization of the policy goals, resulting in a steady decrease in forest cover within the Park. The study recommends intervention measures including proactive government role in capacitating implementing agencies to function more effectively, more community participation and private sector partnership in the implementation process. The study concluded that successful policy implementation at DNP would above everything help ensure the sustainability of Volta Lake and its hydroelectric power plant.

Approved: ______

Nancy J. Manring

Associate Professor of Political Science

Dedication

To my late mother Felicia Ama Ayivor

Acknowledgment

Sincere thanks to my academic advisor, Dr. Nancy J. Manring, Associate Professor of Political Science, Ohio University, whose useful suggestions and constructive criticisms guided the successful completion of this thesis. A note of appreciation to other members of my thesis committee namely: Dr. F. E. Bernard, Professor of Geography, Ohio University, Dr. Jeff Ueland, Assistant Professor of Geography, Ohio University, and Dr. Elizabeth Edna Wangui, Assistant Professor of Geography, Ohio University. Above all, I give thanks to the Almighty God who granted me the strength to complete this thesis.

Table of Content

Page

Abstract...... 3 Dedication...... 4 Acknowledgment ...... 5 List of Tables ...... 8 List of Figures...... 9 List of Acronyms ...... 10 Chapter 1. Introduction ...... 11 1.1.0. Background...... 12 1.2.0. The Study Area ...... 17 1.3.0. Problem Statement...... 24 1.4.0. Objectives ...... 27 1.5.0. Organization of Work ...... 29 Chapter 2. Literature Review...... 30 Chapter 3. Methodology ...... 44 3.1.0. Research Design...... 44 3.2.0. Analytical Techniques ...... 47 3.3.0. Problems ...... 48 Chapter 4. Regulatory Framework for Protected Areas in Ghana...... 52 4.1.0. The Political and Economic Context ...... 52 4.2.0. Background of Protected Areas in Ghana...... 56 4.3.0. Regulatory Framework in Protected Areas in Ghana ...... 58 4.3.1. International Conventions and National Regulations Concerned with Forest and Biodiversity Management in Ghana...... 63 4.3.2. The Ghana Forest and Wildlife Policy...... 67 4.3.3. National Water Policy of Ghana...... 69 4.4.0. Policy Implementation in Protected Areas (PA) of Ghana...... 70 Chapter 5. Data Analysis ...... 73 5.0.0. Policy Implementation in the Digya National Park ...... 73 5.1.0. A Brief Background and Importance of Digya National Park...... 73 5.2.0. Policy Implementation Strategies ...... 78 5.2.1. Stakeholder Collaboration ...... 80 5.3.0. Problems of Policy Implementation...... 82 5.4.0. Illegal Encroachment and Forced Eviction of Squatters...... 91 5.5.0. Policy Evaluation...... 95 5.6.0. Application of Policy Implementation Framework ...... 96 5.6.1. Material Variables...... 96 5.6.2. Structural Variables ...... 98 5.6.3. Contextual Variables...... 101 Chapter 6. Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations...... 105 6.1.0. Summary and Conclusion...... 105 6.2.0. Recommendations...... 108 6.2.1. Short-term Measures...... 108

6.2.2. Long-term Measures ...... 111 6.3.0. Limitations of Study and Further Research ...... 113 References...... 115 Appendix 1. Interview Guide for Officials of State Agencies/Departments ...... 126 Appendix 2. Interview Guide for NGOs...... 129 Appendix 3. Classified 1985 Landsat TM Image of Digya National Park...... 130 Appendix 4. Classified 1991 Landsat TM Image of Digya National Park...... 131 Appendix 5. Classified 2000 Landsat TM Image of Digya National Park...... 132 Appendix 6. Digya, Kogyea and Bui National Parks ...... 133

List of Tables

Table Page

1.1 Protected Areas and Biodiversity in Ghana...... 16 4.1 Wildlife Protected Areas in Ghana ...... 60 4.2 International Conventions Related to Biodiversity Ratified by Ghana ...... 64 4.3 National Legislations with Relevance to Biodiversity Management in Ghana ...... 65 5.1 List of Logistics Required for Effective Management of DNP ...... 84 5.2 Supervised Classification Result for the Area Covering Digya National Park ...... 88

List of Figures

Figure Page

1. Map of the Volta Basin Showing Ghana and Neighboring Countries...... 18 2. The Digya National Park Study Area ...... 23 3. Policy Implementation Framework (PIF) ...... 51 4. Organigram of the Environmental Policy Making, Advisory and Implementation in Ghana ...... 62

List of Acronyms

CFMU Collaborative Forest Management Unit EPA Environmental Protection Agency ETM Earth Thematic Mapper DNP Digya National Park EA Electoral Area DA District Assembly GDP Gross Domestic Product GEC Ghana Energy Commission GEF Global Environmental Fund GWRC Ghana Water Resources Commission FRMP Forest Resource Management Plan LI Legislative Instrument NEAP National Environmental Action Plan NEPA National Environmental Policy Act NEPAD New Partnership for African Development NGO Non-Governmental Organization IUCN The World Conservation Union PIF Policy Implementation Framework PPP Purchasing Power Parity RCC Regional Coordination Council TM Thematic Mapper UNDP United Nations Development Program USAID United States Agency for International Development WCPA World Commission on Protected Areas WCMC World Conservation Monitoring Centre WDG Wildlife Division oF Ghana UNESCO United Nation’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization VRP Volta River Project VRA Volta River Authority VBRP Volta Basin Research Project GFC Ghana Forestry Commission WWF World Wide Fund for Nature

Chapter 1. Introduction

Watershed areas, as most other biophysical regions, are important environmental

units that require protection through efficient policy formulation and implementation to

maintain their integrity. Policies, programs and projects aimed at sustainable management

of the environment have failed in several instances because of the generally-held view

that policy principally means passing legislation, making plans and delegating

responsibilities without necessarily factoring in the aspect of implementation (Puppim de

Oliveira, 2005). Moreover, policy implementation creates winners and losers (USAID,

2001) which makes it an arduous task especially when losers are unwilling to comply.

Policy implementation is even more difficult in developing countries, where more often than not, there is lack of political support, inadequate financial resources and lack of

institutional capacity (Puppim de Oliveira, 2005).

In Ghana, environmental policy formulation and implementation received

national attention in the aftermath of the 1992 Rio Summit. Following this period,

regulations on protected areas were strengthened and key implementation institutions and

agencies were established. Digya National Park in the Volta Basin, as most other national

parks in the country, therefore, came under the umbrella of new forest and wildlife

policies during the period, though most of the parks were designated long before the 1992

Rio Summit. Digya National Park is critical in Ghana’s environmental agenda because it plays a unique role of biodiversity conservation as well as protecting some critical margins of the Volta watershed. This thesis therefore, is a case study of implementation of environmental policy in Digya National Park within the Volta watershed.

1.1.0. Background

Resource development within watersheds entails substantial disturbance of the

landscape and poses potential threats to the adjoining water bodies. Disturbances in most

ecosystems are short-lived, and recoverable in the absence of further disturbance

(Webster et al., 1988). However, as Webster et al., (1988) noted, streams exhibit

relatively low resistance to disturbance and so the consequences of watershed disturbance

on water courses can be long-term, often lasting as long as full recovery of watershed

vegetation to pre-disturbance structure and function. Policies to regulate activities that

cause disturbances along water courses are crucial for the good health of the river system.

Well attested methods of environmental management, like ecosystems management, for

instance, which integrates scientific knowledge of ecological relationships within a complex sociopolitical and values framework towards the general goal of protecting native ecosystems integrity over the long term (Zorn et al, 2001), needs a strong policy framework to succeed. However, in most developing countries like Ghana where policy decisions have to be balanced between economic survival and environmental protection, there is always a dilemma in the enforcement of environmental policy in those countries.

Policy failure along the fringes of vulnerable hydrological assets like artificial lakes

may result in prevalence of agents of disturbance, which undermines the potential

resilience of the vegetation to recover, and this can have serious impact on the physical

assets (Holling, 2001). According to Ottinger (1992), man-made lakes faced with

disturbances along the fringes become vulnerable and face threats of siltation and

sedimentation. Siltation of reservoirs from deforested and/or degraded lands upstream

can reduce the life-span of hydroelectric projects (Ottinger, 1992). A classical example is

the Hirakud reservoir in India, which was to operate for about 110 years but which now has an estimated productive life time of only 35 years. Also in Costa Rica, excess sedimentation from soil erosion has caused estimated losses of US$133-274 million at the

Cachi hydroelectric station (Levine et al., 1991).

The Volta basin is a complex biophysical region that transcends major ecological,

political, cultural, socio-economic and linguistic divides. Management activities within the basin had taken place along the various divides with stakeholders failing to synergize and/or coordinate their programs for the sustainable management of the basin. Ghana, which shares the basin with five other West African nations, for instance, has impounded

the 1,600 km long river at Akosombo, about 105 km from its mouth for hydroelectric

power generation. Burkina Faso, located in the upper sections of the basin, has

constructed two large dams and over 1,500 small dams across most of the network of

streams feeding into the main Volta River, and has increased its irrigated area from 2000

km2 in 1966 to 25000 km2 in 1990. The Republic of Togo, Ghana’s eastern neighbor, has

also constructed a hydroelectric dam across one of the three main tributaries of the Volta

(Niasse, 2005). Commercial farming, ranching, and fuel wood extraction are also

dominant activities carried out by millions of small farmers with diverse cultural and

socio-economic background, who occupy the basin.

Following the formation of the Volta Lake in 1965, new sets of environmental

patterns have emerged and stakeholders are keen in the protection of the fringes of the

lake and its adjoining watersheds to enhance its sustainability and to ensure that the lake

serves the purpose for which it was created. The Volta Lake basin occupies about two-

thirds of the land area of Ghana and is constantly exploited for economic livelihoods

14 enhancement. Regulations and policies for the sustainable management of the basin are therefore an important aspect of the national environmental policy.

Protected areas are areas “of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means” (IUCN 1994). They are regarded as the most effective way for achieving conservation goals and a significant role in supporting local, national, and international biodiversity policies (Task Force of WCPA,

1998). The international community attaches a lot of value to protected areas and has prominently featured them in several international agreements and conventions.

Examples of these conventions include 1971 Convention on Wetlands singed in Ramsar,

Iran, for the protection and wise use of wetlands; 1972 UNESCO World Heritage

Convention signed in Paris to preserve the cultural and natural heritage for future generations; 1992 Earth Summit in Rio leading to the Convention on Biological Diversity to serve biological diversity, promote sustainable use, and ensure that benefits are distributed equitably; and, the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate

Change for the reduction of green-house gas emission to avoid human-induced climate change (IUCN, 2005). These agreements and programs and many more together form the backbone of international policy on the establishment and management of protected areas for biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of natural and cultural resources.

Protected areas serve a multitude of purposes including reservoirs of biological diversity, sources of clean water, buffers from storms, sinks for carbon and recreational grounds to reconnect with nature. They also provide goods through the sustainable use of natural resources (IUCN, 2005). There is a wide diversity of protected areas just as there

15 is a wide diversity in values they represent (IUNC, 2005). The IUCN classifies protected areas by management objective and has identified six distinct categories:

I. Strict nature reserves: protected areas managed mainly for scientific research and

monitoring; wilderness areas which are also under Category I are: protected areas

managed mainly for wilderness protection;

II. National Parks: Protected areas managed mainly for ecosystems protection and

recreation;

III. National Monuments: protected areas managed mainly for conservation of specific

natural features;

IV. Habitat/species management areas: protected areas managed mainly for

conservation through management intervention; and,

V. Protected landscape/seascape areas: protected areas managed mainly for

landscape/seascape conservation and recreation

VI. Managed resource protected areas: protected areas managed mainly for the

sustainable use of natural ecosystems (Earth Trends, 2003)).

Key issues in the designation and protection of such areas relate to the national vision on the environment and ability to plan, formulate policy, implement policy and monitor the established regulatory framework.

Several protected areas exist in Ghana. As a signatory to several international protocols and conventions, the country places much premium on environmental conservation and biodiversity. Table 1 is a summary of number of protected areas in

Ghana compared to Sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the world:

Table 1.1 Protected Areas and Biodiversity in Ghana

Ghana Sub- The World Saharan Africa Protected Areas - Extent of Protected Areas by IUCN Category (000 ha), 2003: Total Land Area (000 ha) 23,854 2,429,241 13,328,979 Nature Reserves, Wilderness Areas, and National 1,097 78,828 438,448 Parks (categories I and II) Natural Monuments, Species Management Areas, and 7 63,482 326,503 Protected Landscapes and Seascapes (categories III, IV, and V) Areas Managed for Sustainable Use and Unclassified 2,583 122,080 692,723 Areas (category VI and "other") Total Area Protected (all categories) 3,687 264,390 1,457,674 Marine and Littoral Protected Areas {a} 417,970 Protected Areas as a Percent of Total Land Area, 15.4% 10.9% 10.8% 2003 {b} Number of Protected Areas, 2003 321 6,867 98,400 Number of Areas >100,000 ha, 2003 4 425 2,091 Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites), 2002: Number of sites 6 1,179 Total Area (000 ha) 178 102,283 Biosphere Reserves, 2002 Number of Sites 1 46 408 Total Area (000 ha) 8 439,000 Number and Status of Species

Source: Earth Trends, 2003

The Digya National Park, one of the several protected areas in Ghana, has survived decades of disturbances and policy changes. It qualifies under Category II of the

IUCN definition of national park defined as: “…. a natural area of land and/or sea

designated to: (a) protect the ecological integrity of one or more ecosystems for present

and future generations; (b) exclude exploitation or occupation inimical to the purposes of

designation of the area; and (c) provide a foundation for spiritual, scientific, educational,

recreational, and visitor opportunities, all of which must be environmentally and

culturally compatible” (Earth Trends, 2003 p3).

In recent times, protected area managers collaborate with a multiplicity of

stakeholders to achieve conservation and contribute to sustainable development. IUCN

refers to this collaboration as “stakeholder diplomacy” and this according to IUCN

requires linking protected areas with surrounding lands, involving local communities in

managing these areas, and balancing the interests between their “natural” and “human

use” values (IUCN, 2005).

1.2.0. The Study Area

This study is focused on the Digya National Park located in the Volta lake basin

of Ghana. As a small country in West Africa, Ghana has a territorial area of 238,539 km2 just about the size of Great Britain. The country was a former British colony under the name Gold Coast, until 1957 when it attained independence and changed the name to

Ghana. The latitudinal extent is 4o 35'N and 11o N, while the longitudinal extent is 3o 5'W and 1o 10'E. The country shares common borders with the Republic of Togo in the east,

Burkina Faso in the north and la Cote d’Ivoire in the west. The Gulf of Guinea lies to the

south, where the country’s territorial waters extend 200 nautical miles into the Atlantic

Ocean. The Volta River system constitutes a very important part of the country’s landscape (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Map of the Volta Basin Showing Ghana and Neighboring Countries

Source: http://www.ghanaweb.com

Ghana experiences the tropical type of climate with a uniformly high temperature averaging about 260 C, and ranging between 180 and 420. It has a bimodal rainfall pattern with a major peak in June/July and a minor one in September. The driest months occur between October and February (Benneh, 1990). The rainfall ranges from 900 mm in savannah to 2100 mm in the forest belt.

The countries population during the 2000 population census was 18,912,079 with an estimated growth rate of 2.7% (Ghana Statistical Service, 2002). Key environmental concerns in the country are deforestation, land degradation, soil erosion, desertification and inadequate water supply in the Northern regions of the country (GEF, 2002).

Indiscriminate disposal of solid and liquid waste from both domestic and industrial sources as well as agricultural runoff are also a source of pollution of water bodies.

The Volta River, including the head waters of the Black Volta, flows for a distance of 2,208 km from Kpong Mountains in Burkina Faso to the estuary at Ada Foah in Ghana (Hilton, 1967). The major tributaries of the Volta, the Black Volta, the White

Volta and the Oti drain the northern areas of Ghana, with the main stream flowing almost diagonally across the country from northwest to southeast. It flows over a distance of

1400 km within Ghana, to the Atlantic Ocean (Moxon, 1969; Hilton, 1967; Kalitsi,

1999).

The Volta basin is characterized by poor soil, and dominated by Voltaian sandstone. Annual rainfall within the basin averages between 1,000 and 1,140 millimeters. The greater part of the basin area in Ghana is within the Guinea Savannah and the forest-savannah ecotome zones, which are considered to be ecologically fragile and experience very precarious climatic conditions (Hilton, 1967).

Farming and fishing communities are spread over the basin. The basin’s population density is low especially in the central and northwestern areas, where tsetse flies are common (Benneh and Dickson, 1990). The population density is, however, very high in the northermost parts of the country. Archeological findings indicate that the once

20 heavily populated area has become depopulated due to periodic burning evidently over extensive areas for perhaps more than a millennium. This has exposed the soil to excessive drying and erosion, rendering the area less attractive to cultivators (Benneh and

Dickson, 1990).

The Afram Plains to the south eastern side of the basin, contains the Digya

National. The terrain in this section of the basin is low with average height of between 60 to 150 meters above mean sea level. The annual rainfall here is between 1,140 and about

1,400 millimeters. Much of these low lying areas are liable to flooding and despite the construction of roads to connect communities displaced by the lake, road transportation in the region remains poor (Benneh and Dickson, 1990).

The Akosombo dam, Ghana's major source of electric energy, was built across the

River Volta between 1961 and 1965. It was prompted by the nation's quest for accelerated economic growth. The dam inundates about 8,400 km2 of land and has a shoreline of about 4,800 km, with a storage capacity of 152 billion m3 at full supply level

(Moxon, 1969; Acres, 1992; Kalitsi, 1999). The benefits to be derived from the

Akosombo project included, inter alia, hydroelectric power generation, fishing, lake transport, opportunities for irrigation and recreation (VRP 1956; Moxon, 1969). The anticipated demand for more power brought about the construction in 1982 of another dam at Kpong, about 80 km from the mouth of the river, to supplement the power output from the Akosombo power plant (K.H.E.P., 1975). The head pond, created as a result of the dam, inundates about 37 km2 at full supply level (K.H.E.P., 1975). The Volta basin in

Ghana covers an area of 165,700 km2 (about two-thirds the area of Ghana) out of the total basin area of 400,000 km2 .

Digya National Park forms part of the complex policy related management issues

of the Volta basin (Fig. 2). Twumasi, et al., (2005) reported that Digya National Park

originally occupied some 65,000 ha when it was first established in 1909 during the

British colonial rule. The creation of the Volta Lake in 1965 influenced its expansion to

its present size of 347,830 hectares where it extended over the location of some sixteen

(16) settlements. Following its expansion, the Park was published in the national gazette in 1971 as an important species habitat and also as part of the larger policy initiatives to

protect the Volta watershed. Other national parks with similar functions in the Volta

basin include Mole National Park (4,840 km2), Bui National Park (1,821 km2), and

Kyabobo National Park (399 km2) (GFC, 2004). Ghana’s protected areas, in general,

contain variety of animals of global conservation importance. These include the elephant

Loxodonta africana, many ungulates (duikers, antelopes, bushbucks, hartebeests,

warthogs), carnivores (civets, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, lions), primates (baboons,

chimpanzees), reptiles (African python, monitor lizards, Nile crocodiles, hinged tortoise),

the rare pygmy hippo Choeropsis liberiensis, the manatee Trichehus senegalensis, along

with many birds, butterflies and other insects. Furthermore, an ungulate thought to be

extinct, namely, the Korignum has been found in northern Ghana, within the basin (GEF,

2002). The protected areas are operated by the Wildlife Division of the Ghana Forestry

Commission and are confronted with similar environmental policy issues. The Digya case study is therefore representative of the broader picture of policies to protect the Volta basin, and gives us a good understanding of environmental policy implementation within the basin.

Digya National Park serves as a sanctuary for rare and other important West African mammalian species and the manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus) (Atidekate, 2004).

Though the Park itself suffered much devastation as a result of the damming (Twumasi,

2004), legislation was strengthened for its protection in the post-dam era, following the

1971 gazette. In spite of the existence of several legislative controls regarding the use of national parks and other critical areas of the Volta basin in Ghana, Digya National Park is still being progressively encroached upon through human activities resulting in loss of biodiversity (Twumasi, 2004). The degree of encroachment has been studied by Twumasi

(2004), Twumasi et al., (2005) and Ghana Forestry Commission (2004.).

Fig. 2. The Digya National Park Study Area

1.3.0. Problem Statement

In developing countries like Ghana where the majority of the people depend

directly on the land and its resources for economic survival, land-use regulations are

often difficult to implement. On public lands, lack of infrastructure and personnel may be a major handicap in enforcing regulations against encroachment by people who live within the vicinity of such lands. This appears to be the scenario in the Volta basin, where individual economic survival seems to conflict with public interest and where various

forms of disturbances seem to have compromised ecosystems integrity. Several studies

have highlighted the nature of disturbance along the Volta lake margins including

national parks and subsequently recommended strategies to address the issue (VRA,

1995; VRA, 1996; VBRP, 1998, Twumasi et al., 2005). This has resulted in passage of

several laws and policies to control the mismanagement of the basin. It is, however,

unclear as to how these policies are being implemented. It appears the nearby

communities tend to take advantage of remoteness of designated public lands like Digya

National Park, and exploit them for their own private gain. Whether the Ghanaian

government has implemented the existing regulations to stop the misuse of public lands

like Digya, therefore, is an important question.

The entire lake basin serves as home to about 7 million Ghanaians, about a third

of the population, and supplies close to 80% of the staple food requirement of the country

(Gordon and Amatekpor, 1999). The high concentration of people in the basin appears to

be the result of numerous opportunities the lake and its adjoining lands offer for fishing,

farming, lake transportation, livestock watering, irrigation, and domestic water supply

(Acres, 1992, VBRP, 1998, Kalitsi, 1999). The lake fringes are, therefore, under constant

25 disturbance as a result of these human activities. Digya National Park, which shares direct boundaries with the lake, together with other national parks in the Volta basin, are presently, threatened by illegal encroachment of people attracted to the area by the opportunities the Volta Lake offers. It is therefore of interest to know whether the Ghana government has, through existing policies, controlled encroachment of people to protect biodiversity within the parks and the basin’s ecological integrity as a whole.

Linked to the problem of population pressure and livelihood security for the riparian communities is the issue of poverty. The worsening poverty situation of developing countries is also blamed for over exploitation of environmental resources by poor peasant farmers (Pastissi-Ferencic, 1992). Most of these countries are faced with deteriorating terms of trade as a result of dwindling primary commodity prices and its spiral effect across the population (Pastissi-Ferencic, 1992). According to Morgan

(1996), poverty as experienced in Sub-Saharan African countries is frequently accompanied by evidence of environmental degradation and of inefficient use of natural resources as seems to be the case in the Volta Lake margins. The issue of poverty as it relates to environmental degradation need pragmatic government policy interventions and implementation. At the moment it is not clear how the Ghanaian government blends issues of poverty with policy implementation especially in the case of Digya National

Park where there was a reported case of forced eviction of poor people trying to make a living in April 2006 (Amnesty Press Release, 2006). It would therefore be worthwhile to investigate whether policy implementation in DNP takes into consideration the needs of the poor.

In recent years, the world’s developmental paradigm shifted from “top-down”

command and control to local community participation. Several case studies and

narratives have pointed to the fact that policies, programs and projects in which there is

active community participation have turned relative success stories (Berkes, 1998;

Bernard & Young 1997; Snow, 2001; Meffe, 2002). In the implementation of policy in

Digya National Park, one is not certain as to the level of community participation. The

recent forced eviction of squatters in the national park underscores the fact that some

command and control management system seems to be prevailing. This issue needs to be

investigated to ascertain the level of stakeholder involvement in the management of

Digya National Park.

The main concern as regards disturbances on the lake margins presently is that the

threshold or critical limit of degradation through inimical human activities has been

reached and if conscious effort at reversing the trend is not made, the reservoir will lose

power generation capacity in the near future (VBRP, 1998). In other words, a conflict

situation has emerged where people have to choose between short-term extensive

exploitation of the environmental resources for their livelihoods and survival, and long-

term environmental protection for biodiversity conservation and sustained electric power

generation. There is the need for a strong government commitment in ensuring the sustainable management of the Volta Lake shores because it is only with a government’s mandate that good stewardship of the environment could be achieved. This makes

government’s policy implementation an overarching issue that must be thoroughly

understood. Thus, considering the importance of biodiversity conservation in national

parks of Ghana on one hand, and the immense contribution of the Akosombo power plant

to the Ghanaian national economy on the other, it is obvious that any weakness on the

part of government to implement environmental policies that protect the Volta watershed

would result in serious consequences. The most obvious consequence on the national

economy would be a downward trend in power production which in turn would affect all

sectors of the economy including industry, employment and incomes. From the

ecological point of view, apart from the fact that important mammalian species would be

threatened, the Volta basin risks losing the potential of natural reserves as “species

banks” within the landscape matrix. Uncontrolled disturbances within the watershed

would also affect the lake’s aquatic communities especially invertebrates, which are

considered most fragile (Gordon, 1999).

Though the Volta basin has suffered a lot of disturbances, it is believed that

adoption of novel and innovative techniques in managing the basin’s resources, including

effective government policy implementation, would help build the type of resilience

needed for long term sustainable development of the Volta basin (Holling, 2001). It is

against this background that the study sets out to investigate policy implementation in

Digya National Park which forms part of the bigger picture of strategies put in place to

protect the Volta lakeshores.

1.4.0. Objectives

The study investigates how environmental policy designed for the protection of the Volta basin is implemented in Digya National Park. The ultimate goal will be to enhance our

understanding of the outcome of government policy implementation in the Volta basin

and also to develop a framework on how protected areas should be managed in Ghana.

Specifically, the study seeks to:

i. review environmental regulations of Ghana for protection of the Digya

National Park

ii. assess policy implementation in Digya National Park with regard to

institutional capacity

iii. assess the problems of policy implementation in Digya National Park, and

iv. make recommendations for effective implementation of government policy

initiatives in Digya national park to ensure the sustainability.

1.5.0. Organization of Work

The thesis is organized into six chapters. The introductory chapter comprises the background of the study, a thorough description of the study area and the statement of main research problems

Chapter two is made up of the review of the literature. The literature review

required identification, collection and analysis of published materials including

government documents, scientific papers, published books, and project reports among

others.

Chapter three outlines and explains the methods used in data collection and

analysis. The problems encountered in data collection were also highlighted.

Chapter four is introductory to the main analysis. It explains in much detail the

regulatory framework for protected areas in Ghana and gave a profile of institutions

responsible for environmental policy implementation.

Chapter five forms the main analysis. Policy issues and implementation strategies

were critically assessed based on the data collected.

The final chapter is the concluding chapter and comprises a summary, conclusion

and recommendations.

Chapter 2. Literature Review

The literature review is based on a thorough search through published work,

scientific and technical reports, patent documents, conference papers, internal reports,

government documents, newsletters, Factsheets and student theses, as well as internet

sources to gain insight into policy implementation within protected areas in developing

countries. The importance of protected areas in biodiversity conservation and the

evolution of US environmental policy and how this affected world’s environmental

politics were briefly reviewed. The review also examined the policy process and threw a

spotlight on certain frameworks developed to guide policy implementation. Management

plan as a strategy for policy implementation was examined. Finally the review traced the

renaissance of Ghana’s environmental policy and problems of its implementation first at

the national level and then with reference to the Volta Basin.

To begin with, it is important to note that the world’s governing bodies and

conservation organizations attach much importance to biodiversity protection, maintenance of environmental services, and the protection of cultural, aesthetic and

ethical environmental values. This underscores the designation of protected areas like

national parks, nature reserves, landscape protected areas and wilderness areas, which all

together constitute about a tenth of the world’s land surface (Hocking et al 2000).

Biodiversity conservation, according to Royal Town Planning Institute, (1999), is

about sustaining and using wisely the whole variety of life. They made reference to three

components of biodiversity namely habitat diversity, referring to diversity between and within ecosystems and habitats; species diversity which has to do with diversity of species; and genetic diversity meaning genetic variation within individual species.

Biodiversity, they noted is an insurance for the future and provides the variability needed

for species adaptability to change. They also observed that reduction in biodiversity may

be irreversible. Equally important is the fact that the risks to the life environmental

systems support increases and the resistance to environmental stresses decreases as the systems become less diverse. They stressed the fact that just as changing a habitat will often affect the diversity of species contained within that habitat, so also a change in the number and assemblage of species may affect the nature of the habitat. An efficient way to test the health of a local environment is therefore to find out whether the wildlife community that is present fully reflects the animal and plant communities normally associated with the habitat in that area. Biodiversity thus is one of the most important indicators of the state of the environment (Royal Town Planning Institute, 1999).

Watersheds are highly-integrated ecosystems often also regarded as biotic regions

with specific ecological realities and cultural traditions, rather than areas with mere

political or administrative demarcations. Importance of watershed protection has been

stressed in the literature with several references made to their sustainable management for

the conservation of biodiversity and water resources (Lotspeich 1980; Margerum, et al,

1991; Bernard and Young, 1997). Extensive human activities within watershed areas

disrupt the ecological integrity of the watersheds and the watercourses that drain such

areas (Mayhood et al, 2004). When such activities are prolonged, the resultant changes

are often cumulative and synergistic. The two most common widespread effects of

prolonged watershed disturbance are increased surface erosion and increased, flashier

runoff (Mayhood et al, 2004). The duration of such disturbances substantially determines the total damage that a watershed may sustain (Mayhood et al, 2004). Considering the

importance of watersheds, one can not dispute the fact that they need strict protection by

means of effective policy regulations and implementation.

The modern concept of a protected area or “national park” as known at its

inception, originated in the United States with the establishment of Yellowstone National

Park in 1872. The primary goal for the establishment of the park was to preserve a

pristine wilderness devoid of development activities and free from intensive utilization of

resources (IUCN, 2005). This notion of protected areas became the basis of world-wide practice by the late 1960s, and was reinforced by IUCN’s 1969 definition of a ‘national park’ as an area not materially altered by human exploitation and occupation. Presently,

protected areas include a variety of types from strictly protected reserves to areas of

multiple uses (IUCN, 2005).

The literature was virtually silent on environmental policy issues of Africa until

the 1972 Stockholm declaration on Human Environment at United Nations Conference

on Human Environment, which initiated a number of international conventions to address

global environmental problems (Pastizzi-Ferencic, 1992). For most of the African

countries like Ghana, the Stockholm declaration created the impetus for the creation of

environmental policy institutions (Boon, 1998). In Ghana for example, the Environmental

Protection Council (EPC) was established by NRC Decree 239 in 1974. It was, however,

only an advisory and research organization without the power to enforce regulations on

environmental mismanagement (Hens et al. 2004).

Hens, et al (2004) reported that the Rio Summit of 1992 made Ghana and many

other developing countries to recognize that economic prosperity is a function of high

quality of the environment. According to them, prior to the Rio Summit, solutions to

33 environmental problems in Ghana were largely ad-hoc and cosmetic, or at best sector- oriented and therefore limited in scope. After the Rio summit, the National

Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) was approved for implementation in 1993, out of which a National Environmental Policy was defined. The main institutions established to facilitate the implementation of NEAP are Ministry of Science and Technology, the

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the District Assemblies (Hens et al., 2004).

EPA (1996) outlined the main elements of NEAP to include legislation; preparation and adoption of sector-based plans; preparation and adoption of standards and regulations; strengthening of such institutions like the EPA, the National

Development Planning Commission (NDPC), District Assemblies, Community Groups,

NGOs, selected sectoral agencies; interagency co-ordination, and an institutional structure for integrated land-use planning. The specific objectives of the policy are:

“maintaining ecosystems and ecological processes essential for the functioning of

the biosphere; ensuring sound management of natural resources and the

environment; adequately protecting humans, animals and plants, their biological

communities and habitats against harmful impacts and destructive practices, and

preserve biological diversity; guiding development in accordance with quality

requirements to prevent, reduce, and as far as possible, eliminate pollution and

nuisances; integrating environmental considerations in sectoral structural and

socio-economic planning at the national, regional, district and grassroots levels;

seeking common solutions to environmental problems in West Africa, Africa and

the world at large” (EPA, 1996).

The literature is replete with environmental policy formulation and problems of implementation. In a working paper under the IUCN Regional Networking and Capacity

Building project, Temm, (2002) outlined the goal of public policy and noted that public policy is generally developed for the purpose of initiating changes in, and/or institutionalizing the normative values of a society. Policy must therefore be responsive to and reflective of changes in societal values as they change over time. In that respect, policy development is a cyclical process. Nevertheless, policy is often seen as the end product of a process of information gathering. As a result, the input processes become subservient to the goal of creating the policy. When finished, the policy then can be handed over to the appropriate enforcement or executive agency. The policy has at this point been completed. But if policy is a reflection of the needs and wants of society, the process of input should be continuous and robust (Temm, 2002).

Blaikie and Soussan (2001) developed a model -the "Policy Process Model", which helps to explain the dynamism in the policy process. The policy model according to them was developed and widely used in the South Asian region and proven to be successful. It involves six key steps.

i. Key Policy Milestone: comprising the policy 'heritage' (past policies),

legislation, catalytic events, and significant projects;

ii. Political Governance Contexts: which involves the contexts of both the

specific bureaucratic styles and capacity of government agencies, and also

wider social and political framework and trends of change;

iii. Key Policy Issues and their Relation to a Livelihood Approach: comprising

the identification of the key policy issues which have emerged in relation to

policy development debate;

iv. Policy Development Process: involving the process of identifying and

understanding what has actually happened; the interactions and responses of

actors around policy formulation, and outcomes of these actions in terms of

the 'macro-policy' actually formulated;

v. Outputs, Outcomes and Impacts for Livelihood: this considers the

implementation agency's action to produce outputs, which should lead to

outcomes that could have positive livelihood impacts. This allows one to

assess whether the eventual impacts actually fulfill the overall objectives of

the policy;

vi. The Future - a Long Term View: comprising a realistic assessment of the

future prospects for the policy and how it is likely to proceed, in order to

identify threats and opportunities for the development of the policy and its

implementation.

The policy process in itself according to the proponents of the model is a contested and complex process involving negotiation and power plays between diverse stakeholders over the control and use of limited resources. The strength of the above model in policy analysis is that it portrays policy as subject to change. It is an ongoing iterative process, continually subject to review and new initiatives (Springate-Baginski & Soussan, 2001).

Good policy design is the first step in the implementation process and success or

failure of implementation depends on the policy design. Implementation is very important

without which policies would remain on the drawing board. Policy implementation has

been defined in various ways by different people. Rein and Rabinoviz (1974 p.4) define

the “politics of implementation” (i.e. how policies change as they move from

administrative guidelines into practice) as “1) a declaration of government preferences,

2) mediated by a number of actors who, 3) create a circular process characterized by

reciprocal power relations and negotiations.”. Mazmanian and Sabatier (1983, p.18)

defined implementation as the “events and activities that occur after the issuing of

authoritative public policy directives, which include both the effort to administer and the

substantive impact on people and events.” Pressman and Wildavsky (1973, p. 25) simply

noted that the study of implementation “requires understanding that apparently simple

sequences of events depend on complex chains of reciprocal interactions”. Mazmanian

& Sabatier, (1989) viewed policy implementation as a "top down" process, driven by policy implementers; a "bottom-up" process, which positions street level bureaucrats as key policy implementers; and an advocacy coalition process, which captures the dynamics of competing interests. According to them, each of these three models is based on a number of conditions and it is these conditions that determine the optimal model to be used.

Mazmanian and Sabatier (1983) identified five stages of policy implementation.

These are:

• the policy outputs, or decisions, of departments;

• the compliance of internal and external target groups with those decisions;

• the actual impact of the decisions;

• the perceived impact of the decisions and

• the political system's revision of the original policy

According to Puppim de Oliveira (2005), problems of policy implementation in the

past stemmed from the fact that scholars and planners largely considered implementation

as secondary to policy making. He noted that policy sciences literature focused

principally on legislative and administrative processes and was concerned with how issues arrive on the political agenda, how laws are approved, and how agencies are created. In effect, they viewed implementation merely as an automatic result of the decision making process.

Puppim de Oliveira (2005) outlines various hot debates that policy

implementation has generated. Two identifiable schools of thought arose from the

debates, namely the top-down versus bottom-up approaches to implementing policy. The

proponents of the top-down regard implementation as beginning with an authoritative

decision and assume that the process can be controlled from the top (Mazmanian and

Sabatier 1983; Van Meter and Van Horn 1975). Scholars who opposed this standpoint

maintained that it is the bottom-up approach in which street-level bureaucrats and the

affected populations that influence policy implementation (Lipsky 1980; Elmore 1979;

Kaufman 1973). As the top-down versus bottom-up debate evolved, scholars realized that

they needed to understand both influences (Tendler 1997).

The literature contains several frameworks that explain and/or analyze policy

implementation. In explaining the complexity associated with policy implementation,

USAID (2001) developed a framework “the policy implementation task framework”

which divides implementation into six roughly sequential tasks all of which need to be

revisited over the life of a given reform. These include the following:

• Task 1: Legitimation – This has to do with getting the policy accepted as

important desirable, and worth achieving. Legitimation is critical for policies that

are part of a donor assistance package, which stands the risk of being externally

imposed.

• Task 2: Constituency building – referring to gaining active support from groups

that see the proposed reform as desirable or beneficial. It aims at reducing the

opposition of groups who consider the proposed policy to be harmful or

threatening. Constituency building must be pursued throughout the period of

policy implementation to maintain ongoing support and to avoid derailment.

• Task 3: Resource Accumulation - This means ensuring that present and future

budgets and human resource allocations are sufficient to support policy

implementation requirements

• Task 4: Organizational design/structure - involves adjusting the objectives,

procedures, systems, and structures of the agencies responsible for policy

implementation. This task may include establishing new organizations, formal or

informal, that link the various entities with a role in implementation.

• Task 5: Mobilizing actions – This task builds upon the favorable constituencies

assembled for the policy (as in Task 2) and marshals their commitment and

resources to engage in concrete efforts to make change happen. Mobilization

action focus is on identifying, activating, and pursuing action strategies. It brings

together mobilized constituencies and resources and, within the organizational

structures created, develops and carries out the steps necessary to translate intent

into results.

• Task 6: Monitoring impact – This means setting up and using systems to monitor

implementation progress. Monitoring systems not only alert decision-makers to

implementation snags, but also inform them of the intended and unintended

impacts of implementation efforts (USAID, 2001).

Puppim de Oliveira (2005) also developed an analytical framework on environmental

policy implementation in developing countries using protected areas in Brazil as a case study. The framework identified three main constraints to the implementation of environmental policy namely: lack of political support for policy implementation, lack of financial resources, and lack of institutional capacity. Explaining these constraints,

Puppim de Oliveira noted that environmental policies had often failed because the urgent need for economic development tends to overshadow environmental issues, and as such, issues about the environment do not evoke much political support. Citing India and China as examples, Vyas and Reddy (1998) noted that widespread poverty and low income

prompted governments of developing countries to promote rapid industrialization and

agricultural production that result in massive environmental damage. Action by civil

society to avert the situation may be hampered by political regimes like in China, or by a

lack of interest on the part of populace.

On the lack of financial resources, Puppim de Oliveira (2005) notes that governments

of developing countries may sometimes prioritize certain environmental issues and obtain

technical support to create elaborate plans but they lack the requisite financial resources

to implement the plans in a sustainable manner.

With regard to lack of institutional capacity, Puppim de Oliveira’s framework

identifies constraints face by developing countries in building institutional capacity which

includes lack of human resources, lack of expertise, lack of equipment and lack of communication among state agencies.

The literature reveals that policies for the management of protected areas are best

implemented through management plans. A management plan is “a document that guides

and controls the management of protected area resources, the uses of the area and the

development of facilities needed to support that management and use. Thus a

management plan is a working document to guide and facilitate all development activities

and all management activities to be implemented in an area” (Thorsell 1995).

Management planning often involves the interpretation and expression of broader policies

at the local level which Thomas and Middleton (2003) described as “the local delivery of

broader strategy”. They noted that plans should be written to ensure that international

obligations like those under the World Heritage or Ramsar Conventions are met and also to implement at the site level relevant recommendations from any national systems plan

for protected areas. The plans should further implement national conservation and

environmental directives/initiatives and finally ensure that the management objectives for

protected areas reflect corporate policies of the managing organization.

Thomas and Middleton (2003) notes that preparation of management plans for

protected areas can be challenging because protected areas have multiple objectives

which require planners to consider a wide array of social preferences and values,

institutional structures and barriers, philosophical outlooks, forms of knowledge and

conflicting opinions of what is important. They enumerated the functions of protected

areas as including protecting watersheds, soil and coastlines, providing natural products for use on a sustainable basis, supporting tourism and recreation, as well as serving as

home to communities of people with traditional cultures and knowledge (Thomas and

Middleton, 2003).

Mazmanian & Sabatier (1983) Policy Implementation Framework deserves

further elaboration at this stage. In the model, they identified three broad categories of

independent variables that affect the achievement of policy objectives throughout the

implementation process. These are the material variables associated with the stated

problem, the structural dimensions that influence the implementation process, and the net

effect of a variety of contextual variables to support the policy. They then linked each of

these categories of variables to the five stages of policy implementation process as

outlines above (Mazmanian & Sabatier, 1983).

On problems faced by national parks in developing countries, Rochon et

al.,(2005) noted that policy implementation in parks is a very contentious issue

confronting park managers who sometimes often engage in violent confrontations with

the local population. They explained that the lands set aside as protected areas are often

ancestral land of indigenous communities who are denied their traditional basis of

livelihood enhancement. Weladji et al., (2003) noted that in Africa, national park management has been a source of social conflict, revealing weaknesses in monitoring methods, in the objectives of park management, and in the priorities set by society for the welfare of its own citizens.

The literature cites a number of protected areas within the Volta Basin. All six

West African countries sharing the Volta have designated some areas within their

territories in order to preserve some of the important ecosystems and biodiversity in the

basin (GEF, 2002). In total Ghana has 11,404 km2 of protected areas within the basin,

Republic of Togo has 768,146 ha, Ivory Coast has 80640 ha, and Burkina Faso has

78,200 ha (GEF, 2002).

To safeguard these protected areas, especially in the post Rio summit era, the

Ghanaian government constituted several environmental institutions with a mandate to

implement environmental policies. These institutions include the Ministry of

Environment and Science, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Ministry of

Food and Agriculture, the Forestry Department, the National Energy Board, the Ministry

of Works and Housing, the Department of Parks and Gardens, the Architectural and

Engineering Services Corporation and some research institutions such as the Water

Resources Research Institute (WRRI) (Hens et al 2004). Others include the Water

Resources Commission, the Forestry Commission, the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the

National Development Planning Commission. The two main policies relating to protected

areas are the National Water policy and the Wildlife Policy. GEF (2002) observes that an

effective implementation of the policy and programs requires a good degree of co-

ordination amongst these institutions. The literature does not, however, mention how

these various institutions are collaborating to implement Ghana’s environmental policy.

The literature on Digya National Park also appears to be scanty. Apart from a few

biodiversity studies which have been cited in several reports (Ghana Forestry

Commission, 2004) the only comprehensive study available was that of Twumasi et al,

(2005). They employed Landsat TM and ETM data in their study to develop a database

for Digya National Park for the purpose of assisting in the management of the park and

identify decision-making tasks related to park management. They observed that the most

significant cause of deforestation in Digya National Park is the inundation of Lake Volta,

43 which accounted for two-thirds of all deforestation factors. Human settlement and the extension of illegal farming activities are other problems they observed. In their conclusion, they recommended stronger coordination between the Wildlife Department and other government institutions and agencies mandated to protect the Lake Volta and its resources, as well as the active involvement of local community members in decision making (Twumasi et al, 2005).

I conclude this review with Khalid’s (2001) observation that the formation and implementation of policies are different issues in both theoretical and practical terms.

Implementation is more complicated, being concerned with political, financial, administrative and socio-economic issues, and requires motivation, proper lobbying, and technical, professional, and administrative support to succeed.

Chapter 3. Methodology

3.1.0. Research Design

The study methodology was chosen bearing in mind the assertion that the quality of data collected for any research work is only as good as the technique or combination of techniques used to collect that data (Butler et al 1980). Bearing in mind this assertion, the case study approach was adopted for the study.

A case study is an in-depth exploration of one particular case for the purpose of

gaining insight into the issues being investigated. Under this approach, the study used the descriptive and exploratory method for data collection and analysis. The approach seems to satisfy the three tenets of the qualitative method namely describing, understanding, and explaining (Tellis, 1997).

The case study approach gained in popularity in the 1960s when researchers were becoming concerned about the limitations of the quantitative methods (Yin, 1994).

Though the approach has been criticized for being dependent on single cases, and therefore considered as “microscopic”, which makes it incapable of providing a generalizing conclusion, Yin (1994) argued that the relative size of the sample does not transform multiple cases into a macroscopic study. The goal of a case study should be to establish the parameters, which should be applied to all research such that even a single case could be considered acceptable, provided it met the established objective (Yin,

1994). Based on the above approach, therefore, the study was carried out focusing on

Digya National Park as a case study. Both primary and secondary sources of data were used.

The primary source of data was mainly from focused interviews with

representatives of seven key institutions in the environmental arena, and analysis of

government documents. To this end, four weeks of research was carried out in Ghana

covering the period July 20th to August 17th 2006. The public environmental institutions

visited during the period include the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the

Wildlife Division of the Ghana Forestry Commission, Ghana Water Resources

Commission, Ghana Forestry Commission, and the Volta Basin Research Project of the

University of Ghana. The Ghana Wildlife Society, an environmental NGO, was also

visited. The selection of all these organizations was primarily based on the fact that their activities are environment-related and that all are also concerned about the sustainable management of the Volta Basin. The professional experience of the researcher on

environmental issues in Ghana and knowledge of environment related institutions and

agencies were two major factors that helped in selection of these institutions. Key

personnel were identified through the public relations offices of the respective

institutions, and scheduled for interviews. Thus, the interviewees, who numbered 13,

included directors, public relations officers, operational managers, a park manager and

divisional heads. Out of this number, four (4) were drawn from Ghana Wildlife Division,

three, (3) from Ghana EPA, two (2) from Forestry Commission of Ghana, one (1) from

Water Resources Commission of Ghana, and one from Ghana Wildlife Society, an NGO.

At the Volta Basin Research Project of the University of Ghana, three officials were

interviewed. All the individuals interviewed happened to be male adults who had worked

with their respective organizations for between 3 to 25 years.

The interviews were guided by two separate guides (Appendices 1 & 2) involving open ended questions designed to obtain information on policy implementation in protected areas in general, and Digya National Park in particular. A maximum of one hour was spent with each interviewee during which time face to face discussions were held with simultaneous note taking. All interviews took place in the offices of the interviewees and were interactive.

The advantages of the interview approach are, among others, their usefulness in

obtaining detailed information, ability to clarify ambiguities, and a high tendency for

follow-ups in case of incomplete answers (Kvale, 1996). The main disadvantages of the interview method are that they are very costly and time consuming. One cannot also rule out the element of bias since respondent are always likely to give a good picture of their

respective organizations.

Another source of primary data was from institutional and government

documents. Some of the institutions visited provided access to their archival materials

where documents which have relevance to the research theme were found. The

documents included policy documents, research reports, monographs, internal office

documents and technical reports. Access to these documents was either through

photocopying or electronic means. Tellis, (1997) noted that depending on the type of

information in the documents and how the information is used, such documents could be

considered either as primary or secondary source of data.

Additional information was culled from media sources. This information,

however, related specifically to the recent forced eviction of illegal settlers within Digya

National Park. The sources included the Ghanaian Chronicle, JoyFM News and the

Amnesty International News Brief. The media sources were very useful because they

gave first hand account after direct interactions with victims of the forced eviction

exercise. As data analysis proceeded, there was a follow-up telephone interview with the

Digya National Park Manager on October 16 2006 for additional information and to

clarify certain issues.

Secondary data was used to supplement the primary data sources. The main

source of the secondary data was the available literature including books, peer reviewed

journals, some project reports, student dissertation, and working papers. Most of the secondary source materials were derived from VBRP archives, the libraries of Ghana

EPA library, University of Ghana, Ghana Water Resources Commission and Ghana

Wildlife Society, as well as the internet. The information collected was meticulously reviewed, analyzed, interpreted and evaluated so as to meet the study objectives.

3.2.0. Analytical Techniques Data analysis was based on qualitative techniques. The notes that were taken

during the interviews together with the institutional documents accessed were

summarized and analyzed. The analysis involved, among other things, collating of facts

and the opinions expressed by interviewees, and ranking them according to the number of

people who expressed the same opinions. Thus, facts and opinions that were commonly

expressed by majority of the respondents were taken as factual statements and

incorporated. The use of some form of coding that identifies important trends and

relationships in the data was also employed. For example, systems of ranking terms like

“very high”, “high” and “low” were used to describe the respondents’ perception of the

degree of intensity, severity, or otherwise of issues under investigation. Detailed

description of issues was made to clarify facts. Comparisons were also made in some

cases with literature references for a better understanding of issues.

3.3.0. Problems

Studies of this nature where the study area is thousands of miles away from the

researcher are bound to encounter problems of data collection. Most of the available

materials relevant to the study could only be more easily accessed in Ghana. Yet

communication systems in Ghana are still at the rudimentary stages of development and therefore not very efficient. This necessitated a trip to Ghana for data collection within very limited time and resource constraints. The cost of travel was particularly a problem since the research was under no sponsorship. To reduce costs, the research was modified into an exploratory study restricted to institutional survey, which involved interviews and analysis of institutional documents. Time and resource constraints made identifying and interviewing individuals especially people personally affected by developments in Digya

National Park impossible. Owing to this, individual opinions were not incorporated in the write-up. Nonetheless, detailed media reports on individual responses and accounts of actual events on the ground in the aftermath of the “forced eviction” of squatters at the

Digya National Park were collated and analyzed.

One other major problem was the difficulty in obtaining in-depth official data. In

some cases, certain bureaucratic procedures and other bottlenecks denied the research of

the most needed official information. For example, a draft report on “a socio-economic impact analysis of the Digya National Park” could not be accessed because three years

after the research was carried out, the report is still in a draft form. Apparently the

government Minister who masterminded the research had a change of portfolio and could

not review the draft report. The document has, therefore, not been made public.

Though these problems, undoubtedly, affected the quality of the research

findings, efforts were made to get all the basic information needed to complete this thesis research.

From the review of the literature and the fieldwork data, it was obvious that

policy implementation in Digya National Park reflects the “top down” method of

implementation. Policy implementation is a complex issue which needs to be simplified

in a way that makes it easy to understand. In view of this, the study adopts the

Mazmanian & Sabatier (1983) “Policy Implementation Framework”, as mentioned in the

literature review, to explain the implementation process in Digya National Park. The

framework, which reflects the “top down” method of implementation, identified three

broad categories of variables that influence the way in which policy goals are achieved

throughout the implementation process. These are the material variables, the structural

variables and contextual variables. The framework links these independent variables to

the five stages in the implementation process. Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of the

Policy Implementation Framework.

From the schema, the material variables, which reflect the core intent of the

policy, include technical difficulties, diversity of target group behavior, target group as

percentage of population, and extent of behavior change required. For policy

implementation to be successful, Mazmanian & Sabatier (1983) noted that there is need

for hierarchical integration and changes in bureaucratic commitment to policy objectives.

Mazmanian & Sabatier (1983) again noted seven structural variables which influence policy implementation. These are clear and consistent objectives; incorporation of adequate causal theory; hierarchical integration within and among implementation institutions; decision rules of implementation agencies; recruiting of implementing officials; initial allocation of financial resources and formal access by outsiders.

The contextual variables include socioeconomic condition & technology; public support; attitudes and resources of constituency groups; support for legislators and commitment and leadership skill of implementing officials (Mazmanian & Sabatier,

1983). Fig 3.1 illustrates how these categories of variables are linked to the five steps in the policy implementation process.

Fig. 3. Policy Implementation Framework (PIMF)

Material Variables

• Technical difficulties • Diversity of target group behavior • Target group as % of population • Extent of behavior change required

Structural Variables • Clear and consistent objectives • Incorporation of adequate causal theory Contextual Variables • Hierarchical integration within and • Socioeconomic condition & technology among • Public support implementation institutions • Attitudes and resources of constituency • Decision rules of implementation groups agencies • Support for legislators • Recruiting of implementing officials • Commitment and leadership skill of • Initial allocation of financial resources implementing officials • Formal access by outsiders

Five Stages in the Implementation Process • Policy output of implementing agency • Compliance with policy output by target groups • Actual impact of policy output • Perceived impact of policy outputs • Major revision in policy

Source: Elson, 2006.

Chapter 4. Regulatory Framework for Protected Areas in Ghana

This chapter is a prelude to the main analysis and broadly examines the regulatory framework that shaped the designation and management of protected areas in Ghana. The chapter made a brief survey of the political and economic background of Ghana as they relate to environmental policy framework and environmental degradation respectively.

The background of protected areas is discussed, as well as international conventions and national legislation for protected areas. The chapter finally outlines two main policies relevant to protected areas in Ghana and institutions responsible for their implementation.

4.1.0. The Political and Economic Context

Ghana was the first of the British colonies in Africa to attain her independence in

March 6th 1957. After a turbulent political history dominated by military dictatorship, the country was finally ushered into constitutional rule in January 7th 1993 on the basis of a new constitution which came into force in 1992. With its functioning multi-party democracy, the country has become the hub of relative stability within the politically turbulent region of West Africa.

The Ghanaian system of democracy has been described as a hybrid model of a

US-style executive presidency alongside a unicameral parliament who are also able to serve as government ministers (Crawford, 2004). The democratic government is made up of the three branches of government namely, the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary.

The Legislature comprises 230 elected representatives from the respective constituencies throughout the country. They are popularly elected for 4-year terms. Their primary function is to formulate laws.

The Executive is made up of the President, the Vice President, the cabinet, and the Council of State. The Council of State comprises a presidential appointed consultative body of 25 members as required by the constitution. The President and his Vice are popularly elected for a maximum of two 4-year terms on the same ticket. The executive branch has as its primary function the enforcement of the laws of the nation.

The Judiciary, the third arm of government consists of independent Supreme

Court justices nominated by president with approval of Parliament. Their primary function is interpreting the law (World FactBook 2006).

Two main political parties have dominated the Ghanaian political scene since the coming into force of the new constitution. These are the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Ghana’s legal system is based on English common law and customary law (World Fact Book 2006).

The country is subdivided into ten political regions and 138 administrative districts referred to as District Assemblies. Each region has a Regional Minister and a

Deputy. The Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) is in charge of all development planning issues within each region and works hand-in-hand with the Regional

Administration. The RCC works under an apex body, the National Development

Planning Commission made up of members appointed by the President, with offices in the capital, Accra. The 138 District Assemblies each has an appointed District Chief

Executive, an appointed Presiding Member of the Assembly, and elected Assembly

Members who represent their Electoral Areas. An Electoral Area (EA) is the smallest

political unit within each district where the actual implementation of government policies

takes place. There are several EAs in each district and they are designed to be strictly

non-partisan.

Ghana has 23 Government Ministries. The Ministry of Environment and Science is the lead ministry in the formulation and implementation of environmental policies in the country. Other supporting Ministries in the environmental arena include the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Ministry of

Works and Housing, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, the

Ministry of Energy, and the Ministry of Health. Environmental institutions and agencies which work under some of these ministries are the Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA), the Department of Parks and Gardens, the Wildlife Division, the Architectural and Engineering Services Corporation, the Forestry Service, the National Energy Board

Forestry Commission, the Water Resources Commission, the National Development

Planning Commission, and the Ghana Chamber of Mines. Several other non- governmental organizations and local institutions also play various roles at the local level for a sustainable environment (Hens, et al 1998 & Fieldwork Data, 2006).

The ministries and departments at the national level formulate policies and

implement them through their decentralized units on behalf of the government. The

media and research institutions notably the universities, among others, play a special role

through research to provide data and information for the protection of the environment

(EPA, 2005).

Economically, Ghana is ranked among the poorest countries in the world. The

UNDP Human Development Index (HDI) for 2005 ranked the country down at 138 out of

177 countries. In 2002 the country ranked at 131 meaning that the poverty situation has worsened. HDI is an index measuring development based on measures of life expectancy at birth, educational attainment and GDP per capita (purchasing power parity). Nearly

40% of Ghana’s estimated 21.4 million population live in poverty with about 27% surviving on a dollar or less per day. In 2004, Ghana had a GDP per capita (PPP) of

US$2,300 compared to the average for all developing countries of US$3,850, and 2005 estimate for the United States, of US$41,800 (World FactBook, 2006). The total debt of the country is about US$ 5.5 billion with a debt service ratio of 24.3 percent and a

balance of payment deficit of US$ 80 million (Donkor & Vlosky, 2003).

As characteristic of most developing countries, Ghana’s economy is based on

primary production of export oriented raw materials. The major exports include agricultural cash crops mainly cocoa; minerals including gold, diamonds, bauxite and manganese; and timber products. About 60% of the population depends directly or indirectly on agricultural production and yet, agriculture contributes just about 34% to the

GDP (World FactBook, 2006). Compared to the US, agricultural related employment accounts for about 21% of labor force and contributes 0.9 % of the GDP. What these figures imply is that the Ghanaian economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, which is one of the indicators of underdevelopment (Todaro, 2006). The result of overdependence on agriculture is competition for limited land space as population increases. The net effect is soil degradation, deforestation and, in severe cases, desertification (Nsiah-

Gyabaah, 1994).

Poverty, as it pertains in Ghana, is often accompanied by evidence of inefficient

use of natural resources and environmental degradation (Morgan, 1996). In localities

where poverty prevails, rural people are compelled to farm marginal soils, shorten fallow

periods, cut vital forest in search for arable land or fuel, overstock fragile rangelands and

over-fish rivers, lakes and coastal waters (Jazairy et al., 1992). Deducing from this

observation, it seems that poor communities in Ghana could be easily compelled to

encroach upon protected areas as is currently the case in Digya National Park.

4.2.0. Background of Protected Areas in Ghana

The first wildlife management initiative in Ghana was in 1961 when the Wild

Animal Preservation Act (Act 43) was passed. The Act provided for the creation of game and wildlife protection areas to preserve wild animals considered useful, non-offensive to

humans or threatened by extinction (EPA Ghana, 1997). Emphasis, however, shifted

from wild animal preservation to wildlife protection by 1968, after Ghana had signed the

1968 African Convention of Wild Fauna and Flora of Africa. The shift in emphasis was

to embrace a more ecological approach of conservation instead of preserving only selected species. Following after this, the Legislative Instrument LI 685 (the Wildlife

Conservation Regulations as subsequently amended LI 1284 in 1983 and LI 1357 in

1988) was promulgated (EPA Ghana, 1997). The first Wildlife Conservation Policy was published in 1974. The implementation was more or less sectoral and handled by the two state forest sector agencies namely the Forestry Department (now Forestry Service) and the Wildlife Department (now Wildlife Division). The results were not very encouraging.

The need for a different management approach based on program and project integration

and cross-departmental collaboration and consultation necessitated the adoption of a new policy in 1994 with emphasis on the integration of forestry with wildlife management, and local community development and participation to guarantee sound resource utilization and conservation (EPA Ghana, 1997). This policy now regulates the management of protected areas in Ghana.

The Ghana Wildlife Division manages at least 16 wildlife protected areas which

2 cover an area of approximately 13,000 km and representing about 5.33% of the

country’s total land area (WDG 1996; EPA, 1997; World Bank 1998). The protected

areas include:

• six (6) National Parks,

• six (6) Resource Reserves,

• three (3) Wildlife Sanctuaries and

• one (1) strict Nature Reserve.

Table 4.1 shows the wildlife protected areas, their size and percentage coverage.

The figures from the table indicate that most of these Protected Areas are located

in the Volta Basin where they cover a total area of 11,094.5 km2 and represent 87.5% of

all protected areas in the country. Digya National Park represents about 31.4% of all protected areas in the Volta Basin. This statistics underscores the importance the nation attaches to environmental protection within the Volta watershed, besides the need to conserve biodiversity.

The primary objectives of wildlife protected areas in Ghana are to:

• “conserve viable samples of natural ecosystems occurring in Ghana;

• conserve sites of biological importance and natural scenic beauty;

• ensure that viable population of all indigenous wild species and passage migrants

are adequately conserved and that endangered endemic species of high

conservation interest are specially protected;

• protect and maintain ecological and life sustaining process such as water

generation, catchment protection, soil conservation, and genetic diversity;

• provide opportunities for research, education and enjoyment;

• generate economic activity in and around the protected areas and to promote sustainable use of wildlife species” (EPA Ghana 1997 pp 68); and, • the Wildlife Division, as indicated, has the sole responsibility of the managing

protected areas in Ghana.

4.3.0. Regulatory Framework in Protected Areas in Ghana

As noted in Chapter One, the most important factor influencing environmental regulation in Ghana is the 1992 World Conference on Environment and Development, referred to as

the “Rio Summit.” Prior to the Rio Summit, certain environmental events occurred in the

country that forcibly awakened national consciousness for environmental protection.

During the inception of the Economic Recovery Program in 1983, which was adopted in

response to decades of economic mismanagement and stagnation, there was a donor-led

drive to revamp the economy through external capital inflow and the promotion of timber

industry, among others, to repay the debt (Weeks 2005). A sizable portion of the forest

was destroyed to meet the demands of the donor community. This period was followed

by drought accompanied by a series of devastating wild fires that destroyed most forest

resources (EPA, 2005). The public and media outcry after these events awakened national

consciousness on forest and wildlife protection. These issues could be likened to the case of the US when certain environmental events and responses during the 1960s and 1970s increased public interest on environmental issues, leading to important environmental regulations like NEPA (Kubasek et al., 2005).

Table 4.1 Wildlife Protected Areas in Ghana

Protected Area Size (sq. % cover of Formation Year km) Ghana group gazetted National Parks (NP) Bia (Biosphere Reserve since 1985) 78 0.03 MS/ME 1974 Mole National Park* 4,840.4 2.03 TGS 1971 Bui* 1,820.6 0.76 TGS 1971 Digya* 3,478 1.46 TGS 1971 Nini-Shien Forest Reserve 160 0.07 WE 1976 Kakum 207 0.09 ME 1991 Total National Park 10,584.3 4.44

Resource Reserves (RR) Anksa 343 0.14 WE 1976 Assin Attandanso 139.9 0.06 ME 1991 Bia (different from Bia NP) 228 0.10 ME/MS 1974 Gbele* 565.4 0.24 TGS 1974 Kalakpa 320.2 0.13 SGS 1975 Shai Hills 48.6 0.02 SGS/SO 1971 Total RR 1,645.1 0.69

Strict Nature Reserve (SNR) Kogyae Strict Nature Reserve* 385.7 0.16 TGS 1976

Wildlife Sanctuary (WS) Boabeng-Fiema* 4.4 0.0018 TGS 1974 Bomfobiri 53.1 0.0223 DS/TGS 1975 Owabi (also Ramsar site) 13.1 0.0055 MS 1971 Total Wildlife Sanctuary 70.6 0.0296 Total Gazetted Area 12,685.7 5.32

Yet to be gazetted Kyabobo National Park* 360 Agumatsa Wildlife Sanctuary 3

Source: Modified from EPA, 1996 Legend: *Areas within the Volta Basin (11,094.5 km2) TGS → Tall-grass savanna; MW → Moist evergreen; MS → Moist semi-evergreen; WE → Wet evergreen; SGS → Short-grass savanna; SO → Southeast outliers; DS → Dry semi-deciduous

Albeit, the Rio Summit contributed immensely in the establishment of the

Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology in 1993, and later the setting up of

EPA in 1995 on the basis of the Environmental Protection Act (Act 490). EPA has the

full mandate and responsibility for regulating the use of the environment and ensuring the

implementation of Government policies relating thereto (EPA, 1996). Among other

functions EPA is also mandated to apply the legal process in a fair, equitable and efficient

manner to ensure responsible environmental behavior in the country (EPA, 1996). The

Ghana EPA just as the US EPA operates as an administrative agency with legislative

powers, executive powers as well as judicial powers as analogous to the three arms of

government (Hens, et al., 1998, EPA, 1996, Kubasek, 2005). Boon (1998) used an

organigram to illustrate the role of the various institutions and agencies responsible for policy formulation and implementation in Ghana. This is shown in Fig. 4.1 below.

The organigram shows that the Ministry of Environment and Science generally

formulates environmental policy in collaboration with the National Development

Planning Commission and the National Committee for the Implementation of Agenda 21,

which was constituted since the 1992 Rio Summit. The EPA uses its administrative mandate to implement the policies and sometimes enact bylaws as it finds convenient.

The EPA works hand-in-hand with research institutions which provide data to supplement its own data collection mechanisms. EPA also works with the District

Assemblies whose duty it is to the implement policies at the local level. The District

Assemblies liaises with the Regional Environmental Office and implements the policies

at grass-root level through the District Environmental Management Committees and the

Community Environmental Committee.

Fig. 4 Organigram of the Environmental Policy Making, Advisory and Implementation in Ghana

National Development Planning Commission Ministry of Environment National Committee for Science &Tech the Implementation of Agenda 21

Environmental Protection Agency

District Assemblies

Research Institutions

District Community Regional Environmental Environmental Environmental Mgmt Committee Committee Office

Source: (after Boon, 1998)

Hens et al, (1998) however noted that long before the establishment of Ghana

Environmental Protection Council in 1974, which later became known as Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) by 1995, some legal enactments already existed in the country and various government agencies were empowered to exercise executing powers in respect of sustainable environmental management. Some of these environmental regulations were designed to protect physical assets like the Volta dam directly or indirectly. They are under three broad categories namely international conventions which

Ghana has acceded to, national regulations and agency bi-laws.

4.3.1. International Conventions and National Regulations Concerned with Forest

and Biodiversity Management in Ghana

Ghana has proven her commitment to global environmental sustainability by

playing a remarkable role in lending support to international conventions. Table 4.2

shows a list of conventions relevant to forest and wildlife management which Ghana has

ratified. The table shows that from 1962 to present, Ghana has ratified at least twenty

(20) international protocols and conventions related to biodiversity conservation. This

places Ghana among the highest ranking countries in Africa which take their environment

seriously.

Beside these international conventions, numerous other national regulations also

exist. National regulations relevant directly or indirectly to forest and wildlife protection

as well as the Volta basin are shown in Table 4.3. Table 4.3 reveals that regulations like

the Forest Ordinance and Rivers Ordinance had been in existence since 1902 under

British colonial rule. A lot more of these regulations, as shown in the Table 4.3, were in

existence before 1992 when the Rio Summit was held. The table also shows the various

agencies which are mandated to enforce the regulations but the reality is that none of the

listed agencies has absolute control over the whole environment (Hens et al., 1998).

Table 4.2 International Conventions Related to Biodiversity Ratified by Ghana

Name of Convention Ratified by Implementing Agency Ghana (D/M/Y) Convention on the African Migratory Locust 25/05/1962 Min. of Food & Agriculture (MOFA) International Convention for Pollution of the 21/10/1962 EPA Sea by Oil International Convention for the Conservation 4/05/1966 Fisheries Directorate of MOFA of Atlantic Tunas African Convention On Civil Liability For Oil 29/11/1969 EPA Pollution Damage African Convention on the Conservation of 09/10/69 Wildlife Division Nature and Natural Resources Convention on Wetlands of International 02/02/1971 Wildlife Division Importance, Especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention) Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage 18/12/1971 EPA Convention Concerning the Protection of the 16/11/1972 Museums and Monuments Board World Cultural and Natural Heritage Convention on International Trade in 03/03/1973 Wildlife Division Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Convention on Conservation of Migratory 13/12/1979 Wildlife Division Species of Wild Animals UN Convention of the Law of the sea 10/12/1982 Min. of Foreign Affaires International Tropical Timber Agreement 18/11/1983 Forestry Commission Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete --/10/1989 EPA the Ozone layer Vienna Convention on for the protection of the --/10/1988 EPA Ozone Layer Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) --/06/92 Min. of Environment & Science (MES) Convention to Combat Drought and 27/12/96 EPA Desertification UN Framework Convention on Climate Change --/06/92 MES The Stockholm Convention on Persistent 30/05/2003 EPA Organic Pollution The Kyoto Protocol to the UN Convention on 30/05/2003 EPA Climate Change The Cartegena Protocol on Biosafety 30/05/2003 MES

Source: EPA, (2005)

Table 4.3 National Legislation with Relevance to Biodiversity Management in Ghana

Laws and Relevant Regulations Description Authority Rivers Ordinance Enacted 1903 (Cap Water Resources 226) Forest Improvement Fund Act Enacted 1960 Forestry Volta River Development Act Enacted 1961 Water Resources Wild Animal Preservation Act (Act 43) Enacted 1961 Forestryt Fisheries (Amended) Regulations Enacted 1977 & Water Resources 1984 Forest Protection Law (amended) Enacted 1986 Forestry Forest Protection Decree, (NRCD 243) Enacted 1974 Forestry Fisheries Law, PNDC 256 Enacted 1991 Water Resources Environmental Assessment Regulation Enacted 1999 EPA Ghana Water and Sewerage Act 1965 Water Resources Trees and Timber Decree, (NRCD 273) 1974 Forestry Trees and Timber Regulations, 1961 Forestry Wildlife Conservation Regulation (LI 1971 Forestry 685) Prevention and Control of Bushfires 1990 Law Fisheries Decree 1972 Water Resources The Fisheries (Amended) Regulations 1977 Water Resources The Fisheries (Amended) Regulations 1984 Wildlife Reserves Regulations (LI 710) 1971 and 1983 Land Planning and Soil Conservation 1957 Act, Economic Plants Protection Decree, 1979 (AFRCD 47) Forest Ordinance 1902 Forest Ordinance (Cap 157) 1927 Trees and Timber Ordinance, 1949 Forest Fees Regulations (LI 1098) 1976 Forest Protection (Amendment) Law 1986 (PNDCL 142) Timber Resource Management Act, 1997 Forestry Commission (Act 547) Local Government Act establishing 1993 Ministry of Local District Assemblies (Act 625). Government

Source: Modified from Republic of Ghana, (2002), http://icm.noaa.gov/country/Ghana.html

The third category of regulations includes agency regulations and District

Assembly bylaws for the protection of the environment. One example of agency

regulation to conserve forest and biodiversity in the Volta Basin was the 1994 legislative

instrument which the Volta River Authority (VRA) imposed placing a ban on farming,

tree felling, as well as bush burning on some critical portions of the Volta Lake.

With regard to protected areas, fieldwork revealed that the Ministry of Lands and

Forests (but not the Ministry of Environment and Science) formulate the policies, while

the Forestry Commission through its Wildlife Division implements the policies. The

Ministry has since 1993 implemented a number of policy reforms under various initiatives. Among them was the Forest Management Project which started in 1989 and gained momentum in 1993. Key policy reforms implemented under the project include:

(i) strengthening of management capacity within the Ministry of Lands and

Forests leading to improvements in forest sector monitoring and regulation;

(ii) improvement in timber royalty collection and disbursement to local traditional

authorities (Stools);

(iii) improved capacity of the Wildlife Department for protected area (PA)

management and facilitated development of ten PA management plans;

(iv) achieved limited progress in on-farm tree planting through reorienting the

Agro-forestry Unit towards supporting community nurseries and

implementing a promising pilot for locally-based savanna woodland

management in the Upper East Region through the Rural Forestry Division;

and,

(v) strengthened research and training capacity through support to the Forestry

Research Institute of Ghana and the Institute of Renewable Natural Resources.

Shortcomings of the FRMP included initial failure to address some critical policy issues such as the continued existence of inefficient timber processing industries, overlap between the mandates of various forest sector agencies and the high running costs and uncertain performance of the Forest Products Inspection Bureau and the Timber Export

Development Board (Ministry of Lands and Forests, 1997).

Another policy reform was the Environmental Resource Management Project

(ERMP), which was implemented between 1993 and 1997. The project explicitly

recognizes the intersectoral nature of environmental management and provided support

for institutional strengthening of the EPA in its central role as a coordinating and

regulatory body to stimulate reforms within the sectoral ministries and agencies. The overall goal was to improve environmental monitoring and management (Ministry of

Lands and Forests, Ghana 1997). This reform brought about the development of a coherent body of regulatory guidelines, standards and monitoring protocols that have been adopted for implementation by the sectoral agencies (Ministry of Lands and Forests,

Ghana, 1997).

4.3.2. The Ghana Forest and Wildlife Policy

A review of the Forest and Wildlife Policy of Ghana revealed that the policy came into force in 1994 as a statutory document under the auspices of the Ministry of Lands and Forests, to manage the country’s forest and wildlife resources sustainable bases. The

68 guiding principle for the policy was based on both national convictions and international guidelines and protocols. The policy, inter alia, recognizes and confirms:

• “the rights of people to have access to natural resources for maintaining a basic

standard of living and their concomitant responsibility to ensure the sustainable

use of such resources;

• the need to incorporate traditional methods of resource management in national

strategies where appropriate;

• the need to maintain a share of financial benefits from resource utilization to fund

the maintenance of resource production capacity and for the benefit of local

communities;

• the need to develop a decentralized participatory democracy by involving local

people in matters concerned with their welfare ……” (Wildlife Division, Ghana

1994 pp 7-6).

The policy indeed reiterates the need for local community participation in resource management, which is quite contrary to the command and control system of management being operated by the Wildlife Division.

The policy aims at “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” (pp 8). It stresses the need for public participation in district forest management and protection. Forms of participation as outlined in the policy are investments in tree planting and wood production, conservation and propagation of wildlife, value-added processing and marketing of finished products,

69 investment in wood industry modernization and support for awareness and training by

NGOs and trade associations (CFMU 1993).

4.3.3. National Water Policy of Ghana

A related policy to the Ghana Forest and Wildlife Policy is the National Water

Policy of Ghana. The mandate of this policy transcends watershed areas and strictly speaking should apply to protected areas in the Volta Basin including Digya National

Park. A draft of this policy was first prepared in 2002 by the Ghana Water Resources

Commission (GWRC) under the auspices of Ministry of Works and Housing. Since then the policy has been updated in 2004 and 2005. Among the guiding principles are the following selected ones which are relevant to protected areas in the Volta Basin:

• “……………the principle of integrating water resources management and

development with environmental management in order to ensure the sustainability

of water resources in both quantity and quality;

• the precautionary principle that seeks to minimize activities that have the potential

to negatively affect the integrity of all water resources;

• the principle of coordinating water resources planning with land use planning;

• the principle of adopting the river basin (or sub-basin) as a planning unit”;

• “…….the principle of subsidiarity in order to ensure participatory decision-

making at the lowest appropriate level in society”; and,

• “………the principle of the greatest common good to society in prioritizing

conflicting uses of water” (Ghana Ministry of Works & Housing, 2005 pp 14).

The overall goal of the Water Policy is to “achieve sustainable development, management and use of Ghana’s water resources to improve health and livelihoods, reduce vulnerability while assuring good governance for present and future generations”

(Ghana Ministry of Works & Housing, 2005 pp15).

4.4.0. Policy Implementation in Protected Areas (PA) of Ghana

Policies for the sustainable management of protected areas are implemented through management plans. Management plans set targets and specify desired management outcomes for the protection of the designated areas. The plans also set out the policies, guidelines and actions to achieve the outcomes. These must be consistent with management principles for the area. The plans for the respective protected areas are designed and implemented by the Ghana Wildlife Division through its district offices.

The Division relies on government’s budgetary allocation to carry out its mandate. The allocation takes care of staff salaries, logistics and other material support needed for the day to running of the Division and its district offices. Fieldwork findings revealed that the budget allocation is wholly inadequate and only enough to pay staff salaries.

The Forest and Wildlife policy provides the basis for effective law enforcement and community involvement in wildlife management. The policy thus gives recognition to traditional leaders and key community stakeholders as partners and agents through whom policy implementation would be effected. The field survey, however, revealed that due to the command and control nature of the policy, local encroachers regard Foresters and Wildlife Rangers as “police personnel” and enemies who should be avoided while

the Foresters and Rangers view the encroachers as criminals who should be evicted and

prosecuted. These factors alienate the encroachers who are members of local

communities, from effective collaboration in the management of protected areas.

The District Assemblies and their grass-root management committees are also supposed to play key roles in policy implementation. The Local Government Law

(PNDC Law 207) established the District Assemblies and defined their role in environmental management and policy implementation as:

“District Assemblies will be the organ through which national policies and

programs on the environment will be translated into action at the local and district

levels....through their members and their action programs will serve as vehicles

for creating awareness at the grassroots level of the complex interaction between

development and environment in order to ensure improved quality of life for the

broad mass of the people” (EPA, 1996).

In order to achieve this goal, District Environmental Management Committees

and Community Environmental Management Committees have been set up as organs

through which environmental policies regarding protected areas are implemented within

the districts. The districts are, however, faced with some environmental issues, which

tend to negate most of their efforts. These issues include incidence of bush fires, soil

erosion, deforestation, land degradation and desertification in some cases ( Hens, et al.,

1998, Nsiah-Gyabaah 1994) Most of these issues are associated with farming systems

and other means of livelihood enhancement within the districts and appear to be beyond

the control of the under-resourced district staff.

Finally, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are supposed to assist the

Wildlife Division and District Assemblies in policy implementation within protected areas. Field investigations, however, showed that most of the environmental NGOs in

Ghana lack the staff and resources to carry out their mandate. Environmental policy implementation in protected areas therefore remains a challenging task for the Ghanaian government.

Chapter 5. Data Analysis

5.0.0. Policy Implementation in the Digya National Park

Digya National Park is an important species habitat and an example of the

complex policy related management strategies to protect the Volta watershed. Analysis of policy implementation within the park not only deepens our understanding of the underlying issues and responses in the park, but also provides a theoretical framework on how protected areas are managed in Ghana in general and in the Volta Basin in particular.

This chapter, which analyses policy implementation in Digya National Park, is divided into six sections. The first section gives a description of Digya National Park (DNP) and its importance in Ghana’s environmental scene. The second section outlines the policy implementation strategy at DNP, followed by a section on the problems of implementation. The next section examines the problems of encroachment and how it is being handled currently. The chapter also examines policy evaluation in the park, and ends by critically analyzing the policy implementation process in DNP, in the light of the

“Policy Implementation Framework” developed by Mazmanian and Sabatier (1983)

5.1.0. A Brief Background and Importance of Digya National Park

Results of separate interviews with two officials of the Wildlife Division showed

that DNP transcends three (3) political regions, and five (5) administrative districts of

Ghana. These are Atebubu and Sene Districts in the Brong Ahafo Region, Afram Plains

District in the Eastern Region, and Sekyere East and Sekyere West Districts in the

Ashanti Region. The park is managed by the Forest and Wildlife Division of Ghana

through the Atebubu office of the Wildlife Division. There are thirteen (13) Camp

Stations spread over the three regions, which operate under the main Atebubu office.

Camp Stations are sub-stations established within the operational area of the main office,

which maintain a certain number of staff and see to the day-to-day operations of the park.

The Atebubu office is headed by a park manager who has oversight responsibility for all the thirteen sub-stations. The largest portion of the DNP lies in the Brong Ahafo Region followed by the Eastern Region, with the Ashanti Region portion of the park being the smallest. The Eastern Region portion of the park encompassed island areas situated offshore in the Volta Lake (Ref. Fig. 1).

All major decisions with regard to policy implementation in the park are taken by

the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines and implemented by the Wildlife Division of

the Ghana Forestry Commission through the field staff. This is a clear illustration of “top

down” resource management where there is a hierarchical system of decisions making

from the center to the periphery (Mazmanian & Sabatier, 1983; Salamon, 2002). It should

be noted that though this system of policy implementation may have its strengths, the

modern paradigm advocates a “bottom up” approach which emphasizes local

participation in decision making (Elmore, 1975; Lipsky, 1980)

Other interview results with some officials of the Forestry Commission indicated

that the park is situated within two geographical divides namely the mainland and the

Volta island areas. It is therefore quite distinctive and also considered very important for various reasons. The first reason is that about 70% of the main park is surrounded by

water; a physical characteristics reminiscent to a peninsula. The eastern side of the park is

bounded by the main Lake Volta, the northern end by the Sene River arm of the Lake

Volta and the south part by the Obosum River arm of the lake (Ref. Fig. 1). This unique

shape of the main park makes it almost an enclosed sanctuary for mammalian species

implying that the in-and-out movement of the species within the park can easily be

monitored along the 85 km (about 50 mile) stretch opening. Beyond the main park are

several smaller outliers located further east in the Volta Lake island areas. Thus whereas

portions of the park are complete islands, the main park, strictly speaking, could also be

considered as a “terrestrial island” from species point of view. A terrestrial island is an

isolated forest patch within the matrix which has virtually no connectivity with other

forest patches (MacArthur et al., 2001). The park may be considered as such because, the

fringes along the 85 km opening are so degraded, as revealed by the interviews that

interior species would naturally be confined to their habitat.

The second issue of significance regarding the DNP, according to the Director of

Operation at Wildlife Division Headquarters in Accra, is that “it is the only protected area

left for the protection of the Volta Lake”. He explained that though there are other

protected areas within the Volta watershed, it is only DNP which directly shares

boundaries with the lake as described above. All other adjoining lands to the lake have

been heavily degraded by human activities. The park is therefore crucial for the sustainability of the Volta Lake system and electricity generation, considering the fact

that the Volta River system contributes about 68% of electricity to Ghana national grid.

Digya National Park further occupies a unique ecological zone, namely the forest-

savanna ecological zone. According to the DNP manager and extracts from institutional

documents (EPA, 1996), the park supports at least six (6) primate species including black

and white colobus monkeys, the patas monkey, the vervet monkey and baboons. Other

mammalian species include the African elephants, buffalo, water buck, hartebeest, hog,

76 hippopotamus and a variety of antelopes. Crocodiles, manatee and clawless otter are also reported to be present in the park. Prominent carnivores are the cusimanse, and some mongoose species. The park is the historical home of two species that are presently extinct from the park: the black rhinoceros and the gregarious wildebeest (WCMC, 1997,

Atidekate, 2004). As noted by Director of Operations of the Wildlife Division:

“considering the park’s richness in species, it is the policy of the Wildlife Division to protect the species of this unique ecological zone for biodiversity conservation”.

Another ecologically important feature of the park is that it is delineated along a miniature “bioregion” that cuts across man-made political regions. A bioregion is a geographic area of interconnected natural systems and their characteristic watersheds, landforms, species and human cultures (EcoCity, 2002). DNP is situated between the confluence of two rivers and extends over parts of Brong Ahafo, Eastern and Ashanti regions of Ghana.

Lastly, the strategic location of the park along the lake shores and within island areas makes it a potential ecotourism site. The location has promise of providing visitors the dual pleasure of cruising on the Volta Lake and enjoying the scenic beauty of the park. Presently, the Kakum National Park located in the forest areas of southern Ghana is the most important ecotourism site in terms of visitor inflow. In 1998 for instance, the park attracted over 59,000 visitors (Vieta, 1999) whereas DNP presently attracts an average of only 84 visitors on annual basis according the interviews, because assess routes are poorly developed.

An interview with the DNP manager showed that after the 1971 legislation, several of the settlements located within the designated area of the park were relocated

77 outside the park in exception of three. The three officially-recognized settlements are

Nkeneku, Apapaso and Dome. Within about the last ten years, the residents of Nkeneku and Apapaso also moved on their own volition, leaving Dome as the only original settlement within the park. When asked whether or not compensation was paid to residents who had to move to make way for the National Park, the manager replied:

“most of the youth in these settlements migrated to the urban centers for greener

pastures whereas other community members were able to integrate easily with

neighboring communities; for that reason, compensation was not a big issue”.

The residents of Dome, the only legal settlement in the Park, have been allocated an area of 5 square miles for their farming activities. When asked whether it is appropriate for the

Dome settlement to remain in the park, the manager answered: “the existence of this settlement poses no threat to the park because their activities are confined to the five square mile area allocated them; in fact some of our anti-poaching team even resides in this settlement.”

There are, however, several illegal settlements located in the island sites of the park made up dominantly of immigrant fisher-folks from Southern Ghana as revealed by the park manager during the interview. Though the exact number of illegal settlements could not be determined during field investigations, the major ones were listed as

Dudzome, Zikpo, Supong – Odume, Agrafi, Tanakope, Agege, Yamoso, Kolekope,

Kwaehumu, Sakpiti, Hedzro, Kantamanto, and Waso. The park manager also indicated that all the illegal settlements have a total estimated population of 7,000. However, due to the illegality of the settlements, there is no official data on them and so only estimates of the population exist.

5.2.0. Policy Implementation Strategies

Analysis of government documents indicated that there are several policies on

protected areas in Ghana including forestry policy, land policy and wildlife policy. The

Ministry of Lands, Forests and Mines formulates policies on wildlife protected areas. The

Forest and Wildlife Policy 1994 was the most current one formulated to protect forests and wildlife. The Wildlife Division oversees the wildlife-protected areas. The Division thus has the sole responsibility for the management of DNP and all other national parks

in the country (Ghana Forestry Commission, 2004). Results of the interviews indicated

that implementation of the Forest and Wildlife Policies devolves along the command

structure of the Wildlife Division. The executive director sees to policy implementation

through the director of operations, regional managers and park managers. The

implementation of policy in DNP is under the jurisdiction of the regional manager in

charge of Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions. At the district level, there is the park

manager who heads a host of district level staff including Wildlife Rangers, District

Management Committees, and Tourism Committees. Rangers and guards are in charge of

the day-to-day operational activities of the parks.

A park manager manages Digya National Park. Three (3) assistant park managers,

three (3) wildlife rangers and thirteen (13) camp leaders, assist him. Each camp leader works with a number of field staff. The number ranges between four (4) and six (6) depending on the size of the operational area. In total, the Digya National Park has staff strength of one hundred and two (102). Monthly reports and sometimes, emergency reports from the camp stations are submitted to the park manager at Atebubu. The main

79 station used to be at Mampong in the Ashanti Region but was moved to its current location a couple of years ago perhaps for reasons of proximity. Atebubu is about 90 km from the park by road, while Mampong is about 120 km away.

As all protected areas in Ghana, DNP has a management plan (also referred to as work plan) which was developed in 1994 by the Wildlife Division to guide the management of the park. The management plan outlines the policy goals which are to be achieved during the implementation process. The main policy goals of DNP as entailed in the management plan are to maintain a healthy forest for biodiversity conservation and watershed protection for the benefit of both present and future generations, and to develop the park as a tourism destination and recreational resort for the benefit of the local people. In line with international conventions and protocols to which Ghana was a party, and in accordance with national regulations on biodiversity conservation, the DNP management plan aims at conserving the diversity of all flora and fauna for scientific, cultural and aesthetic purposes. It also has, as a major objective, maintaining vegetation cover along the shoreline of the Lake Volta which is considered critical to the stability of the lake system and the power generation capacity of the hydro-electricity power plant.

The plan also seeks to promote tourism and place the park high on the tourist map of

Africa. Finally, the plan has an element on developing local economies through the promotion of private investment to boost tourism with an expected spiral effects on local economies.

In consonance with the key elements of the policy goals, the management plan has three major areas of focus. These include nature conservation, physical development, and private sector participation. The aspect on nature conservation concerns law

80 enforcement aimed to protect the park from all kinds of human encroachment. Physical development relates to provision of basic infrastructure like roads, office accommodation and other necessary amenities that would attract private sector investment and enhance visitor inflow. Aspects of this relates to adequate staffing, enhancement of staff patrols, and logistic supplies like firearms, staff boots, uniforms, and means of transport for the patrol teams. The aspect on private sector participation calls for partnership with the private sector to promote investment to upgrade the park into a modern tourist destination, which in the long-run would benefit local people.

5.2.1. Stakeholder Collaboration

Park authorities recognize the need to collaborate with other stakeholders including nearby communities and other government agencies to help in the implementation process. An interview with the park manager of DNP indicated that there are several levels of stakeholder collaboration in the management of the park. The first level of collaboration is at the local community level. Community participation is an integral part of ecosystems management, which according to Noss et al. (1994), integrates scientific knowledge of ecological relationships with local knowledge and values framework with a view to protecting native ecosystems integrity over the long term. Several authors have emphasized the importance of local participation in ecosystems management, which is also fundamental to park management (Diegues, 1992;

Egger and Majeres, 1992; Bernard and Young, 1997; Snow, 2001; Meffe et al, 2002). At the Digya National Park, this recognition has led to the creation of some partnerships between the park’s management authority and the local communities. Field investigations

revealed that surrounding communities through their respective chiefdoms and other

traditional authorities collaborate with the Wildlife Division in the management of DNP.

Traditional authorities, according to field investigations, have much influence over their subjects and are capable of imposing sanctions on those who disobey the law. They complement the efforts of the Wildlife Division in law enforcement and play a crucial role in keeping community members within their jurisdiction away from encroachment in the park. Their most important role is bush fire control and prevention. The traditional leaders have the power to punish culprits who intentionally start bush fires for farming, hunting or grazing purposes.

On the control of bush fires, the DNP manager intimated that the communities

have formulated voluntary fire control committees to fight wild fires within the park.

Some community members also serve as informants and report cases of arson and

poaching to the Wildlife Division. Local partnership in the management of DNP does

not, however, include “squatters” who live within the park because they are considered

illegal settlers. It should be noted that though the nature of local collaboration as

discussed above may help to ensure compliance, it does not seem to alter the “top-down”

implementation strategy. Decisions are still taken at the national level and brought down

to the local level where local authorities and agents only help in policing.

The next type of collaboration, according to field investigation, is with

government departments and agencies. These collaborators include the Fisheries

Department of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Ministry of Education and

Sports, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, the Judiciary, and the

Ghana Police Service. Ghana Education Service under the Ministry of Education and

Sports conducts wildlife education programs in schools to inculcate environmental awareness in children. Issues concerning protected areas and biodiversity are taught during the educational programs with a view to sensitizing the school children to the importance of nature conservation while they are still young. These programs are carried out in schools within the vicinity of the DNP. The District Assemblies under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development collaborate with the Division in various ways. First, they provide offices for the Wildlife Division staff at the districts where they operate. Secondly, the District Security Council assists in law enforcement. There are also the District Environmental Committees, which are involved in environmental management within the districts. The Wildlife Division has representatives on these committees. The Police Service assists the Wildlife Patrol Team in law enforcement and compliance while the Judiciary assists in adjudication of cases involving the Wildlife

Division. Results of interviews further revealed that the Ghana Education Service and the

District Assemblies are the most effective collaborators. So far, there has been no NGO collaboration in the management of Digya National Park because environmental NGOs in

Ghana seems to be poorly resourced and lack the capacity to effectively support such programs. Prospects are, however, high for future NGO collaboration as activities at DNP have started gaining international attention.

5.3.0. Problems of Policy Implementation

The problems of policy implementation in the DNP have hereby been divided into two main categories, namely financial problems and the problem of encroachment. The financial problems are external to the Wildlife Division and relate to government

budgetary allocation and other related problems. This has resulted in serious financial

constraints, problems of lack of equipment and supplies, and human resource problems

which in turn pose several difficulties in the execution of the DNP management plan.

The implementation of policy in DNP is fashioned along the three major sections

of the management plan as earlier discussed. With regard to physical development of the

plan, results of field interviews showed that not much has been achieved. The park

depends solely on government’s budgetary allocation for all of its operations including

staff salaries. Currently the budgetary allocation to the park is so small that it barely pays

staff salaries. The management team of the park has always looked forward to the

government to facilitate the implementation of this aspect of the plan by providing more

funds. For its part, the government seems unable to circumvent the quagmire of national

budgetary deficits it has to grapple with on an annual basis. The physical infrastructure at

DNP is therefore poorly developed, with all the good intentions of the plan still on the

drawing board. Field investigation showed that apart from a “third class” road, which runs through the open savanna woodland into the park, and, in fact, only motorable

during the dry months of October through May, there are no other access routes to the

park. The lakeshore areas of the park are also dangerous to navigate because of the

presence of tree stumps, not visible on the surface, that are remnants of the woody

vegetation inundated when the lake was formed. There is also the problem of lack of up-

to-date site map for the park according to the DNP manager. The management team

therefore works with very old and outdated maps which are no longer useful in present

day planning and monitoring. Thus as land use and land cover keep changing due to

illegal encroachment, maps also need to be updated to reflect the changes. But this is

unfortunately not the case. To this end, the Atebubu District Office will require facilities

for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing analysis to enhance easy

mapping and monitoring of animals within the park.

On the aspect of conservation, fieldwork interviews revealed that at least 13 patrol

teams are supposed to work on daily bases to keep poachers and encroachers away from

the park. They have the mandate to operate as security guards and have the permission of

the national security apparatus to use firearms in self-defense as the nature of the work exposes them to daily attacks. The success or otherwise of law enforcement depends largely on the stock of supplies and equipment available to the patrol team. The current stock of logistical support available to the entire DNP for its daily operation (as shown in

Table 5.1 below) is wholly inadequate and does not enhance effective implementation of policy at the park.

Table 5.1 List of Logistics Required for Effective Management of DNP Name of Item Number Number in Comments Required Stock Four-wheel drive vehicles 3 2 Has two Nissan Pick-ups one of which is 17 years old Tractors with trailers 2 1 Has a 15-year old tractor Motor bikes 10 2 40 Hp Yamaha outboard 3 - motors and boats 30-footer silver boats 2 - Bicycles 30 - Pairs of Binoculars 13 - Global Positioning 20 - Systems (GPS) Office Computers 13 1 The only computer is at the Atebubu Wildelife office Source: Fieldwork, (2006)

Regarding private sector participation, some interviewees were of the opinion that

governments’ own investment in the park is not enough to attract private sector partnership. According to an official of the Volta Basin Research Project during an interview there are, however, prospects for private sector involvement following two recent developments. He indicated that two Canadian firms, Wayne Dunn and Associates

and Triton Logging Company Incorporated, have come into agreement with the Volta

River Authority and the government of Ghana to remove tree stumps and other

submerged trees from the lake to improve safety. When completed, the project would

improve lake transport and make DNP a more accessible tourist’s destination. A non-

governmental organization has also expressed interest in the development of the DNP

according to the DNP manager during an interview. The NGO, whose name was not

disclosed, has carried out a preliminary survey in the park and has submitted a proposal

to the Wildlife Division headquarters in Accra, which is currently under review.

Overall, the implementation of DNP management plan has been fraught with

difficulties. The DNP manager intimated that owing to budgetary constraints and

inadequate supplies and equipment, only about 10% of the management plan relating to

staff patrol and conservation has been implemented, in his own estimation. The tourism

aspect has also performed abysmally with less than 100 tourists visiting the park annually

In fact, almost all the interviewees confirmed that the capacity of Wildlife Division to

implement policy at Digya National Park is bedeviled mainly by budgetary constraints.

Though the Division has adequate personnel for its operations, they are poorly motivated

and lack adequate supplies and equipment. The Division needs logistics for both land and water transportation to facilitate monitoring. The DNP manager noted that for effective

policy implementation at the park, a number of items are needed (Table 5.1). The present

stock of equipment and supplies at the DNP is not only inadequate, but the few available

ones are too old. For instance the only tractor at the park is about 15 years old at the time

of the interview, and one of the only two vehicles owned by the park is 17 years old.

Though the availability of personnel at DNP is not a problem according the interviews, the staff are ill-equipped and lack modern methods of park management. The park manager remarked that “budgetary constraint is a major disincentive to capacity building which could have been achieved through regular refresher courses”. One interviewee noted that most of the staff members are very old, technically handicapped and lack the needed education to effectively implement policy.

The problem of encroachment, on the other hand, persists because the Division is

not well capacitated financially to address it. It is, in effect, the direct consequence of the

financial problems and includes all kinds of encroachment, namely illegal “squatting”,

farming activities within the park, bush fires, grazing and wood extraction.

In spite of the existence of several agencies, institutions, other collaborators and

legislative controls regarding the management of Digya National Park, the park is still

being progressively encroached upon, resulting in land cover change and loss of biodiversity (Twumasi et al., 2005). Visible changes in the national park include decreases in forest cover, increases in grassland areas, and expansion in cropland

(Twumasi et al., (2005). Field investigations reveal the changes are occurring in and around “squatter settlements”, illegally established mainly by migrant fisher folks.

Activities bringing about the change are mainly farming, settlement expansion, free range grazing, and extraction of fuel wood for fish smoking and for commercial charcoal

production. The results of a recent land use /land cover studies in the national park by

Twumasi et al., (2005) using satellite imagery underscores this fact. Appendices 3, 4, and

5 illustrate Landsat classified imagery of Digya National Park, showing Land Cover/Land

Change from 1985 to 2000. Table 5.2 explains the various classes and their respective areal coverage. This indicates that settlements area within Digya National Park had increased from 12 km2 in 1985 to 22 km2 by 2000. Investigations from the DNP manager

revealed that the main portions of settlement concentration are the island areas where

several fishing villages have been identified as earlier mentioned. Within the same

period, crop land has increased from 125.72 km2 to 250.00 km2 (Table 5.2) The DNP

manager indicated that the illegal settlers are mainly subsistence farmers whose croplands

keep increasing as settlements expand. The increasing trend of encroachment has

resulted in corresponding decrease in forest cover as shown in Table 5.2. Thus while

closed forest decreased from 1,500 km2 in 1985 to 800 km2 in 2000, mixed forest

decreased from 900 km2 to 500 km2 within the same period. The results of the Land

Cover Change study by Twuasi et al., (2005) and interviews seemed to suggest that the

policies and regulations to protect the national park are not having the desired impact perhaps due to a number of problems as discussed below.

All the respondents that the question was posed to admitted that illegal

encroachment is a very thorny issue facing the Wildlife Division. Field investigations identified two groups of encroachers. The first group comprises the surrounding community members who occasionally encroach and carry out illegal activities like poaching, farming and fire wood extraction. The second group is made up of immigrants

Table 5.2 Supervised Classification Result for Area Covering Digya National Park

Area (sq. kilometers) Classes 1985 1991 2000 Water 1,200.44 1,598.99 1,838.16 Settlements 12.00 15.00 22.00 Mangroves 100.33 150.72 219.86 Crop land 125.72 195.00 250.00 Closed Forest 1,500.00 1,198.45 800 Mixed Forest 900.00 700 500 Total 3,908.16 3,908.16 3,908.16 Source: Twumasi et al., (2005)

mostly from other parts of the country. The latter, also referred to as “squatters”, have construct residential structures within the park, where they have been living for the past

30 to 40 years. Some of the officials interviewed noted that these squatters have taken advantage of logistic constraints of the Wildlife Division to perpetuate their illegal occupancy. The officials noted that the squatters are fully aware of their action and the consequences thereof. Following several appeals and eviction notices, most of the squatters have left the park on their own to avoid any confrontation with the authorities.

The problem of illegal encroachment is aggravated by the fact that the perpetrators see Wildlife Division as an enemy, and are therefore, unwilling to corporate.

Worst of all, the public and the media fail to see the illegality of the encroachment, but rather blame Wildlife Division for enforcing their regulations. This situation is in sharp contrast to what pertains in the US, where citizen’s groups, the public, and the media rather blame the government for non-enforcement and/or weakening of environmental policy (Wallace 1993; Shabecoff 2000). In Ghana, land issues are very sensitive because they border on people’s livelihoods and survival.

A related problem to illegal encroachment is grazing. Field research revealed that

the squatters connive with Fulani herdsmen∗ by assisting them to ferry their cattle across

the lake into the islands portions of the park to destroy the vegetation. These herdsmen,

apart from engaging their animals in free-range grazing, also initiate bush fires within the

park. The reason for initiating the fires is that when the grass is burnt, it sprouts again

very quickly after a week or two, and the young shoots are more preferred for grazing to

the dried out grass.

There are other causes of bush fires within the park. VBRP (1998), noted that

bush fires in some parts of the Volta Basin are an annual ritual, which is quite disturbing.

Apart from grazing purposes, field investigation showed that most of the fires are started either by farmers to enhance their farming activities or by hunters who use the fires to scare out animals from their hideouts.

Farming is also a major problem that tends to negate efforts of the Wildlife

Division in the policy implementation process. The lands adjacent to Digya National

Park are extensively used for farming with hardly any buffers left. The park is supposed

to have a buffer of five (5) kilometers but this is hardly the case because of farming

activities. Portions of the park itself are being exploited for farming activities by the two

aforementioned groups of encroachers. Crops cultivated according one interviewee

include cassava, sugarcane, vegetable, plantain and cocoyam.

Another major problem relating to encroachment is wood harvesting within the

park. Wood harvesting in and around DNP is mainly for purposes of fuelwood and

∗ Fulani Herdsmen are traditional herdsmen in West Africa mostly from the drier Sahelian countries like Niger in the north, who trek with their cattle to the wetter Guinea savanna areas in the south, in search of pasture.

charcoal production. In Ghana, about 80% of households depend on fuelwood for

cooking and heating purposes. Wood fuels in general account for over 71% of total

primary energy supply and about 60% of the final energy demand in the country (GEC

Website). Commercial charcoal production is therefore a very lucrative venture for the unemployed. Encroachers in DNP according to an interviewee, harvest wood for commercial charcoal production, fish smoking and distillation of “akpeteshi” or local gin.

Finally, bad fishing practices along the riparian portions of the park also tend to

undermine the park’s primary objective of biodiversity conservation. The sustainable management of aquatic communities adjacent to the park is equally of import concern.

The squatters at the park allegedly employ bad fishing habits like the use of small size

mesh nets, which capture juvenile species.

The solution to these problems, as suggested by officials of Wildlife Division, not

lies only in the enforcement efforts of the Division, but also in total cooperation of all

stakeholders and a complete attitudinal change on the part of individuals, especially the

illegal encroachers. There is also need for government’s total commitment especially in

the allocation of resources if the implementation process is expected to succeed. Issues of

poverty and unemployment also have spiral effects on environmental mismanagement as

Morgan, (1996) noted and needed to be addressed. Morgan (1996) noted that as farming

populations get poorer, the tendency to over-exploit the environment for its resources like

feulwood and timber, and to cut down vital forest for farming purposes is very high.

A most recent development in Digya National Park which attracted the world’s

attention provides a classical example of the problem of encroachment in the DNP and

how the authorities are handling the issue.

5.4.0. Illegal Encroachment and Forced Eviction of Squatters

The relatively little-known Digya National Park became the subject of public discussion within both Ghana and abroad recently following a forced eviction exercise embarked upon by the Wildlife Division as part of their policy implementation process.

The government of Ghana through the Wildlife Division has been trying without success to rid DNP of illegal settlers since 1989. In the early part of 2006, the Wildlife Division made another major attempt through a forced eviction order that has generated a lot of controversy.

There were several conflicting media reports on the eviction exercise and its aftermath. A review of the available media reports indicated that in early February 2006, officials of the Wildlife Division served an eviction notice to the “squatter communities” within DNP indicating their intention to embark on an evacuation exercise from 28th

February, 2006. The settlers were advised to vacate the park in their own interest before the said date. On March 11, 2006, a task force constituted by the Wildlife Division entered camps by the lakeshore to start the evacuation exercise. Some brutalities were allegedly meted out on some of the settlers by the task force amidst intimidation, apparently to drive them out. The settlers, some of whom have lived in the park for 40 years even before the 1971 gazette, were allegedly forced into overloaded boats and ferried across the Lake Volta to Manchari, a location in the Volta Region at the opposite bank. Reports claimed that over 6,000 people were dumped at this location without food, shelter, water, means of transport, or medical attention. In the process of the evacuation exercise one of the boats, christened “Born Again / 604”, which was ferrying some of the evictees from Dodzome in DNP to Tapa Abotoase in the Volta Region at the opposite

92 bank, met a storm and capsized leaving about ten (10) people dead and 71 survivors according to official sources. Unofficial eyewitness accounts however indicated that 150 people with their belongings were forced onto a 70 passenger capacity boat by officials of the Wildlife Division leading to the unfortunate incident. The sources also alleged that about twenty (20) canoes were also involved in the evacuation exercise. Unofficial reports thus quoted the death toll as higher than the official figure. Several death toll figures were given ranging from 58 to 120. The accident attracted media attention, which was later joined by NGOs, human rights groups and the general public to condemn the eviction exercise (The Ghanaian Chronicle 2006, Amnesty International, 2006a & 2006b,

JoyFM, 2006, Centre for Housing Rights & Evictions et al., 2006). The sources also indicated that there were at least one or more attempts in the past to evict the squatters from the park. The first was in 1989 when the Military government of the time evicted and resettled some of the squatters in new settlements. Another attempt was on 28th

March, 2002, when the District Chief Executive of the Afram Plains District issued a notice requesting settlers to vacate the park by 30th June, 2002, or face forceful evacuation. The Minister of Lands and Forestry, however authorized the exercise to be suspended on humanitarian grounds. The Wildlife Division then drew a comprehensive schedule on how to carry out the eviction exercise which was supposed to resume on

September 20, 2000, but was never carried out. The sources lamented that the relatively humane schedule was not followed during the current eviction exercise (Centre for

Housing Rights & Evictions et al., 2006).

The 2006 eviction exercise was halted because of lack of public support, media criticisms and a court injunction. Amnesty International and the Centre on Housing

Rights and Evictions (COHRE) news brief, for instance, indicated that the island

communities had less than one-month’s notice to leave the park, in contrast to the 90 days

absolute minimum recommended by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right

to Housing. Five days after the lake disaster, the Ministry of Ports and Harbors set up a

committee to investigate the matter.

In separate interviews with officials of the Wildlife Division including the Digya

National Park manager, it was indicated that the squatters have been occupying portions

of DNP since the 1970s. They confirmed the eviction exercise carried out by the

Military-led PNDC government in 1989. Unfortunately the action was ad hoc since the

division was not capacitated to enforce the ejection order. Lack of staff and logistics

prohibited the division to follow up on the eviction order leading to the return of the

evictees. Since the return of the evictees to the park, the division used to serve them

notices every year explaining the illegality of their action and the need for them to vacate

the area. These directives were never heeded.

Several disturbing issues instigated the forced eviction exercise, according to the

DNP manager during an interview. First, Digya National Park is a protected area and policies regulating the management of the park have to be implemented if the public should reap the benefits for which the park was created. Equally disturbing was the fact that the squatters have allowed Fulani herdsmen and their cattle into the park and virtually turning the protected area into a grazing ground.

Another worrying issue was that since compensation was not fully paid to the

original land owners, it was ethically wrong for the Division to turn a blind eye on illegal

encroachment. The Division’s main concern was that the establishment of the squatter

settlements in the park could provoke the original land owners who, through compromise

and the common understanding that their communities would benefit from the

establishment of the park, willingly gave out the lands to the government. Continued

degradation of the park by squatters therefore has the potential of denying the

neighboring communities their benefits. The recent eviction order, according to the

officials interviewed, was therefore to forestall this situation and put some sanity in the

system.

Two respondents, in separate interviews, however, attributed the timing of the

eviction exercise to political reasons. They claimed that most of the 7,000 migrant squatters have a common ethnicity and belong to an opposition party. During voting,

their presence and votes influenced the voting pattern in the area which ostensibly should have been a stronghold of the ruling government party. Hence the eviction order. The

next voter elections in Ghana will be in 2008. A further argument by the two interviewees

was that the squatters, who hail from Lower Volta area, were victims of the damming of

the Volta and should have been treated more humanely. The squatters were reportedly

displaced by the hydrological changes in Lower Volta which distorted their fishing

activities, and which has also fueled coastal erosion in the eastern shores of Ghana where

the Volta empties (VBRP, 1999). Thousands of victims who were displaced as a result

therefore migrated upstream to continue their fishing activities since they were not

resettled (VBRP, 1998).

Officials at Ghana Wildlife Division were, however, quick to dismiss the

allegation that the eviction was politically motivated, describing it as rather unfortunate.

They expressed disappointment at the fact that issues critical to the environment,

biodiversity and the Volta Lake should be politicized. In my own judgment, politics is not

the issue rather lack of political will by past governments to enforce compliance. The

Wildlife officials interviewed intimated that the exercise had to be suspended because of this false allegation and also because of a court injunction by a group calling itself

Concerned Citizens led by a medical assistant who operates within the squatter- settlements. On the issue of the displaced victims of the Volta Dam, the officials of the

Wildlife Division claimed that it is the responsibility of the Volta River Authority (an agency meant to oversee all developmental issues pertaining to the Volta Lake) and not the Wildlife Division to resettle them.

5.5.0. Policy Evaluation

Apart from the problem of budgetary constraints and illegal encroachment, one

other major problem facing policy implementation in the park is lack of periodic policy

evaluation Policy review is an integral part of implementation process. According to

Mazmanian & Sabatier, (1983), it takes generally between 20 to 30 years for policy to be

fully implemented therefore major revisions of policy are expected on regular basis to

update the policy along modern trends of development. Paradigms may shift and new

technologies may be developed all of which have to be incorporated in the policy as the

implementation process progresses. In the case of Digya National Park, the Ghana Forest

and Wildlife Policy 1994, regulates the management of the park. Results of the

interviews show that though the policy is supposed to be reviewed after every 10 years, in

reality, this is not the case. The 1974 Forest and Wildlife policy was reviewed in 1994, a

period of 20 years, and since then there have been no revision. Plans are, however, under

way for another major revision of the policy within the coming years according to the

operational manager of the Ghana Wildlife Division.

5.6.0. Application of Policy Implementation Framework

The analysis adopts the Policy Implementation Framework (PIF) developed by

Mazmanian and Sabatier (1983), as a guide in assessing how various variables in the

implementation process have interplayed to yield results in the DNP (Ref. Fig. 3.1). This

framework provides a basis for examining three important variables and how they are linked to the policy implementation process. These are: the material variables that are the

background of key issues relating to the policy; the structural variables that influence its

launch and adoption; and the contextual variables that provide, sustain, or diminish its

implementation (Mazmanian & Sabatier, 1983). The framework gives us a fair idea about

the success or failure of policy implementation in DNP as the various issues and

responses of the park are compared to the PIF. The following sub-sections discuss the

three main variables in the PIF and how they relate to policy implementation in the DNP.

5.6.1. Material Variables

Material variables according to the PIF include technical difficulties, diversity of

target group behavior, and the extent of behavior change required among the target

group. In the case of DNP, technical difficulties relate to how the policy goals are related

to the Ghana government’s own development agenda. Interview results and analysis of

government documents indicated that the development goals of Ghana are based on three

key development programs (the UN Millennium Development Goal, New Partnership for

Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy) (Ghana

Ministry of Works and Housing, 2005). Though these programs incorporate environmental concerns, they do not, in reality, conceive of the environment as a priority, but rather seem to promote activities that would increase national income indices. In the case of Ghana, these activities involve exploitation of the environment for minerals, lumber and purposes of agriculture, among other things. Thus as long as government’s main focus is on poverty reduction, it has little room for biodiversity and protected areas.

Technical difficulties therefore arise because government’s main priority is not in line with the goals of policy implementation at DNP. This explains the limited budgetary allocation currently made to the park. Another technical difficulty involves lack of well trained field personnel to manage the park. As indicated in the previous section, most of the lower level staff are old, technically handicapped and not abreast with modern park management strategies. One, therefore, wonders whether or not the staff strength of 102 at DNP is really worth it. This is a major problem because effective policy implementation invariably depends also on the competence of personnel of the implementing agencies.

The target group in DNP policy implementation process comprises the local

communities who live along the edges of the park, the encroachers who illegally exploit

the resources of the park, the scientific community interested in biodiversity

conservation, and tourists who enjoy the spiritual value of nature. Implementation of

policy at the park would therefore create winners and losers due to the diversity of target

groups. Thus, whereas the encroachers would lose their present access to the park’s

resources when the policy is effectively implemented, others would gain in various ways depending on what they stand for. So far, encroachers at DNP seem to be winning while other target beneficiaries are losing, which underscores the fact that there are problems

with policy implementation.

The target group behavior also differs according to individual perceptions.

Whereas community leaders and local informants assist the park’s authorities in

enforcing regulations within the park, the encroachers on the other hand try to outwit the authorities to continue with their illegal activities. In this regard, scientists interested in biodiversity and tourism operators, for instance, would wish for all encroachers to be kept out of the park to enable them reap the benefits. The encroachers on the other hand, backed by human rights groups, feel that it is their right to make a living. The target group behavior is therefore very diverse which explains the inability of the Wildlife

Division to fully cooperate with all groups. This is a major disincentive to policy implementation. Interview results, as noted earlier, indicated that wildlife officials continue to see encroachers as criminals while the encroachers see the officials as police and enemies.

5.6.2. Structural Variables

Structural variables relate to the policy output. Mazmanian & Sabatier, (1983)

identified seven elements under the structural variables. These include clear and

consistent objectives; incorporation of adequate causal theory; hierarchical integration

within and among implementation institutions; decision rules of implementation

99 agencies; recruiting of implementing officials; initial allocation of financial resources and formal access by outsiders

On “clear and consistent objectives” as indicated in the framework, the DNP has clearly satisfied this requirement as stated in the 1994 Forest and Wildlife Policy, and further emphasized in the DNP management plan. The problem is, however, with the capacity of the Wildlife Division to fully carry out its objectives. The analysis has shown that officials of DNP lack the financial resources, material resources and the right caliber of human resources to achieve their objectives.

The next element is “a valid and clear causal theory”. This variable according to

Mazmanian & Sabatier, (1983) requires that officials responsible for implementing the program to have the legal backing necessary to succeed. The 1971 gazette of the DNP followed by the 1974 and later the 1994 Forest and Wildlife policies of Ghana give the

Wildlife Division the needed jurisdiction and backing to achieve the policy objectives.

Thus these policy documents serve as theoretical reference points upon which policy implementation is based.

Hierarchical integration within and among the implementing institutions is another structural element relevant in the implementation process. According to the framework, this element is determined by two factors namely the veto/clearance points involved in implementing the policy objectives, and the extent to which those who support the policy objectives have both incentives and sanctions to advance compliance.

Mazmanian & Sabatier, (1983) defined veto/clearance point as occasions when an intermediary has the capacity to impede progress of the implementation process. In the case of DNP, this element applies in various ways. First of all, political figures at one

100

point or another have either intervened on humanitarian grounds to stop enforcement of

policy at DNP or issued threats of forced eviction of encroachers which were never

carried out. The courts and the media also have the power to impede the implementation

process. The recent development at DNP regarding forced eviction and the subsequent

court order by human right groups together with media condemnation of the exercise

presents an interesting example of how progress can be impeded where there is no

hierarchical integration. With regard to the extent to which incentives and sanctions are

used to advance compliance in respect of those who support the policy objectives, the

policy implementation at DNP does not seem to have any standardized methods to

advance compliance. It was not clear what benefits chiefdoms and local informants derive for their respective roles as collaborators, neither is it clear as to what sanctions are imposed on encroachers apart from threats of eviction.

The next element under the structural variable is the “decision rules of

implementing agencies”. This refers to external factors that may dictate the pace of

implementation. Ghana’s recent past history of frequent political changes from democratic rule to military regimes and vice versa, with their respective new set of development priorities had in one way or the other tended to regulate or “rule over” the implementing agency’s decisions.

On the “recruitment of new staff” as an element of the structural variables, the

DNP case study revealed that even though the staff strength at the park is large enough to

implement the policy, most of subordinate staff lacks the needed traing to effectively help

in the management of the park. New staff are not recruited to replace the old ones at the

park because the DNP policy is not frequently revised to pose new challenges.

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Adequate financial resources to achieve a launch of the implementation program are also very important. Mazmanian & Sabatier, (1983) noted that money is critical, and

without it one cannot hire personnel, programs would not be administered and

compliance would go unmonitored. They stressed the point that a threshold of funding is

required in order to launch the program. In the case of DNP, funding has remained a

major drawback in the implementation of the policy.

Furthermore, successful implementation of policy, according to the framework

requires that external stakeholders have formal opportunities to influence

implementation. In this regard evaluation studies by independent entities are very

important in determining the progress of implementation process. In the case of DNP,

there has been no significant external stakeholder influence in the policy implementation

process at the time of the interviews. It is expected that for such a major policy

implementation processes as the case of DNP, external evaluators be engaged to

independently assess successes or failures with the ultimate goal of influencing the

process. This was however not the case.

5.6.3. Contextual Variables

Mazmanian & Sabatier, (1983) indicated that beyond the material and structural

aspect of policy implementation, are also the contextual variables. They identified five set

of variables under this sub-heading. The first is socioeconomic condition. This relates to

the socioeconomic and technological context within which the policy is implemented. In

the case of DNP, results of interviews showed that issues of poverty and livelihood

enhancement tend to conflict with resource conservation, especially where there is lack of

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technological innovations to provide alternative livelihoods. Farmland in Ghana is a major economic resource and as people get poorer they tend to exploit more of the land to increase output without regard to the damage being caused to the environment. The socio-economic condition of the area therefore is a key determinant of the policy implementation process at DNP.

The next variable is public support in the process of implementation. Mazmanian

& Sabatier, (1983) noted that a policy needs a periodic political boost to maintain its

visibility and relevance in a changing socioeconomic climate. They indicated that the

emergence of conflicting public policies would invariably undermine the policy process

and that a decline in the resources or the commitment of external stakeholders can

weaken the process of implementation. In DNP, the analysis so far has shown that

budgetary constraints have not permitted the allocation of any substantial financial

support for the implementation process. Other stakeholder support apart from the few,

who collaborate with officials at DNP, is also insignificant because issues of human

rights seem to override nature conservation.

There is further the element under contextual variables on “attitude and resources of constituency groups” which also play a role in the achievement of policy objectives.

Constituency groups in the case of DNP include all stakeholders namely the District

Assemblies, other decentralized government agencies, members of neighboring communities and encroachers. The results of interviews indicate that most of the constituency groups like the District Assemblies, the law enforcement agencies, and the public school authorities are cooperative and willing to help in achieving the policy objectives. However, most of these groups are financially handicapped and lack extra

103 funds to carry out activities beyond their immediate mandates. It is not clear whether more resource allocation is likely to change the attitude of the constituency groups to intensify their collaboration. The other type of constituency groups is the encroachers who are rather uncooperative. The analysis suggests that due to livelihood issues it is extremely difficult to have attitudinal change of these group members in favor of achieving the policy goals.

The next element is “support from legislators”. Legislators support policy implementation by controlling the nature and extent of oversight, the availability of financial resources, and the introduction of new and possibly conflicting policies

(Mazmanian & Sabatier, 1983). In the case of DNP, results of interviews show that legislators seem far removed from environmental issues and have so far shown virtually no support for policy implementation through oversight, allocation of financial resources, or disapproving conflicting policies that could derail DNP policy implementation process. National development priorities, as mentioned earlier revolve, around poverty reduction issues with little room for environmental protection in the Ghanaian House of

Parliament.

Finally, there is the element of “commitment and leadership skills of implementing officials”. The framework requires that leaders recruited for the implementing agencies must possess substantial managerial and political skill and must be committed to the policy goals. The research has shown that the managerial staff at

DNP is of high caliber but handicapped by lower level field staff who lack the requisite education to effectively implement the policy.

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It should be noted that though the PIF was developed in the western context, the variables employed in the framework are applicable to developing countries where there is rule of law and democracy as the case in Ghana. The socio economic conditions under the contextual variables as indicated above may differ between the west and the developing countries but the general principle of the framework on socio-economic conditions still applies under the various contexts.

In summary, the analysis of policy implementation in DNP using the “Policy

Implementation Framework” indicate a number of weaknesses in the three key variables as they are applied to the DNP case study. If the PIF is the yardstick in the measurement of success or failure of policy implementation in the DNP, then the results indicate that the case of Digya is yet to be a success story. Financial constraints, diversity of target group support to policy implementation, lack of hierarchical integration, lack of public support and a host of other related issues have militated against the successful implementation of DNP policies and goals.

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Chapter 6. Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations

6.1.0. Summary and Conclusion

The thesis focused on implementation of environmental policy in Digya National

Park in Ghana. The research was necessitated by the heightening concern to conserve biological diversity, protect watersheds and manage protected areas in sustainable manner through effective policy implementation. Digya National Park was chosen as the case study because it epitomizes these key issues of concern. Apart from the fact that it is situated in an ecological transition zone between forest and savanna ecotomes, its strategic location at the confluence of two major arms of the Volta Lake makes it an important species sanctuary and an vital instrument for lakeshore stabilization.

A wide array of literature was reviewed on the importance of watershed protected areas, categories of protected areas, frameworks for policy implementation and the problems thereof, and land cover change in Digya National Park. The available literature was however silent on policy implementation in the park.

Data for the study was drawn mainly from a field survey in Ghana, carried out between July 20th and August 17th 2006. The fieldwork involved interviews with government officials, analysis of government documents and Ghanaian media reports on key issues regarding Digya National Park. Substantial amount of information was also culled from the existing literature. The analysis of data used qualitative methods and employed the “Policy implementation Framework” as a guide.

As a prelude to the analysis, the thesis provided a detailed background of the DNP as a protected area, and catalogued the international conventions and protocols relevant to

106 protected areas, which Ghana has ratified. National environmental regulations were also outlined.

The research reveals that the 1992 Rio Summit and its aftermath made a remarkable impact on Ghanaian environmental consciousness leading to the adoption of the 1994 Forest and Wildlife Policy. The formulation of this policy galvanized government’s commitment to managing the designated protected areas on a more sustainable manner, resulting in the creation of 1994 Management Plan for DNP, among other environmental initiatives.

A important observation is that not only is the 3,478 km2 Digya National Park very rich in biodiversity and harbor some of the world’s rare mammalian species like the manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus ), the African Elephant, and the colobus monkey, but also is vital in the protection of the Volta Lake and the power generation capacity of the Volta hydro-power plant at Akosombo.

Policy implementation in the park is guided by a management plan which tries to blend nature conservation, physical development and private sector participation. The main activities of the implementing agency include staff patrols, outreach programs in basic schools to sensitize children to the importance of protected areas and involvement of local community leaders, and local individuals policing and regulating the illegal activities of community members.

One disturbing observation was that the entire implementation process is dependent solely on government budgetary allocation. In developing countries like

Ghana where several competing needs have to be met by limited financial resources, protected areas like DNP would obviously receive very little priority attention. Thus the

107

implementation of policy in the Park is bedeviled by financial difficulties leading to

shortage of equipment and supplies and very low levels of staff motivation. So far, only

an estimated 10% of the management plan relating to staff patrol and conservation has

been implemented.

It was further observed that illegal encroachment is the most serious problem

negating the efforts of the implementing agency. The Wildlife Division, which is already crippled by logistics and financial constraints, is unable to arrest the illegal activities of encroachers in the park leading to an observed negative trend of land cover change and

deforestation. For instance, closed forest decreased from 1,500 km2 in 1985 to 800 km2 in

2000, whilst mixed forest decreased from 900 km2 to 500 km2 within the same period.

The research further noted that the Wildlife Division is not only handicapped by the government’s inability to support the three key policy objectives of the park, namely physical development, nature conservation and local participation, but is also frustrated by negative media reportage and public criticism on some of their implementation

strategies, which has crippled their efforts.

Further analysis of the issues and responses in DNP using the “Policy

Implementation Framework” and employing the three variables in the framework

(namely material, structural and contextual variables) in assessing the policy

implementation process showed interesting results. The assessment showed several

weaknesses in the policy implementation process as a result of financial constraints, lack of logistics, lack of public support and diversity of constituency groups, among others, all of which have hindered the implementation process.

108

On the whole, policy implementation is a difficult and complex task that needs

total stakeholder commitment, efficient coordination, active involvement of local

communities, private sector participation, and, above all, guaranteed financial resources

to succeed. Anything short of these, in my view, would be a disincentive to efficient

policy implementation.

Digya National Park is a unique species sanctuary and an important landmark

within the landscape of the Volta watershed. Its strategic location in ecological transition

zone of Ghana and within the confluence of two rivers and its role in stabilization of the

Volta lake system gives it an advantage above other national parks in Ghana. Despite the strategic importance of the park, it is still faced with myriad of problems, which are compromising the ecological integrity of the park on one hand, and reducing its potential as a stabilizing agent on the Volta Lake system on the other. I therefore conclude that since environmental issues are not only national but global issues, both the Ghanaian authorities and the international environmental community are duty bound to join forces to forestall the total degradation of Digya National Park.

6.2.0. Recommendations

Both short- and long-term measures are recommended in order to ensure effective

policy implementation in the Digya National Park.

6.2.1. Short-term Measures

In the short-term, resettlement issues, provision of logistics for effective

operations of the implementing agency, and capacitating the management team of the

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DNP are paramount to success. Key among the problems inhibiting policy

implementation in the DNP is illegal encroachment. Two groups of encroachers were

identified in the study. The first group comprised the some members of the surrounding

community who engage in poaching, firewood extraction and farming activities in the

park. To halt the activities of this group of encroachers, it is hereby recommended that

community leadership plays a more active role in the decision making process regarding

the management of the park. When communities are involved in decision making

regarding issues that concern them, they are more likely to see themselves as co-

managers rather than subjects who only have to obey regulations (Bernard & Young,

1997). In this regard, inputs from community leaders should be solicited in the

implementation process and should even influence policy change if necessary. The DNP

management team could do this through regular meetings with community leaders to set

management goals and how to achieve them. There is also the need to intensify education among the communities through regularly public fora to sensitize them to the importance of protected areas and the need to conserve them. Formation of community watchdog

groups in policing illegal activities of encroachers is also recommended.

The second group of encroachers as noted comprises squatters who have homes within the park. Given their numbers, estimated at 7,000, and the fact that most of them have lived in the park for over 30 years, forced eviction is not recommended. Rather, the

Wildlife Division should collaborate with the Volta River Authority (VRA) and come out with a master plan as to how to resettle the squatters. One suggestion is that the VRA,

which supplies about 68% of Ghana’s electricity requirements from the Volta system,

could come to a consensus with its numerous consumers to increase electricity tariffs by a

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small margin which could be used to resettle the squatters and also manage the Volta

catchment. This will be a form of “internalizing an externality” in the sense that

consumers of electricity would help pay for the social cost of electricity generation. The

squatters deserve this offer because they are known to be victims of the creation of the

Volta Dam. More importantly, the squatters should be resettled in other parts of the

Afram Plains District along the lake margins where they could continue their fishing activities and easily access land for farming. Donor grants and NGO support could also

be solicited from organizations like the IUNC, WWF, Global Environmental Fund

(GEF), USAID and UNDP for the development of the park including a resettlement

package for the squatters.

On other forms of illegal activities within the park namely grazing, poaching,

bush fires and fuelwood extraction, stiffer punishments should be imposed on culprits

including fines and community services or both. The District Security Council should

work more closely with the DNP management team to enforce the law. Proceeds from the

fines and labor input by convicts should be directed to developing the park. The Division

therefore needs to be strengthened and capacitated in its monitoring activities. Resources

and logistics are also needed for its public outreach programs to halt the illegal activities.

The 13 Camp Stations of the DNP also need basic office equipment and supplies

like computers and accessories to work with, which they currently lack. It is

recommended that the park authorities be proactive in organizing workshops involving stakeholders so as to bring out these problems to public notice. Proposals for assistance

could also be channeled through local tourism operators and NGOs for financial support.

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Periodic training of the Division’s staff is also required to update their skills in park management. Old and redundant staff should be phased out and replaced with younger and more competent ones. Besides the park manager, the DNP also needs a fund raiser who should be very resourceful and self motivated. The remunerations of the fund raiser should be tied to how much funding he or she is able to bring into the park management.

6.2.2. Long-term Measures Geographic Information Systems (GIS) facilities are needed for periodic land

cover change analysis and species count, among others. This would, however, require

donor support since the overhead capital for the facility can be very high. To this end,

project proposals to the donor community will be required to meet this need. In the

interim, the park authorities could liaise with the Center for Remote Sensing and

Geographic Information Systems (CERGIS) of the University of Ghana, who already

have the GIS facilities for a working partnership.

Above everything else, the two groups of encroachers need alternative means of

livelihood to keep them away from the park. The government of Ghana owes it a duty to attach more seriousness to poverty alleviation in the country, win investor confidence, and create the enabling environment for private sector investment in protected areas. The three development programs that the country is currently pursuing, namely the UN

Millennium Development Goal, New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (Ghana Ministry of Works and Housing,

2005), should be seriously implemented to achieve the desired goals. These long term

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measures have the potential of transforming the national economy, reducing poverty,

providing jobs, and reducing pressure on land resources.

Finally, apart from the aforementioned socio-economic measures, ecological

measures also need to be taken seriously within the park to ensure species viability. On

the landscape scale, the DNP may be considered as a habitat patch. Human activities,

however, seem to be reducing its size progressively, which could affect the various

species communities in the park. The characteristic nature of the park as a peninsular

could have an “island effect” which may result in to speciation, leading eventually to

species extinction. To avoid this situation there is need to increase the effective size of

the habitat patch. This could be done by creating a landscape corridor (Beier and Noss,

1998) to connect DNP to other nearby parks within the region. The Kogyea Natural

Reserve is only about 80 km away from the DNP (Appendix 6). It is therefore

recommended that the Wildlife division considers creating a corridor to link the two

protected areas to enhance species flow. Measures should, however, be put in place

prevent human predators from using the corridor as an easy target for poaching.

When implemented, these recommendations would go a long way to enhance the

sustainable management of the park and effective policy implementation. The successes

of a well managed DNP would not only ensure nature conservation but more importantly

contribute to the stabilization o the Volta watershed and the Akosombo power plant. It is

very significant that though the park may share most of its major characteristics as a protected area with many other national parks in the world, the distinctiveness of DNP

stems from the fact that it is also designated to enhance the scenic beauty of the Volta

Lake, protect the Lakeshores from degradation, and control soil erosion which is a

113

potential source of sedimentation and siltation in the Lake. Further degradation in the

park is likely to destabilize the Volta Lakeshores through a chain of events and reduce the

power generation capacity of the Volta dam, which is so far the cheapest means of

electricity generation in Ghana. Already, fluctuations in the lake level as a result of

drought and upstream water diversion by neighboring countries is a source of worry to

the Ghanaian government (VBRP, 1998).

6.3.0. Limitations of Study and Further Research

One major limitation of the study was that being a thesis research with very

limited resource and time constraints, it was not possible to extend the research beyond

interviews with government officials and analysis of government and institutional

documents. Ideally, a socio-economic survey of all stakeholders including the local

community members should have been carried out in order to collate the views of all

concerned. This was however not possible.

Also the victims of the recent DNP eviction exercise should have been identified

and interviewed to get their side of the story. Again the time was too short and resources

to carry out such an exercise were not available. The research had to rely on conflicting

media reports to get the needed information on the evictees.

Additionally, a GIS analysis should have been made to investigate land cover

change extending from the period before the creation of the Volta dam in 1965 to present.

This would have better enhance our understanding of the trend of degradation in the park.

But again such an exercise needed a much longer time than was available.

Despite these limitations the study made significant strides in bringing to the fore

the unique importance of DNP as a species habitat and as an instrument for the Volta

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Lakeshores protection. It also employed the “Policy Implementation Framework” to

highlight the myriads of problems inhibiting the successful implementation of policy at

DNP. Lastly, the study outlined specific short and term-term recommendations to guide

future policy and implementation process.

In view of the limitations of the study, future research is recommended to incorporate socio-economic survey of the affected communities and encroachers in order

to understand demographic issues, household income levels and alternative livelihood

issues within the park and its neighborhood. Future studies should also explore the

tourism potential of the park and make recommendations for the development of this

potential. Finally, future research on policy implementation in the park should consider

broadening the scope of interviews to cover lower level staff of the implementing

agencies, community leaders and all other stakeholders.

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Appendix 1. Interview Guide for Officials of State Agencies/Departments

A. Background of Organization

i. Name of organization i. Year of establishment i. Organizational structure i. Work force i. Sources of funding i. Organization’s goals and objectives

B. Environmental Policy Goals

i. Organization’s policies towards the environment in general ii. Outline of policies towards protected areas iii. Who formulates the policies? iv. What are the general goals for policies towards protected areas? v. Implementing bodies vi. Capacity for implementation: Logistics, personnel, financial resources vii. Implementation strategies for the protected areas viii. How often are these policies reviewed?

C. Digya Natioanl Park (DNP).

i. Any involvement of your organization in the designation of Dygya National Park? ii. If yes what contributions have your organization made in the protection of DNP (past and present)? iii. What are the specific goals for the designation of DNP? iv. What implementation strategies does your organization employ in DNP?

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v. How often have policies for protection DNP been reviewed? vi. Has there been any recent changes in implementation strategies?

D. Institutional Collaboration

i. Which other state agencies or departments are involve in the in policy implementation in the DNP and other protected areas? ii. Is there any collaboration among these bodies? iii. If yes, what are the levels of collaboration? iv. Who does what v. Has institutional collaboration been effective? vi. If not what are the possible reason? vii. Any NGO involvement? viii. Names of NGOs and their respective roles in policy implementation in DNP ix. Has NGO involvement been effective? x. If not what are the possible reasons?

E. Local Community Involvement

i. Are local communities fully informed about the importation of protected areas like the DNP and the existing regulations on encroachment? ii. Any community outreach programs to sensitize them on the importance of protected areas? iii. Has your organization involved local communities in the implementation process? iv. If yes, what roles do the communities play? v. What are the reasons for over 30 years of illegal encroachment in the DNP vi. Any dialogue between encroachers and your organization vii. Reason for sudden eviction of encroachers as reported by the media viii. Will you consider changing your implementation strategy to actively involve local communities?

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F. Problems of Policy implantation

i. What are your organization’s three most serious problems with regard to policy implementation in protected areas ii. What are the possible solutions?

Position of Officer interviewed……………………………… Date of interview……………………………………………

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Appendix 2. Interview Guide for NGOs

A. Background of Organization i. Name of organization ii. Year of establishment iii. Organizational structure iv. Work force v. Sources of funding vi. Organization’s goals and objectives

B. Organization’s involvement in implementation of policy in protected areas i. What specific roles does your organization play in policy implementation in protected areas ii. Has your organization been specifically involved in the protection of DNP? iii. Does your organization collaborate with government agencies in the protection of protected areas? iv. If yes to what extent is the level of collaboration v. How effective is the collaboration? vi. Any local community involvement in the implementation of policy in protected areas? vii. How will you rant level of community participation (very low; low, high; very high) viii. Any community outreach programs to sensitize them on the importance of protected areas? ix. How do you assess your organization’s involvement in the implementation of policy in protected ares.

C. Problems iii. What are your organization’s three most serious problems with regard to policy implementation in protected areas iv. What are the possible solutions?

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Appendix 3. Classified 1985 Landsat TM Image of Digya National Park

Source: Twumasi, et al., 2005

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Appendix 4. Classified 1991 Landsat TM Image of Digya National Park

Source: Twumasi, et al., 2005

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Appendix 5. Classified 2000 Landsat TM Image of Digya National Park

Source: Twumasi, et al., 2005

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Appendix 6. Digya, Kogyea and Bui National Parks