The Case for High-forest National Parks in Ghana

Abstract

Implementation of a conservation policy of preserving representative samples of all the natural ecosystems in the country has led to the establishment, from 1974, of two high-foresi national parks, namely the Bia and the Nini-Suhien, of an area now totalling 252 square kilometres or 0.3% of the original high-forests of Ghana. Continuing pressures to permit logging and other forms of exploitation for short-term cash benefits suggest that, unlike the national parks in the savanna zone, the need for high-forest national parks is yet to be fully appreciated. High-forest national parks are vital as: – A reference-base for scientific studies and for comparison with forests that have been modified through logging, sylviculture, and farming; they may thus provide data for decisions on the most desirable future management of high-forest areas; – A genetic bank for the most important timber trees and for rare and endangered species and other taxa of fauna and flora; – A focal point for the breeding and spreading of wild animals which are widely exploited for meat throughout Ghana; – As a tourist and recreational asset; the high-forest itself is the chief tourist resource within the high-forest zone, providing a unique atmosphere for relaxation and outdoor recreation; and – As an educational, cultural, ecological, and scientific, heritage of the greatest importance. Internally, therefore, the policy of creating and maintaining high-forest national parks needs to be strengthened against political and economic pressures, with pursuit of a vigorous effort at educating decision-makers and the general public to an understanding of the many intangible values of natural forests. Externally, a common habitat-conservation policy for the West African subregion is urged—not only to prevent smuggling of protected, rare, and endangered, species across national borders, but also because the environmental consequences of the abuse of Nature recognize no such national frontiers.