Governance of restoration and institutions: Working with Ghana’s Community Resource Management Areas

Baruah, Manali; Bobtoya, Saadia; Mbile, P.; Walters, Gretchen

doi:10.1016/j.wdp.2016.11.008

Cited by 26 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Additionally, district assemblies are underfunded, understaffed, and without the resources needed to effectively manage resources and resource users (IUCN 2010, Damnyag et al 2013, Kosoe et al 2015. Moreover, the processes used to establish both the Zukpiri CREMA and the Weto Platform were supported by high levels of donor aid (Baruah et al 2016). Internationally funded NGOs and intergovernmental organizations, like the GEF and the UNDP SGP, remain key players in facilitating CBNRM, running the risk CBNRM may not continue without such external support (Shackleton et al 2002, Lockwood et al 2010, Death 2013.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This has fueled uncertainty around access to land and resources, as well as responsibility for policy enforcement and management (Kasanga andKotey 2001, Aryeetey andUdry 2010). https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol23/iss1/art38/ To address issues of resource conservation on community lands and in tandem with national policies of decentralization, Ghana reoriented its approach to CBNRM by developing and implementing the community resource management area (CREMAs) program (Baruah et al 2016). The CREMA concept was officially conceived in Ghana's 1994 Forest and Wildlife Policy, though it took over a decade for the concept to come into action (Asare et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Community resource management areas are geographically defined areas created when participating communities agree to manage all or part of their land under a framework guided by a mutually agreed upon constitution. By partially transferring management rights back to community groups, the program endeavors to enhance livelihoods, promote sustainable environmental governance and democratic participation, and to reverse trends of environmental degradation (GG-WDG 2004, Baruah et al 2016). According to unpublished data from the Wildlife Division, there are currently 32 CREMAs at different stages of development, 24 of which have obtained official certificates of devolution (Agyare 2017, personal …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Governance and the making and breaking of social-ecological traps

Baker¹,

Murray²,

Agyare³

2018

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have areas of significant ecological importance that overlap with pressing development needs and high levels of natural resource dependence. This makes the design of effective natural resource governance and management systems both challenging and critical. In Ghana, this challenge is made more complex by the necessity of connecting formal, state-led systems of governance with Ghana's informal governance systems through which customary authorities exert considerable control over land and resources. We present findings from two multimethod research projects in two regions of Ghana that have significant issues related to resource exploitation and that have experienced extensive management interventions. The goals of the research were to characterize the social-ecological traps from a local perspective, to describe how governance and management structures interact with and relate to those traps, and to discuss the strategies used and challenges encountered when community-based natural resource management initiatives seek to reverse persistent social-ecological traps. In both case studies, participants described persistent cycles of resource dependence, overexploitation, and unsustainable land-use practices, which are exacerbated by illegal logging, intensive agricultural development, and population growth. Findings highlight how natural resource management is constrained by a lack of capacity to implement and enforce state policies, ongoing tension between customary and state institutions, and ambiguity regarding management responsibility and resource tenure. Interventions included targeted governance reform that centred on improving linkages between customary and state institutions, new and nonlocal actors, and complementary investments in capacity building and training. We conclude with a discussion of implications for the design of effective natural resource governance regimes in Ghana and beyond.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Governance and the making and breaking of social-ecological traps

Baker¹,

Murray²,

Agyare³

2018

E&S

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“…Asare et al (2013) argue that its democratic governance structure based on traditional beliefs and values enhances community consensus building, decision-making and problem solving hence adaptive management. How adaptive management materializes on the ground is however hardly documented, the exception being action learning process advocated by IUCN (Barrow et al 2016; Baruah et al 2016). …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Wildlife Division oversees the CREMA operations and is responsible for renewal of the Certificate of Devolution (WD 2004b). The risk of creating new elites (mainly staff of externally funded NGOs) with limited accountability toward local interests has been documented (Baruah 2015), yet within the same cases, action learning has helped overcome such governance issues (Baruah et al 2016). …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural Resource Management Schemes as Entry Points for Integrated Landscape Approaches: Evidence from Ghana and Burkina Faso

Foli

Ros-Tonen

Reed

et al. 2017

Environmental Management

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In recognition of the failures of sectoral approaches to overcome global challenges of biodiversity loss, climate change, food insecurity and poverty, scientific discourse on biodiversity conservation and sustainable development is shifting towards integrated landscape governance arrangements. Current landscape initiatives however very much depend on external actors and funding, raising the question of whether, and how, and under what conditions, locally embedded resource management schemes can serve as entry points for the implementation of integrated landscape approaches. This paper assesses the entry point potential for three established natural resource management schemes in West Africa that target landscape degradation with involvement of local communities: the Chantier d’Aménagement Forestier scheme encompassing forest management sites across Burkina Faso and the Modified Taungya System and community wildlife resource management initiatives in Ghana. Based on a review of the current literature, we analyze the extent to which design principles that define a landscape approach apply to these schemes. We found that the CREMA meets most of the desired criteria, but that its scale may be too limited to guarantee effective landscape governance, hence requiring upscaling. Conversely, the other two initiatives are strongly lacking in their design principles on fundamental components regarding integrated approaches, continual learning, and capacity building. Monitoring and evaluation bodies and participatory learning and negotiation platforms could enhance the schemes’ alignment with integrated landscape approaches.

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