Forest Bioeconomy in Ghana: Understanding the Potential Indicators for Its Sustainable Development

Abstract

This study was aimed at assessing the indicators of a sustainable forest bioeconomy in Ghana for three decades (1990–2020). Sustainable development in a forest bioeconomy is a system geared towards improving people’s socioeconomic and environmental situation through forestry, yet in Ghana, it is neither heard about nor well understood by many people. A good knowledge about the forest bioeconomic system will enhance people to become custodians of the forest ecosystems instead of being destroyers. Field and secondary data were collected and analyzed using IBM SPSS 29.0, CANOCO 5.0, and ArcGIS 10.5. The study showed that larger areas of forest were found in decade 1 (1990–1999) relative to decade 2 (2000–2009) and decade 3 (2010–2020). Forests’ contributions to GDP vary between the forest–vegetation belts and regions, decreasing rapidly from 1990 to 2020. Population growth, agricultural activities, and commodity-driven deforestation ranked highest in the list of the drivers of deforestation. A reduction in deforestation might bring about a reduction in carbon emissions; however, the economic repercussions are negative as the contribution of forest to GDP, income, and employment will fall as trade-offs. Findings from the study will significantly help to bring lasting solutions to deforestation and enhance the sustainable forest bioeconomy. The study has unveiled remote drivers of forest loss that have been long overlooked by previous studies. A sustainable enlightenment campaign and routine informal education of the rural people are highly necessary. This is because some of the peoples’ reasons for deforestation and preference for forest products compared with modern resources seem convincing and logical.