Biodiversity Conservation of Mole National Park’s periphery through Community-based Resource Management and Green Livelihoods Development

Mole National Park (MNP, 484 000 ha), located 650 km North-West from Accra, is Ghana’s largest national park. It is home of about 400 species of birds, 9 of amphibians, 33 of reptilians, 5 endemic butterfly species and 93 species of mammals including a large population of elephants (Loxodonta africana, VU) and roan antelopes (Hippotragus equinus, LC).

The park is threatened by an over exploitation of the resources, by illegal poaching for bushmeat, by deforestation for specific timber species (Rosewood) for Chinese markets and also by the invasion of Fulani and Tuareg herdsmen with extremely large herds of cattle that devastate the fragile natural savannah vegetation.

Since 2000, the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission of Ghana has been implementing a policy of ‘Collaborative Community Based Wildlife Management’ which includes the establishment of Community Resource Management Areas, known as CREMAs. The CREMA concept incorporates wildlife management with existing land-use, particularly in areas adjacent to national parks and gives communities the authority to manage natural resources sustainably on their landscapes. Northcode is a coalition of 5 NGO’s working on the empowerment of women in local communities fringing the MNP in order to reduce their dependence from the natural resources of the park. Northode is mainly working on the development of income generating activities.