Not worth the paper they’re written on? Environmental policies in southern Ghana

People in southern Ghana often ignore environmental policies that limit important livelihoods. Enforcing policies over large areas is too costly to be effective. The result is inconsistent, short-term enforcement campaigns, which are ineffective in controlling natural resource use and cause resentment and anxiety among local populations.

If environmental policies are not accepted bythe people they affect, they are unlikely to achieve their aims. In southernGhana, a wide range of environmental policies affect forests and the activitiesof people living in them. Research from the University of Reading, UK, and theCrops Research Institute, Ghana, considers these policies and their impacts onlocal people. The research looks at policies written as paper documents, theirimplementation and people’s perceptions of them.

The research shows:

• Peoplein southern Ghana are generally aware of the need to conserve resources, butthey only obey controls when these do not excessively limit livelihoodactivities.
• Wheneconomic or other pressures are more severe, policies are considered ‘flexible’by local people and are regularly ignored.
• Enforcementonly works where there is strong local support for a policy. In practice, thismeans that environmental policies have not had much effect, since those likelyto have a negative impact on livelihoods are ignored.

Only two environmental policies have beeneffectively implemented. A forestry policy that attempts to shift themanagement of off-reserve forests from the timber industry to communities hashad some success, although commercial loggers retain significant power. A land-usepolicy supporting traditional practices, such as using dead wood for charcoal,has also been implemented. Importantly, these both benefit local communities.

With a lack of enforcement of most environmentalpolicies, forests and other resources are becoming degraded. People living onforest margins depend almost entirely on natural resources, so avoiding furtherdegradation is essential. How can officials introduce policies that protectforest resources and local livelihoods, but will also be accepted and supportedlocally so that implementation is successful?

Decentralisation of policy-making is one way togain local support. This involves the use of local knowledge on environmentalprocesses and economic activities to determine resource-use limits. Ghana hasmany advantages for successful decentralisation; strong local government structuresand good local understanding and respect for forest reserves. One successfulrecent scheme is Community Forestry Committees. These local decision-makingbodies understand the reliance of local people on natural resources. Moreimportantly, they are respected by local people and therefore likely to developpolicies that are accepted and implemented.

However, the process of decentralisingenvironmental policy decisions has had mixed results in other countries. Importantlessons from these experiences must be applied in Ghana:

• Localpolicy-making is prone to influence and interference by powerful local elites. Tomeet wider local needs, strong legal rights must be held by the community sothat people with existing power are not the only ones able to form policies.
• Sufficientfunds must be available to support and enforce policies.
• Organisationsand processes supporting public decision-making are necessary, such asopportunities for all people to make their opinions known.
• Civilservants and others taking decisions must be open and accountable for theirdecisions.