Community participation in ecotourism: the case of Bobiri forest reserve and butterfly sanctuary in Ashanti Region of Ghana

Abstract

Community participation which is a bottom-up approach by which communities are actively involved in projects to solve their own problems, has been touted by various stakeholders as a potent approach to ecotourism development since it ensures greater conservation of natural and cultural resources, empowers host communities and improves their socio-economic well-being. While many ecotourism projects have been developed in or near protected areas such as forest reserves, such projects sometimes exclude the local communities who depend on the natural resources in those areas. The major objective of this study was to investigate the nature and extent of participation of local communities in ecotourism development and management in the Bobiri Forest Reserve and Butterfly Sanctuary (BFRBS). Data for the study was collected from residents, members of traditional councils and members of forest management committees of the three communities adjoining the forest reserve namely Krofofrom, Kubease and Nobewam. Results of the study indicate that community involvement is elusive to a greater majority of the people and this is attributed to the low level of the forest-fringe communities’ involvement in the project though some community members had derived modest benefits. The communities can therefore be placed at the level of induced participation on Tosun’s (1999) typology which tallies with degrees of tokenism on Arnstein’s (1969) typology. The study has both policy and research implications relating to the achievement of sustainable tourism development at the host community level