Gendered Impacts of Conservation on Rural Communities in Northern Ghana: Implications for Collaborative Natural Resources Management

Abstract

Although studies over the years have sought to understand the impacts of protected areas on surrounding communities, only limited research has explored these impacts from a gender perspective. Drawing from primary data collected from semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions in the Mole National Park, Ghana, and ten of its surrounding communities, this study assesses the differences in impacts arising from nature conservation on both men and women to determine how such differences affect how specific gender groups respond to collaborative natural resources management interventions. Results show that men primarily suffer economic impacts from conservation while women suffer both economic and socio-psychological impacts. Socio-cultural norms and practices further exacerbate the impacts of conservation on women resulting in negative attitudes of women toward conservation. This has serious consequences for women's participation in the collaborative management of protected areas and conservation goals in general.

Keywords:

• Co-management
• community-based natural resource governance
• feminist political ecology
• gender
• Mole National Park
• protected areas

Acknowledgment

My sincere thanks to all the study participants for their time and experiences shared with me during the fieldwork. I also wish to thank the editors and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments that have improved the article significantly.