Ankasa-Tano Community Forest Project
Community Resource Management Areas (CREMA)
Rural communities depend on the health of the rainforest for their livelihoods, so it is imperative that environmental monitoring and conservation are implemented at the local level. It is also crucial that local people have the knowledge, skills, and economic incentives to manage their resources in ways that sustain natural ecosystem processes.
The Wildlife Division of the Ghana Forestry Commission is currently utilising Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs) as the primary mechanism for implementing collaborative, sustainable natural resource management outside protected areas in Ghana.
Watch this video to find out more!
Each CREMA is regulated through the development of a constitution, bylaws, and a natural resource management plan. These are created by CREMA committees composed of elected community members, working in collaboration with the Wildlife Division and District Assembly.
Following approval, the communities will receive a Certificate of Devolution, giving them the authority to sustainably manage their land and to apprehend illegal miners, bushmeat hunters, and chainsaw operators.
West African Primate Conservation Action (WAPCA) has been working with the twelve communities surrounding the Kwabre Forest to create a federated CREMA. All members of the twelve communities were asked to vote, and 32 individuals were elected to sit on the Community Resource Management Committee (CRMC) as representatives of their communities. The CREMA drafted its own constitution and bylaws, which have been submitted to the District Assembly for approval. It has been operating successfully, holding regular meetings to discuss issues, participating in training workshops, and effectively redistributing fines and seized materials back to the communities.
