Risks, barriers and opportunities in integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Forest and Watershed restoration in Ghana: Atewa Enclave experience

Samuel Kumi^1*Enoch Akwasi Kosoe²Michael Asigbaase¹Anthony Baidoo¹

• ¹University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, Ghana
• ²SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, Bamahu, Ghana

This study examined the consequences of the erosion of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and the barriers and opportunities for integrating it into contemporary practices for sustainable forest restoration, drawing on the experience of the Atewa forest enclave in Ghana. Semistructured face-to-face interviews with 136 participants and four focus group discussions were used to gather data on Indigenous knowledge, beliefs, and practices on forest management.Landsat imageries were also used to analyze Atewa Forest landscape changes from 1993 to 2023 using a supervised classification method. The results revealed enforcing traditional rules and regulations, performing rituals and sacrifices, observing sacred periods to restrict resource access, establishing farmlines to prevent encroachment, avoiding burning near the forest, preserving sacred groves, and upholding taboos against harvesting certain species; along with beliefs that the forest is sacred and inhabited by dwarfs and deities, water bodies are goddesses and mothers, and some tree species are deities that must be appeased before harvesting were traditions adopted to manage forest resources. The general perception suggests that formal forest management practices have failed, contradicted, and relegated Indigenous beliefs and practices, while policy analysis and community inclinations revealed an opportunity for TEK integration. Closed Forest and Open Forest declined by 18% and 12%, respectively, while cropland and bareland increased dramatically by 400% in the forest landscape, partly attributable to the ongoing erosion of TEK and consequent anthropogenic pressure. The study underscores the need for culturally sensitive conservation and policies that incorporate indigenous beliefs in modern management practices, promoting a sustainable and inclusive approach to forest and water resource conservation in the Atewa Enclave.