Effective benefit sharing arrangements for the proposed Atewa National Park identified

 CREMA entails the incorporation of sustainable wildlife management within the livelihood activities of forest fringe communities who also receive economic incentives through sustainable income generating activities compatible with wildlife management. These incentives are normally developed along the values, needs and perceptions of equity of the stakeholders involved.

Perceived benefits under CREMA could be in the form of employment as tour guards, revenue collections, or selling essential commodities around the park when the Atewa Forest Reserve eventually becomes the Atewa National Park.

The study which was conducted under the “Strengthening Local Communities for Improved Participation in Decision Making Processes Project”; a component of the “Living Waters From the Mountain Project” being implemented by A Roacha Ghana, was on the theme ‘The Policy and Institutional Setup Related to Participation, Socially Just Access and Benefit Sharing” with regards to forest fringe communities.

It was carried out in 10 forest dependent communities along the fringes of the Atewa Forest Reserve from five political districts, namely; the East Akyem, West Akyem, Atewa, Ayensoano, and the Denkyembuoso Districts of the Eastern Region of Ghana. The Atewa Forest Reserve lies within the semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana covering a landmass of twenty-three thousand, six hundred and sixty –five hectares (23,665 ha).

Information was gathered by means of desk studies, field studies, sampling of the population using purposive and snowball Sampling, data collection by means of structured and semi-structured questionnaires and data analysis using Microsoft Excel.

The study identified the possible barriers to effective benefit sharing as land tenure related issues, difficulties in determining the amount of benefits in monetary terms due to individuals and groups and a suitable distribution mechanism for ensuring a fair distribution of benefits.

Other barriers include transparency in sharing, accountability and auditing of the fiscal amount of benefit shared to ensure that benefits actually reach the appropriate benefactors and are used for the intended purposes, especially, those meant for collective purposes, and the lack of established institutions for resolving conflicts arising from benefit sharing. Elite capture was also identified as a major threat to the success of Benefit Sharing Arrangements.

The study revealed that, in general, existing Benefit Sharing Arrangements for forest fringe communities in Ghana remain silent on ‘Just Access’, despite the fact that it is a key determinant of their source of livelihoods and thus impacts on their standard of living.