Tree tenure and its implications for sustainable land management: The case of Parkia biglobosa in the Northern Region of Ghana

Amoako, Esther Ekua; Asante, William Jasper; Cobbinah, S.; Kuuder, C. J. W.; Adongo, R.; Lawer, Eric Adjei

doi:10.5027/jnrd.v5i0.08

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 6 publications

(7 reference statements)

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“…The respondents’ reluctance in giving honest answers on their use of fire for charcoal production and hunting could be attributed to people’s awareness of the dangers and adverse effects that these activities have on the environment, human lives and property. Also, there has been a radio campaign against these practices, as well as local announcements made by traditional authorities at the beginning of every dry season [ 92 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire use practices, knowledge and perceptions in a West African savanna parkland

Amoako

Gambiza

2022

PLoS ONE

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Understanding people’s practices, knowledge and perceptions of the use of fire and fire regimes can inform fire management plans that could contribute to savanna conservation and sustainable management. We investigated the frequency of fire use, control and perceptions of fire regimes for selected livelihood and socio-cultural activities in six districts in the Guinea savanna of Ghana. The six districts were selected to have a good representation of fire prone areas in the region based on fire frequency data obtained from the CSIR Meraka Institute, South Africa. A multiple regression analysis showed that people’s use of fire for the selected socio-cultural activities from district, occupation, gender, age and ethnic group significantly predicted fire use for the activities R2 = 0.043, F (5,498) = 5.43, p < 0.000. Age and occupation added significantly to the use of fire. The study revealed that the majority of respondents (83%) across the study districts used fire once a year for at least one of the following activities: land preparation, weed/pest control, burning postharvest stubble, bush clearing around homesteads, firebreaks, charcoal burning and hunting. The study also showed a higher frequency of fire use for land preparation for cropping than for the other activities. Less than a fifth of the respondents (17%) indicated that they do not use fire for any of the selected activities. The majority of respondents (65%) mentioned that they controlled their use of fire to prevent destruction to property or injuring humans. The study revealed a higher frequency of fire use in the dry season for land preparation for cropping. However, respondents rated season of burning as the most important attribute, with little attention to the other attributes of a fire regime, contrary to what is theoretically recognized. Understanding traditional fire use practices in terms of how to regulate the mix of frequency, intensity/severity, season, size and type of fire for these and other socio-cultural purposes could help to mitigate and/or manage bushfires in West African savannas and enhance savanna conservation and management. Hence, the need to better understand people’s knowledge and perceptions of fire regimes in fire assisted socio-cultural practices in West Africa.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire use practices, knowledge and perceptions in a West African savanna parkland

Amoako

Gambiza

2022

PLoS ONE

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“…The respondents' reluctance in giving honest answers on their use of fire for charcoal production and hunting could be attributed to people's awareness of the dangers and adverse effects that these activities have on the environment, human lives and property. Also, there has been a campaign against these practices on the radio, as well as local announcements made by traditional authorities at the beginning of every dry season (Amoako et al 2015).…”

Section: Frequency Of Fire Use For Selected Activities Across the Dismentioning

confidence: 99%

Traditional practices, knowledge and perceptions of fire use in a West African savanna parkland

Amoako

Gambiza

2020

Preprint

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Understanding people’s fire practices, knowledge and perceptions of the use of fire and fire regimes can inform fire management plans that could contribute to sustainable savanna conservation and management. We investigated the frequency of fire use, control and perceptions of fire regime for selected livelihood and socio-cultural activities in six districts in the Guinea savanna of Ghana. The majority of respondents (83%) across the study districts indicated that they used fire once a year for at least one of the following activities: land preparation, weed/grass/pest control, burning stubble after harvest, bush clearing around homesteads, firebreaks, charcoal burning and hunting. The study showed a higher frequency of fire use in the dry season for land preparation for cropping. Less than a fifth of the respondents (17%) indicated that they do not use fire for any of the above activities. The majority of respondents (62%) across the districts mentioned that they controlled their use of fire to prevent destruction to property, with the remaining 3% who indicated the prevention of killing or injuring humans. The study showed a higher frequency of fire use for land preparation for cropping than for the other socio-cultural activities. However, respondents rated season of burning as the most important attribute, with little attention to the other attributes of a fire regime, contrary to what is theoretically recognized. Understanding traditional fire use practices in terms how to regulate the mix of frequency, intensity/severity, season, size and type of fire for these and other socio-cultural purposes could enhance sustainable savanna conservation and management. There is a need to unravel the specifics of fire assisted socio-cultural practices and fire regimes in West Africa.

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“…Monitoring changes in parklands in West African savannas is critical for researchers and resource managers engaged in restoration and adaptive management for resilient ecosystems in the face of climate change. The northern savanna ecological zone of Ghana has experienced high levels of degradation in the last couple of decades especially in Parkia biglobosa and Vitellaria paradoxa populations (Amoako et al, 2015;O'Higgins, 2007;Poudyal, 2011). In an attempt to reverse this trend, Ghana has rati ed a number of initiatives with huge nancial commitments made towards addressing degradation, the most recent being the Ghana Shea Landscape Emissions Reduction Project (GSLERP, 2020; World Bank, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial pattern and density of woody plants in an agroforestry parkland in a West African savanna

Lawer

2022

Preprint

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Agroforestry parklands are an age-old traditional land use practice that integrates crop cultivation under scattered woody plants. This practice is widespread in West African savannas providing many essential ecological and socio-economic benefits to people such as food, fuelwood and medicine. Currently, parklands are decreasing due to changes in agriculture and land use practices, often associated with human population growth. Understanding spatial patterns as well as identifying reliable methods of sampling to estimate density of woody plants is necessary for sustainable management of parklands. In this study, five relatively easy-to-use plotless sampling methods were applied to estimate density of woody plants using field and simulated datasets with known spatial patterns from field assessments. Results of spatial indices tests indicated that woody plants in parklands exhibited two spatial patterns: i.e., aggregate and random, the latter being the dominant pattern observed in field datasets. Based on relative measure statistics (i.e., RRMSE and RBIAS), the ordered distance (OD), point-centered quarter (PCQ) and closest individual (CI) methods performed well when woody plants were located in a random pattern while the variable area transect (VAT) method was better at estimating density under patterns of spatial aggregation. Overall, OD and VAT methods are recommended for density estimation in parklands because they are relatively more accurate, less biased, practical and computations are easy to undertake.

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Tree tenure and its implications for sustainable land management: The case of Parkia biglobosa in the Northern Region of Ghana

Cited by 5 publications

References 6 publications

Fire use practices, knowledge and perceptions in a West African savanna parkland

Fire use practices, knowledge and perceptions in a West African savanna parkland

Traditional practices, knowledge and perceptions of fire use in a West African savanna parkland

Spatial pattern and density of woody plants in an agroforestry parkland in a West African savanna

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