A REDD Solution to a Green Problem: Using REDD Plus to Address Deforestation in Ghana Through Benefit Sharing and Community Self-Empowerment

The process of converting forests into non-forests deforestation claims 17 million hectares of the world’s tropical forests each year. Ghana is no stranger to the problem of deforestation. The developing country’s rainforest has been decreasing rapidly and significantly over time. Part II of this paper addresses the primary driving factors of deforestation in Ghana, including human activities such as legal and illegal logging and unsustainable agricultural practices, as well as non-human factors such as poverty and population growth, which are inevitably linked. Part III identifies the constitutional land tenure rights and laws of the timber industry, assessing how these have contributed to deforestation in Ghana as well as established measures to combat the problem. Part IV explains the historical background and a working framework of REDD. Part V evaluates the Brazilian approach to its deforestation problem, with specific emphasis on the Juma Sustainable Development Reserve Project in the Amazon region. Part VI proposes a solution to Ghana’s deforestation problem advanced within a modified and multifaceted REDD plus model with a significant emphasis on a community-centred monitoring, verification and reporting system, self-empowerment and gender advancement, and a recognition of carbon rights as motivational and stronger enforcement measures