Abstract
Research Highlights: Landscape approach principles were developed to address competing claims on resources at local scales. We used the principles to address agricultural expansion in Ghana’s forest reserves. Background and Objectives: Agricultural expansion is a major cause of Ghana’s forest-cover loss. Cultivation has totally deforested some forest reserves. The situation in Ghana illustrates the trade-off between attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG 1—reduction of poverty, and 2—achieving food security, are in conflict with SDG 15—protecting and restoring forests. We examined how farmers in forest fringe communities could be engaged in restoring degraded forests using the landscape approach and whether their livelihoods were improved through the use of this approach. Materials and Methods: The Ongwam II Forest Reserve in the Ashanti region of Ghana is encroached by farmers from two communities adjacent to the reserve. We employed the 10 principles of the landscape approach to engage farmers in restoring the degraded reserve. The flexibility of the landscape approach provided a framework against which to assess farmer behaviour. We encouraged farmers to plant trees on 10 ha of the degraded reserve and to benefit through the cultivation of food crops amongst the trees. Results: Access to fertile forest soils for cultivation was the main motivation for the farmers to participate in the reforestation project. The farmers’ access to natural and financial capital increased and they became food secure in the first year of the project’s operation. Conclusions: Effective implementation of several small-scale reforestation projects using the landscape approach could together lead to a forest transition, more trees in agricultural systems and better protection of residual natural forests while improving farmers’ livelihoods, all combining to achieve the SDGs.
Highlights
Effective implementation of several small-scale reforestation projects using the landscape approach could together lead to a forest transition, more trees in agricultural systems and better protection of residual natural forests while improving farmers’
The remaining natural forests in the tropics are under intense pressure due to competing land uses
Could foresters adopt landscape approach in their conservation and management strategies in the forest–farm mosaic? Would such an approach benefit farmers who rely on forestlands for crop production? We examined the extent to which farmers in forest fringe communities of Ghana could be involved in reforesting degraded reserves and whether their involvement could help secure their livelihoods using the landscape approach
Summary
The remaining natural forests in the tropics are under intense pressure due to competing land uses. Protected areas are central to the global strategy for protecting and managing natural resources such as forests, yet many of the world’s protected forests are being degraded [9,10,11]. Agriculture and forests are two competing land uses that will have to co-exist in landscapes, and methods will have to be found in order to reconcile trade-offs. Could foresters adopt landscape approach in their conservation and management strategies in the forest–farm mosaic? Would such an approach benefit farmers who rely on forestlands for crop production? We examined the extent to which farmers in forest fringe communities of Ghana could be involved in reforesting degraded reserves and whether their involvement could help secure their livelihoods using the landscape approach Could foresters adopt landscape approach in their conservation and management strategies in the forest–farm mosaic? Would such an approach benefit farmers who rely on forestlands for crop production? We examined the extent to which farmers in forest fringe communities of Ghana could be involved in reforesting degraded reserves and whether their involvement could help secure their livelihoods using the landscape approach
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