Community - based natural resources management and livelihood improvement: the case of Amansuri Conservation and Integrated Development Project (ACID) in Jomoro district in Ghana

Abstract

The environment has since time immemorial been useful to human beings. However, demands of development have put a great deal of pressure on the environment to the point that it is undergoing rapid transformation which conservationists consider an unpleasant phenomenon to human beings. The establishment of protected areas (PAs) became, and is, in fact, still an important global practical conservation tool. PAs exclude livelihood activities because they are incompatible with the conservation objectives of PAs. Although 'walls' are erected around PAs, the environment continues to experience transformation by way of dwindling biodiversity. Consequently, Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) emerged in the 1980s. As an approach to conservation, it advocates the integration of conservation and development. Amansuri Conservation and Integrated Development (ACID) project which is being implemented by the Ghana Wildlife Society in partnership with the Western Nzema Traditional Council in the Jomoro District of the Western Region of Ghana, is guided by the philosophy of CBNRM. Guided by the sustainable livelihood framework, a qualitative research design was used to ascertain the extent to which the ACID project had impacted on the livelihood assets of local residents. Results from the study show that though the ACID project has resulted in income generation, employment opportunities and natural resource conservation, it is playing a complementary role rather than a principal source of livelihoods in the communities.