**3.2 Land use and land cover changes between 1986 and 2020**

In this section, the focus is on the close forest (which constitutes the forest reserve). There are six (6) forest reserves, namely Abonyere, Ayum, Bia-Tano, Bonkoni, Bonsam Bepo, and Subim. They contain several economic trees. For instance, Aboniyere contains 37 timber species, Ayum 40, Bia-Tano 56, Bonkoni 43, Bosam Bepo 36, and Subim 40. **Figure 1** shows a portion of the Ayum Forest Reserve.

The information generated through community meetings and key informant interviews suggests that Asunafo used to be a dense forest. This belief is supported by historical records, which indicate that the general land cover type of Asunafo was a thick forest dotted with human settlements [35, 36], although the intensity and extent of forest cover have decreased with time. For instance, a vegetation map of Ghana produced in 1921 shows a forest land cover divided into evergreen and deciduous forest cover types. **Figures 2** and **3** show a portion of the floor of the Bonkoni Forest Reserve indicating lianes and climbers.

**Figure 4** pre-dates the creation of forest reserves in 1939. The red box depicts the land cover types in Asunafo during the 1920s. The western half of the Asunafo area shows evergreen forest while the eastern side portrays deciduous forest. Detailed characteristics of the forest indicate that:

*The evergreen forest in general consists of trees forming a closed canopy from 20 to 150 feet or more in height, and interlaced by innumerable wood lianes. Below, where the light is sufficient to permit it, is a mass of shrubs from a few inches to several feet* 

**Figure 1.** *A section of the Ayum Forest reserve.*

#### **Figure 3.** *A portion of the floor of the Bonkoni Forest reserve with sunshine.*

*high, bound together by lesser wood lianes and herbaceous climbers and interspersed with tall herbs. As a rule, the smaller herbaceous flora is scanty but varies considerably according to the amount of light that is permitted through the canopy ([37]: 14).*

However, the deciduous forest in its original state has an upper layer of dominant trees that show a single crown. Underneath, the crowns of the middle layer trees form a closed canopy. The forest floor is made of shrubs, lianes, climbers, and herbaceous cover depending on the amount of sunshine received. Trees, especially, the dominant ones shed their leaves during the Harmattan season ([37]: 17). The community meetings revealed that tree cover has drastically reduced due to logging. As a result, grasses and *Euphorbia heterophylla* have invaded portions of the forest reserve.

In **Figure 5**, it is obvious that the close forest has been declining in size from 56.3% in 1986 to 54% in the year 2003 to 51.8% in the year 2020.

The farmers of the area have observed a decline in the close forest (forest reserves). In the community meetings, farmers described the close forest decline as reduced tree cover and replacement of the dense forest with grass and shrubs. The study has verified the claim by farmers using satellite images of different years. **Figures 6**–**8** respectively indicate land use and land cover types for 1986, 2003, and 2020 satellite images. These images were downloaded from the path/ row 195/55. In the analysis, the land use/cover classification includes four classes. The land use/cover classes include: close forest (very dense canopy formed by tree crowns mainly in the forest reserves), open forest (varied from a dense bush fallow through cocoa farms with isolated tree crowns to mixed food crop farms), shrubland/grasses (made up of a variety of shrubs and grasses as well as bare ground), and bare/settlements (were human habitations either dispersed or nucleated built up surfaces).

#### **Figure 4.**

*Vegetation map of Ghana in 1921, Evergreen and deciduous Forest of Asunafo in the red box The citation ''Forestry Commission, 2008; Potapov et el., 2017'' has been changed to match the date in the reference list. Please check here and in subsequent occurrences, and correct if necessary.source: [37]: 13.*

The Landsat TM 1986 shows that:

• the close forest was the largest land cover type at Asunafo in 1986, which occupied about 56.3% of the area under study.

The Landsat ETM+ 2003 shows that:

• between 1986 and 2003, the close forest remained the largest land cover type with 54% space of the Asunafo forest.

*Degradation of Forest Reserves in Asunafo Forest District, Ghana DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106993*

**Figure 5.**

*Land use and land cover change between the years 1986, 2003, and 2020.*

The Landsat ETM+ 2020 clearly shows that 17 years on (that is, 2003–2020):

• the close forest maintained the largest portion of the Asunafo forest with 51.8%.

**Figure 9** shows a summary of the win-loss of forest space from the years 1986– 2003, 2003–2020, and 1986–2020. The three scenarios indicate that bare land and settlement gain spaces from the other land use/cover in all three situations. The same applies to shrub land and grassland. However, there is a mixture of wins and losses for the open forest category. The close forest displayed a decline (degradation).

**Table 1** shows the exchange of land use/cover types in the three different periods of 17 years breaks.

Between 1986 and 2003, the close forest gained a space of 14.21% but lost to the other land uses/covers a space of 36.13%. There was a difference of −21.29% of losses for the close forest. Between 2003 and 2020, the gains in forest space for the close forest were about 18.17%. Once again, there were losses of space to the other land uses/cover of about 20.84%. The difference is a negative value of about −2.67%. In the third scenario, between 1986 and 2020, the gains in forest spaces were about 10.80% and the losses were 35.39% with a negative difference of about −24.59%.

#### **3.3 Driving forces and pressures responsible for the forest reserve degradation**

From the discussion on the sociodemographics, the increases in the human population have a resultant effect on the spaces required for settlements. Hence, settlement creation is a major factor in the degradation of forest reserves. In the specific case of Asunafo, archival records indicate that the area was a virgin or dense forest inhabited by several wildlife particularly elephants, chimpanzees, and buffaloes [35, 38, 39].

#### **Figure 6.**

*Land use/cover map of Asunafo north and south for 1986.*

Human impact on the dense forest was limited and restricted to settlement creation, food gathering, and hunting. However, the introduction of cocoa farming in the 1902 and export of timber industries in the 1940s have caused drastic deforestation ([30]: 167; [40]: 26). In Ghana, areas that have suffered deforestation are reportedly undergoing land degradation ([41]: 1).

Another cause of deforestation of the forest reserves in Asunafo is timber extraction. It was the timber contractors that opened the closed forest by building roads. These roads were made for use by tractors and caterpillars, and some of the roads were motorable by timber-carrying vehicles [42]. **Figure 10** is an example of a road through the Bonkoni Forest Reserve taken during the field visits.

The timber companies also cleared large portions of the forest reserves in some central places where the timber logs were assembled and later loaded on the timber-carrying trucks to be transported to the sawmills. According to Logan [43], *Degradation of Forest Reserves in Asunafo Forest District, Ghana DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106993*

**Figure 7.** *Land use/cover map of Asunafo north and south for 2003.*

the exports of timber logs from the Gold Coast began in the year 1888 with Mahogany. The Forestry Department of the Gold Coast (now Ghana) started in 1909. In 1911, the Forest Bill was passed by the legislative council, and in 1927, the Forest Ordinance was made law. These dates are provided to show the early attempts at conserving the close forest. However, timber merchants continued with timber extraction. By 1927, several millions of Mahogany were exported from the country and a shortage in the forest began to be felt by the Forestry Department ([43], pp. 52). After independence in the year 1957, the timber industry continued to operate within the close forest with little or insignificant difference. Two timber extraction companies that caused massive deforestation in the Asunafo area are W. A. Gliksten Limited and Mim Timber Company.

**Figure 8.** *Land use/cover map of Asunafo north and south for 2020.*

Together, the two foreign-owned companies exported about 80% of their timber output [40, 44]. In addition to small local timber merchants, there were medium to large-scale Ghanaian-owned timber firms in Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions that extracted timber from Asunafo. No wonder, Asunafo Forest suffered from timber shortages as early as 1965 [45]. **Figure 11** shows a truck with timber logs from the Asunafo forest area. Previously, a truck of this nature could carry one log or a maximum of two logs due to the sizes of the logs. Presently, five or more logs are carried by the same truck size.

The human population follows several livelihood options. The main livelihood of the people of Asunafo has been cocoa farming. Clearing of the closed forest for cocoa

#### **Figure 9.**

*Land use/cover net change (%) from 1986 to 2003, from 2003 to 2020, and from 1986 to 2020 for Asunafo north and south.*



#### **Table 1.**

*Land use/cover change matrix (%) for Asunafo north and south.*

**Figure 10.** *A new timber road through the Bonkoni Forest reserve, showing the destruction of vegetation and rich topsoil.*

farming was another aggravating factor in the close forest degradation. According to Logan [43], the native Ghanaian communal land holding turned to private holdings due to the spread of cocoa farms. Before 1923, the Government had realized the threats of cocoa farming to the closed forest. The preparation of land for cocoa meant the felling of large trees to allow the sunlight to reach the cocoa plants, and it started as early as the first decade of the twentieth century [42]. The rich farmers manage relatively larger cocoa farms. The poor often maintain smaller cocoa farms and rely

*Degradation of Forest Reserves in Asunafo Forest District, Ghana DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106993*

**Figure 11.** *A truck with timber logs from the Asunafo forest area.*

**Figure 12.** *Cocoa agroforestry at Asunafo Forest area.*

solely on income from cocoa and the sale of labor on daily basis as "by-day laborers". The forest vegetation, climate, and associated edaphic features were supportive of cocoa farming. After the opening of the dense forest with accessible roads by Mim

Timber Company and W. A. Gliksten Limited in the 1940s, the transportation of dry cocoa beans and carting of other farm produce became possible. Another reason was the high-income returns generated from cocoa farming. Again, the land was owned by families; hence, industrious members of the family took to cocoa farming due to easy entry requirements such as the acquisition of simple farm implements and family labor. The farmers experienced low crop yields because of the old cocoa trees. Some of the cocoa trees from 1921 are still available and are called "Tetteh Quarshie." **Figure 12** shows cocoa agroforestry, and **Figure 13** displays cocoa trees alone.

In the case of the Asunafo forest area, mining of gold and other minerals is still not a focus of forest degradation. Since the year 1983 wildfire, which destroyed the forest reserves, the Forestry Commission has been able to keep the forest reserve from fire outbreaks.

## **3.4 The consequences of the forest reserve degradation**
