The current environmental situation in the Berekum area

The land is now bare and degraded. Almost all our forests are gone and several plants and animal species are no longer here. It was only in a few areas that one could see grasses. But now the place is gradually becoming grassland and most streams and water bodies are drying up (Akua Amponsah, personal communication, 7 October 2011).

The above quote is the answer that Akua Amponsah, a farmer in Berekum, gave when I asked her views on the current environmental situation in the Berekum Traditional Area, and epitomises the environmental reality of Berekum today. The details are examined in the following paragraphs.

3.3.7.1 Deforestation

Deforestation, according to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), is the ‗land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and sub-humid areas resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities‘ (UNCED, 1992). The conference also explained that deforestation should not be confused with degradation, stating that while deforestation reduces the size of forests, degradation involves the decrease in the condition (quality) of the forest,

which manifests itself in the vegetation, faunal and floral diversity, the fertility of the soil, and the other components of the ecosystem of forests (UNCED, 1992). The distinction between deforestation and degradation is important, as the first does not necessarily imply the second and vice versa. However, in the case of the study area, both have occurred.

The rate of environmental degradation and deforestation in Ghana has already been noted. Various governments of Ghana have made several attempts to deal with the situation by developing plans to ensure the sustainable management of the harvesting of forest products (MLF, 1994, 1996; Donkor and Vloski, 2003). As part of its effort to protect and conserve the forests in Ghana, the government of Ghana has created a total of 266 National Forest Reserves in the high forest zone, which occupy 1,634,100 hectares of land (Hawthorne and Abu-Juam, 1995 quoted in Donkor and Vloski, 2003). Berekum Traditional Area has two forest reserves–Tain II and Pamu-Berekum. However, the exploitation of the forest in these reserves continues despite its illegality and the government‘s efforts to stop it. It is sad to note that these national assets are diminishing seriously in both size and quality. According to the local people, the Tain II and Pamu-Berekum Reserves are now shadows of their formal selves. This is corroborated by Mrs. Philomena Appiah Boakye, the Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the Brong-Ahafo Region. In her Keynote address to the public during the 2011 World Environmental Day, held at Kato near Berekum, she revealed that:

The Pamu-Berekum Forest Reserve was established in 1932 with a total area of 189 km2. The forest area in 1990 had been reduced to 91 km2 (a loss of 98 km2 in 58 years); in 2000 it had been reduced to 1 km2 (a loss of 90 km2 in just 10 years). In the other instance, the Tain II Forest Reserve was established in 1934 with a total area of 509 km2. The forest area in 1990 had been reduced to 451 km2 (a loss of 58 km2 in 56 years); and in 2000 it had been reduced to just 108 km2 (a loss of 343 km2 in just 10 years) (Appiah Boakye, 2011).

Mr. Gyedu (personal communication, 13 December 2012, Berekum), a forester from Berekum, explained that although the actual reserve (land) is intact, the tree cover is reduced. This is environmentally unhealthy, since increasing the number of trees is believed to be the answer to counteracting global warming (Burley and Haslam,

2008). The concern is that, if even government-protected areas are being degraded in this way, then the fate of non-protected areas in the study area is all the more certain. A report by Forestry Outlook Study for Africa (FOSA) and the Ghanaian Ministry of Lands and Forestry has the following to say on the consumption of forest products:

A major problem in Ghana is the high consumption of wood for energy and cooking, estimated at 14 million m3 annually and expected to increase to 20 million m3 in 2010. Even in urban areas, about 69% of all households use charcoal. Agyarko found that 91% of total roundwood production is used as fuelwood and for charcoal. The remaining (9%) is used as industrial roundwood (mainly timber) (FOSA, 2002).

It is thus unsurprising that a recent report has indicated that there has been a significant rise in Green House Gas (GHG) emissions in Ghana (Edjekumhene et al., 2011), and this now puts the country into the bracket of being a net-emitter of GHGs. The above statistics show the level of degradation in the study area, and in contemporary Ghana more generally. Notably, it is the vegetation, especially the trees, that are most affected.

3.3.7.2 The theft of timber

Closely connected with illegal deforestation is the theft of high value trees by both timber contractors and chain-saw operators in the area. Again, some corrupt forestry officials collude in these illegal activities, and contractors and chain-saw operators indiscriminately cut the trees, including the endangered ones. I was told in the villages close to the forests that they hear the noise made by chain-saws deep into the night on an almost daily basis. The following statement taken from the Tropical Timber Report (TTR) in 1990, which is attributed to Mr. Joe Ackah – Brong Ahafo Regional Zonal Manager for Ghana‘s Forestry Commission (FC) – attests to the stealing of timber in the study area:

[...] about ten uncertified mobile sawmills were identified in Tein II and Paamu/Berekum forest reserves. Authorities were able to impound over 1,200 teak billets now placed at the Berekum District office of the Forestry Services Division.

The billets were meant for export and could have costed [sic] the government several millions of cedis. Mr. Ackah said that illegality occurred due to [a] lack of logistics and capacity on the part of the FC (Forestry Commission) and [a] lack of cooperation among the police, the community and the FC. (TTR, 2006, p. 2).

In providing some background to the problem, Mr. Gyedu observed that the increase in illegal logging is due to the inability of the Forestry Commission to check timber felling and to ensure concessionaires comply with harvesting procedures. The local people are of the view that the government‘s redeployment of forest guards in Ghana has been one of the major contributory factors. Another illegal practice closely linked to illegal logging is the illegal poaching practiced by hunters in the forest.

3.3.7.3 Poaching

Some of my informants (especially those who live close to these forests) discussed the illegal activities of poachers, who secretly enter the reserves to hunt for game with traps. It was revealed that some corrupt district forestry officials connive with the hunters, and this affects the protection of endangered species in the traditional area. The hunters I interviewed generally agreed that their activities had adversely affected the faunal capacity of the area, and some of the animal species they mentioned hunting have been considerably reduced in number, including the groove-toothed forest mouse (Leimacomys buettneri); the toothed shrew (Crocidura foxi); the red-fronted gazelle (Gazella rufifrons); the spotted wild dog (Lycaon pictus); the white-thighed black-and-white colobus (Colobus vellerosus); the white- necked otter (Lutra maculicollis); the pied bat (Chalinolobus superbus); the bongo (Tragelaphus euryceros isaacii); the bush buck (Tragelaphus sylvaticus); the buffalo (Syncerus caffer); the black duiker (Cephalophus niger); the side striped jackal (Canis adustus); and the grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus)–the final three having now completely disappeared from the area. Many of these species are also listed as globally threatened species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Studies have established that hunting for game in West and Central Africa poses a great danger not only to biological diversity and ecological processes, but

also to future generations of people, whose protein needs and income are highly dependent on bushmeat (Bowen-Jones et al., 2002 and Milner-Gulland et al., 2003, cited in Swensson, 2005, p. 5). The FAO twenty-third regional conference for Africa (2004),–which had the theme ‗The bushmeat crisis in Africa: conciliating food security and biodiversity conservation in the continent‘–noted that ‗the unsustainable bushmeat utilization in West and Central Africa is currently one of the most important food security and biodiversity conservation challenges facing the region‘.

In Ghana, a ban is usually placed on the hunting of all wild animals with the exception of the grass cutter during ‗close season‘, which takes place between August and December. Ɔpanin Yaw Barima (personal communication 18, November 2011), an experienced hunter at Mpatasie, told me that the ban is a pre- colonial practice, but has been adopted by the governments of Ghana. It became a regulatory mechanism backed by the Wildlife Conservation Regulations L. I. 685 of 1961. However, despite this regulation, it is common to see bushmeat being sold by ‗Chop bar‘ operators (local restaurants) in Berekum, and indeed throughout the country all the year round.

3.3.7.4 Bush fires

According to my key informants, the most serious of all the factors that impact on the environment are the annual bush fires the traditional area experiences, especially during the Harmattan (dry) season. Interviewees pointed out that bushfires are the major cause of the loss of the basic forest products mentioned above. It was also mentioned that bushfires are the principal threat to sacred groves in the area. The local people said that several decades ago, all the towns and villages in the traditional area used to have sacred groves. In some cases, one could count as many as ten groves in one village or town. However, most of these groves have now been degraded or destroyed through bush fires. Bushfires generally degrade forests since they cause forests to lose their natural status and their ability to influence the weather in the area. Interviewees also said they were partly responsible for the loss of wildlife in the area. This was noted to have far reaching ecological implications. For instance, some of the experienced farmers I interviewed pointed out that many

plants, and animals such as worms and insects, play crucial ecological roles, including the recycling of nutrients, and thus ultimately aid soil fertility. These empirical claims have been ratified by scientific studies elsewhere (see Fisher, 1978; Morris et al., 1991).

In addition to the loss of land fertility, bush fires also lead to the loss of important medicinal herbs, which a preponderance of the Berekum people rely on for their health needs (see Brown, 1992). The above situation partly explains why species of grass are gradually taking over the vegetation that comprises the study area. Interestingly, some respondents said that the emergence of grasses in the area is now encouraging the rearing of cattle there. In view of this development, the presence of the Fulani (major cattle farmers in West Africa) is on the increase in Berekum. However, there is strong resistance to this development, and there have been a number of protests due to the destruction of people‘s farms. I was told by Ameyaw Martin of Akroforo (personal communication 13, November 2011) that these cattle owners have secretly been sending their herds to graze in the national reserve. Bushfires are sometimes accidental, but the phenomenon of group hunting is emerging fast in the study area and, according to one hunter that I interviewed– Kwaku Amoabeng, (personal communication, 13 December 2011)–hunters deliberately set fires during the Hamattan (dry) season in order to force game out to be shot (or else killed by the fire). My informant said that this practice represents a new phenomenon in the area, and that although there is legislation against starting bushfires, its enforcement is very weak. Mr. Gyedu (personal communication, 16 October 2011) explained that bush fires are a central cause for the rapid depletion in forest cover in the Berekum area.

3.3.7.5 Threat to the Koraa River and its Fish Sanctuary

Some of my interviewees informed me that the heavy encroachment on the Koraa basin has led the once-forested basin of the river to be gradually taken over by grasses. There used to be a fish sanctuary on the river, which the local people (and tourists to the area) visited to watch fish in the river from the bridge on nkyida (sacred days or holidays). Now, however, the Asuo Koraa (river Koraa) has become seasonal, and it is only during the sporadic rainfalls that

the fish come out. At the time I was gathering the data, weeds (mostly grasses) had taken over most of the section where people stood to watch the fish from the bridge, and it is now difficult to see the fish even when it rains.

During the data collection phase of my research, I found that land very close to river Koraa–the main river in the study area–had been sold, and is now under plantain and coconut plantation. Nana Adjei (personal communication, 17 November 2011) informed me that many rivers are being destroyed by the activities of sand contractors, who go very close to the river-beds to take sand. The trenches they leave after their activities impede the smooth flow of the rivers because they collect some of the water from the rivers and thus affect their natural flows. When the local people complained about this, the contractors claimed that they have been issued permits by the Municipal Assembly of Berekum. It was also noted that another river–the River Berekum, from which the traditional headquarters ‗Berekum‘ takes its name–is almost dried up now. This is because its catchment area is now almost covered with buildings. Some of these buildings are virtually in the channel of the river, as are farms close to the banks of the river. It surprises many people that the catchment area for this river houses an important sacred grove in Berekum, within which important rituals connected with the main festival of Berekum (Kwafie) are performed. Nana Kwabena Wusu (personal communication, 8 September 2011) told me that all the blackened stools of the past chiefs of Berekum are brought here during the evening of the festival day for ritual bathing (washing). A car-washing bay has now even been constructed close to the river and the waste water flows into the river.

3.3.7.6 Pollution

According to Mr. Oliver, the Berekum Municipal Environmental Officer (personal communication, 14 December 2011), the general state of the sanitation in the municipality is a source of worry to many people. The management of both the solid and liquid wastes in the traditional area

leaves much to be desired. Heaps of refuse are also a common sight in the traditional area, especially in the Municipal capital – Berekum. One can sometimes

Figure 5. A heap of refuse, dumped right in the centre of the Municipal capital.

witness stray animals in the middle of the town feeding on the refuse dumps. Moreover, the majority of people in the municipality rely on public conveniences, but these places are managed very poorly. The Municipal Assembly that owns them is unable to regularly buy the needed detergents to clean the toilets. This is a major source of worry to those who live close to these toilets, both because of their unbearable stenches and the attendant health problems.

The waste disposal sites in the area are also a problem as they are not efficiently managed. The human excreta are not treated, but simply dumped raw at the sites, and passers-by can be witnessed covering their noses whenever they are close to the dumping sites. These sites become dry and caked during the dry season, and I was told by the Municipal Environmental Officer

that the caked excreta are set on fire in the dry season. This practice is another source of bush fires. All these problems are the result of inadequate resources to acquire the necessary logistics to manage them ecologically. This pollution impedes the fight against global warming that the world has on its hands today.

Another source of pollution is noise-making. Noise pollution is high, particularly in the Municipal capital, Berekum. This is perpetrated by drinking bars (local pubs), restaurants, music shop operators and churches, particularly the penteco-charismatic group.

The religious demography table of Berekum on page 108 shows that Christian- related groups dominate. In Ghana, Christians are generally noted for making high levels of noise during their worship sessions as the use of modern musical gadgets is a key element to their worship today, so even a church with a low number in its congregation may make a lot of noise with their musical instruments. At times, the level of the noise becomes unbearable during their special prayer sessions–which they called ―all-night‖ or ―half-night‖ sessions. Many of my informants said that people are, however, afraid to complain for the fear of being tagged as ‗anti-Christ‘

by Christians. This makes it difficult for people to get good sleep after a day‘s work. There are provisions in the country‘s law against noise pollution, but the police are not keen to enforce these laws. Mr. Oliver, the Municipal environmental Officer (personal communication, 14 December 2011), lamented about this situation, but said his hands were tied since the police were not keen to enforce the law against excessive noise-making in the area.

Yet another source of pollution comes from the activities of what is known as ‗table-saw-milling‘. Instead of setting up their milling machines at the light industrial area provided by the Municipal Assembly, plants are set up within the residential areas all over the municipality, and the dust that is produced by the table- saw-milling is a source of worry to those who live close to them.

Figure 7. Some of the Table –Saw- Milling sites at the heart of residential areas in Berekum.

During my fieldwork, I discovered that apart from financial motive for table-saw- milling, some of the millers are completely ignorant about the effects of their industry in the area. For instance, in responding to questions about the negative effects of the table-saw-milling on the environment, Kwasi Jacob (personal communication, 10 November 2011, at his workshop)–a table saw-miller and wood seller – asked whether it made any difference if the trees were logged, since crops do well even in the northern parts of Ghana, where the vegetation is dominantly grasses with very few trees. This represents a clear confirmation of one of the concerns shared by most of my key informants–that many of the younger generations lack even a basic knowledge of their surroundings, with many failing to understand the consequences of their actions, and only taking an interest in the monetary benefits that they can accrue. This is one of the hurdles that must be crossed in the people‘s quest to find a lasting solution to the environmental problems that are now

confronting the area. Thus, the study area has many environmental problems, but those provided above constitute the major ones. Having surveyed the environmental problems in the study area, my next focus is to examine some of the major causes of these problems within the study area.