Ghana’s Land Tenure and Benefit Sharing Approaches and their Implications for Forest Fringe Communities under the REDD+ Scheme

Ghana is on track for implementation of a national REDD+ scheme, the incentive based mechanism that seeks to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and also (+) enhances forest carbon stocks through sustainable forest management in developing countries. This study is based on a review of literature and interviews with key informants. The concepts utilised for this exploratory study were based on issues regarding the implications of land tenure and benefit sharing for forest fringe communities under the REDD+ scheme. The findings of the research indicate that Ghana’s current statutory provision do not generally recognise the rights of forest fringe communities in the management of forest resources. However, under the REDD+ scheme preparatory process, Ghana has engaged forest fringe communities as key stakeholders for the scheme in general and for specific components such as the development of a benefit sharing framework for the scheme. This paper suggests that the participatory approach adopted in the REDD+ readiness phase of Ghana could build genuine support from forest fringe communities if there is strong political will to initiate reforms in the forestry sector that will legally recognise the rights of forest fringe communities and thereby make these communities shareholders of the scheme.