Spatio-temporal land use land cover transitions of community-managed forest areas in northwestern Ghana

Abstract

Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) models, endowed with great potential for providing ecosystem services across rural landscapes in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are subjects of unsustainable human exploitation, leading to a decline in vegetal cover and compromising the available ecological resources. Despite the fact that scientific knowledge of the land use land cover (LULC) transitions of the models is useful for policy on enforcing and promoting sustainable natural resource management in local communities, very limited studies have analysed LULC transitions of the CBNRM models in light of robust policy towards improving and scaling up the appropriate model in rural forest-dependent areas. To bridge the knowledge gap, Landsat satellite data were employed to analyse and compare the LULC transitions of the Zukpiri CREMA and the Yuoboli Integrated Forest Reserve (YIFR) (a non-CREMA model) for the period 1990–2020. The findings from the Zukpiri CREMA show that the tree cover class recorded the highest gain (17.5%), followed by the built-up class (11.5%), and the water bodies class (0.5%). In addition, the shrubs/grassland class recorded the highest loss (18.3%), followed by the barren/degraded land class (11.2%). For the Yuoboli Integrated Forest Reserve (YIFR), the tree cover and built-up classes gained by 9.7%, followed by the water bodies class (0.4%). Moreover, the barren/degraded land class recorded the highest loss (19.9%) while the shrub/grassland class declined marginally by 0.01%. The findings suggest that although both local forest resource management approaches have contributed to a gain in tree/forest cover, the CREMA model contributed to a higher gain in forest cover over the period (1990–2020) than the non-CREMA approach. The findings underscore the need for policy on scaling up the CREMA model in forest-dependent communities in Ghana and other countries in SSA.