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GLA Ghana
This project focuses on local community capacity building and awareness raising, media awareness raising, coalitions and networking with Civil Society Organisations and social media advocacy to be able to mobilise public support for campaigning against the drivers of deforestation and to also contribute to public discourse on sustainable governance of forest landscapes. The project builds the capacity of local communities in the use of mobile technology in monitoring forest and mining operations, as a means of containing illegal logging and contributing to the implementation of the FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement in Ghana. This is done through our “This is My Backyard” (TIMBY) project which is a key component under the GLA. This will generate data that could influence decisions on day to day management of natural resources, improve detection and reporting of forest illegalities, to help identify risk areas quickly, identify abuses by companies and thus contribute to strengthening law enforcement, transparency and remediation.
Through the project, local communities will gain increased capacity to claim their legal rights for benefit sharing in natural resource management sectors and for respect of other (human) rights in relation to land and natural resources.
Also together with GLA partners and other CSOs the project lobbies and advocates for reforms in the laws and policies governing the administration and management of natural resources in Ghana.
In Ghana, the Green Livelihoods Alliance programme focuses on lobby and advocacy at national and local levels. The two local landscapes we are working in are: Atewa Range in the Eastern Region and Juabeso-Bia District in the Western Region.
These are the outcomes we aim to achieve in the forested landscapes of Ghana:
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Local communities adopt sustainable natural resources practices
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Local communities actively engage the government and private sector on Natural Resource Management
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Tree tenure has been reformed to make benefit sharing more equitable
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Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs) are supported by Ghana’s laws and scaled up
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Improved enforcement & monitoring of forestry, mining and logging laws and reduction of illegal practices
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National and local government integrate biodiversity, climate resilience and responsible natural resource management approaches into Medium Term Development Plans (MTDPs) and participatory land use planning
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Agro-commodities production systems adopt and promote climate smart practices and landscape standards
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Private sector adopts and applies sustainable commodity sourcing practices
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Integrated land and water management is broadly applied
Outcomes and Activities
The GLA Ghana programme also has many short-term outcomes. Following are the short-term outcomes and their activities that FoE-Ghana is contributing to in 2017:
Outcome 1: During 2017, other CSOs such as Civic Response, Nature and Development Foundation and Domestic Lumber Trade Association partner with FoE-Ghana in effective lobby and advocacy to demand good governance and participatory sustainable management of Ghana’s forests.
Activities: The main activity for this outcome has been to organise a workshop to build the capacity for CSOs for lobby and advocacy to strengthen our skills and improve our effectiveness for carrying out campaign actions.
Outcome 2: By the end of 2017, the Parliament of Ghana has passed the Wildlife Resources Management Bill into law
Activities: The main activities for this are raising awareness about the Wildlife Bill so we can increase pressure on government to pass it into law. The bill is a revision of Ghana’s existing wildlife and protected area legislation updated to also incorporate international conventions relating to wildlife that Ghana has ratified. It also integrates up-to-date natural resource management systems and best practices, and stresses the importance of involving rural communities in wildlife management. One important management mechanism integrated into the bill is the Community Resource Management Area (CREMA). Evidence to date suggests these are very effective for sustainable management of the forest and wildlife that also ensure benefits reach the local communities. CREMAs are also effective and economically viable alternatives to destructive forest logging.
The bill was first presented to parliament in March 2015, but by the end of the government’s term in December 2016 it had still not been passed into law. Now it awaits resubmission to Parliament so the consideration process can begin again. FoE-Ghana will soon be holding a workshop with other CSOs to raise awareness of the current situation of the Wildlife Bill and to come up with strategies to press for the bill to be passed into law.
Outcome 3: 20 CSOs in forest and environment issues have new knowledge of forest, mining and logging laws and are preparing advocacy actions demanding improved enforcement and monitoring
Activities: For this outcome, we produced a booklet entitled ‘Ghana’s mining and forest laws: know your rights and roles’. Many communities are faced with illegal activities on their lands and in their forests, but they often do not know their legal rights, and they do not know when other actors (private, state, individuals etc) are breaking the law. The booklet aims to support communities to know their legal rights as contained in Ghana‘s laws, to know the processes that logging and mining companies must fulfill before they can operate legally, and to know when Ghana‘s forest and mining laws are being broken. This will help communities be effective in protecting their rights and demanding action when illegal activities are perpetrated on their lands. You can download a copy here: Ghana’s Mining and Forest Laws – Know your rights and roles
Outcome 4: 20 CSOs active in forest and environment issues are demanding tree tenure reform is in place by end of 2017
Activities: With our Ghana GLA partners, a CSO strategy has been prepared to guide action on demanding that tree tenure legislation moves to Parliament for approval. To support this process, we will also organise a workshop for a broad range of CSOs to build their capacity for effective implementation of the CSO strategy.
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