Conservation in Context: Variability in Desired and Perceived Outcomes of Community Based Natural Resources Governance in Ghana

Abstract

Community resource management areas (CREMAs) in Ghana are protected areas managed under a community-based governance regime. This study examined five CREMAs to understand how desired outcomes and perceived performance of these CREMAs vary at a regional level, and the factors that might account for this variability. Importance-performance analysis showed that for all 29 outcomes examined, importance exceeded performance, indicating a need to improve on performance, but perhaps also to create more realistic expectations. Desired outcomes were factor analyzed, and the socioeconomic factor was rated as the most desired group of outcomes but was also the factor with the largest gap between desired and perceived achieved scores. Rankings of outcomes varied among the CREMAs, with attributes such as the role of external agents, communication strategies, social–ecological contexts, and local leadership appearing to be important. The demonstrated variability emphasizes the need to understand inter-CREMA variability in designing possible management interventions.

Keywords:

• actors
• CBNRG systems
• conservation
• CREMA
• development
• outcomes
• protected areas
• variability

Notes

¹In northern Ghana land tenure is held by earth priests (tindana) and in southern Ghana land tenure is held by “stools” or by families/clans. They symbolize the collective stewardship and ownership of lands and, in theory, all the natural resources on the land.

²The Protected Area and Poverty Reduction: A Canada-Africa Research and Learning Alliance (PAPR) Project was jointly funded by the International Development Research Centre of Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

³Table 4 provides a legend for the numbers.

⁴Togbe Allega III is currently the chairman of Avu Lagoon CREMA Executive Committee.

⁵Zintang Mohammed is the coordinator of the Traditional Healers Association.

⁶Nantiera Cosmos is the assembly member for the Zukpiri CREMA.

⁷David Yakubu is a retired regional coordinating director of the Upper West Region of Ghana.