Economics of Community Participation in the Restoration of Bobiri Forest Reserve in Ghana

Master's Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Forestry / Forestry Economics, , language: English, abstract: Forest restoration is not new in Ghana. The participation of community members in forest restoration has been identified as an integral factor in any successful forest restoration project. The study assessed the economics of community participation in the restoration of the Bobiri forest reserve in Kubease, in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Data was collected from a sample of 400 respondents in the community of Kubease through a simple random technique. Using an opened ended technique, it was realized that all respondents (100%) enjoy some benefit(s) from the forest reserve. The benefits range from household ones (53.75%) to commercial (19.25%), traditional or cultural (6%) and environmental protection purposes (21%). The results showed that majority (87.25%) of the respondents were willing to contribute participation fees for the restoration of the Bobiri forest reserve (BFR). About 34% of the respondents contributed a participation fee ranging from GH¢1 - GH¢4 and majority (54%) contributed a participation fee ranging from GH¢5 - GH¢100. The annual Total willingness to participate fee (TWTPF) for the restoration of the BFR for the population of Kubease (26909) was GH¢2,502,537 and the national annual TWTPF for the population of Ghana aged 18 years and above was GH¢1,267,803,807. The Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression model revealed respondents monthly income, number of years in education and age to be significant at 5% level, number of dependents and employment status was also significant at 1% level. Using a 5 point likert scale to assess the degree of agreement to participate in the restoration of the BFR, majority (43.74%) of the respondents either strongly agreed or agreed to participate in the restoration of the BFR. It can be concluded from the study that, the sample respondents valued the BFR because majority (87.25%) were willing to contribute a participation fee for the restoration BFR. This study recommends that, community members should be informed and involved in decision making process before any restoration project is undertaken in their communities.