Community perception of forest reserve regulations enforcement in the Tano-Offin forest reserve, Ghana

Abstract

In areas of high ecological importance, regulations are required to ensure that anthropogenic land uses are sustainable. In regulating such areas , it is important to consider the perspectives of land users to evaluate how regulations are effectively being enforced to achieve desired goals. While local perspectives have proven valuable in ensuring forest regulation compliance, little is known regarding community members’ perception about forest reserve regulations enforcement. By using survey data from the Tano-Offin Forest Reserve, we develop a model in this study to examine the spatial, socioeconomic, and demographic factors that influence local perception about forest reserve regulations enforcement. The study finds that community members who reside within 0.15 km from the forest reserve (AOR = 1.669, CI = 1.358–5.252, p = 0.010) and have secondary education or more (AOR: 1.689, CI: 1.176–3.694, p = 0.022) are significantly more likely to perceive that forest reserve regulations are being enforced. Moreover, the study establishes that females (AOR: 0.574, CI: 0.211–0.862, p = 0.018) and migrants (AOR:0.575, CI:0.169–0.860, p = 0.025) are less likely to perceive that forest reserve regulations are being enforced. We suggest that land managers should take into consideration diverse significant spatial, socioeconomic, and demographic factors to assess the efficiency of enforcement of forest reserve regulations.