Deforestation in Ghana is a research-based analytical study that explains the disconnect between the declared deforestation policy intentions and their outcomes in Ghana. Intended as a case study of the renewable resources policy process in developing economies, this book provides complete information and clarification about the phenomenon of continued deforestation in Ghana in spite of the long history of policies and actions to control it. Author Michael Asante's detailed in-depth analysis of historical, political, economic, and cultural factors and events fully explain the unending destruction of the forests in Ghana. He provides experts, students, and all others with rational, practical answers and recommendations for this lingering problem.

This book is an outcome of a research project on "Sustainable Forestry and the Environment in Developing Countries". The project has been run by Metsantutki muslaitos METLA -the Finnish Forest Research Institute since 1987 and will be completed this year. A major output by this project has so far been a report in three volumes on "Deforestation or development in the Third World?" The purpose of our multidisciplinary research project is to generate new knowl edge about the causes of deforestation, its scenarios and consequences. More knowledge is needed for more effective, efficient and equitable public policy, both at the national and intemationallevels in supporting sustainable forestry in develop ing countries. Our project has specifically focused on 90 tropical countries as one group and on three subgroups by continents, as well as the three case study countries, the Philippines, Ethiopia and Chile. The University of Joensuu has been our active partner in the Philippine study. We have complemented the three cases by the analyzes of Brazil and Indonesia, the two largest tropical forest-owning countries. Some other interesting country studies were annexed to complement our book both by geography and expertise. The United Nations University, World Institute for Development Economics Research, UNUIWIDER in Helsinki Finland has also been partly engaged. Most of the results from its project on "The Forest in the South and North in Context of Global Warming" will, however, be published later in a separate book.

This volume bridges the gap between the global promotion of the Green Economy and the manifestation of this new development strategy at the urban level. Green cities are an imperative solution, not only in meeting global environmental challenges but also in helping to ensure socio-economic prosperity at the local level.

This book examines development issues, particularly spatial integration, in Sub-Saharan Africa regarding its tropical timber trade, and the related formal-informal operational turf creation, control and dynamics. Focusing primarily on Ghana, Owusu examines the scramble to control the timber trade by various political and socio-economic interests, from the colonial to the neo-liberal era. In relation to this, Owusu documents the structural and organizational changes that have occurred in the region resulting from national and international development policies, such as modernization and neo-liberal structural adjustment on industrialization and development, and assesses the roles played by powerful international organizations such as The World Bank as agents of economic change. The discussion is couched in the critical but often unrecognized or neglected role the discipline of geography and its associated perspectives play in relation to examining and understanding the unequal relationship between the advanced and developing economies, and how that relationship affects development and trade behavior of developing economies. The core argument made regarding this relationship is tied to the structuralist perspective that Africa's persistent underdevelopment problem is rooted in the very structure of its political economy. Based on the discussion, Owusu identifies and distills lessons from Ghana's experience for Development policy and practice in Africa and comparable Developing countries in the 21st Century.

This study reviews how West African deforestation is represented and the evidence which informs deforestation orthodoxy. On a country by country basis (covering Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo and Benin), and using historical and social anthropological evidence the authors evaluate this orthodox critically. Reframing Deforestation suggests that the scale of deforestation wrought by West African farmers during the twentieth century has been vastly exaggerated. The authors argue that global analyses have unfairly stigmatised West Africa and obscured its more sustainable, even landscape-enriching practices. Stessing that dominant policy approaches in forestry and conservation require major rethinking worldwide, Reframing Deforestation illustrates that more realistic assessments of forest cover change, and more respectful attention to local knowledge and practices, are necessary bases for effective and appropriate environmental policies.

Presents econometric analysis of tropical deforestation, quantifying and examining its local and underlying global causes, with discussion of factors such as population, debt, income and poverty, the timber trade, and agricultural development, and regional and country case studies focusing on Asia and Latin America. Of interest to students and professionals in economics, environmental science, and development studies. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Due to the strong inroads that Western scientism and Western Christianity have made in Africa as a result of colonialism, post-colonial African governments have tended to rely solely on Western scientific conservation epistemologies and models to the neglect of those of the Indigenous African peoples in addressing their environmental problems. However, there is enough evidence that neither modern (scientific) nor indigenous epistemologies and modes of addressing current ecological problems ar...

"Now that economic development is starting to pick up in many countries in Africa, the question arises how such development can be balanced with the need for adequate environmental protection. This crucial issue, inherent in the notion of sustainable development, is addressed in this innovative and path-breaking volume. For the first time, academics from seventeen African countries have joined forces to analyse the way in which economic and environmental interests are balanced in their legal systems. The authors all use a common framework to improve the comparability of the country studies. The different country-related chapters do not only provide insights into the formally applicable legal rules (law in the books), but given that the book brings together academics aware of the practice in Africa, they also describe the way in which environmental policy functions in practice (law in action). Many case studies, with conceptual analyses are provided of pollution incidents and the way in which administrative agencies or courts have on those occasions balanced the interests between the economy, society and the environment. A critical comparative analysis by the editors points at tendencies towards convergence and points of divergence between the African countries. Suggestions for policy reform are also formulated, showing African countries how they can benefit from experiences in the US and Europe. This thought provoking volume is a must for anyone (academic, policymaker or practitioner) interested in sustainable development generally and in Africa in particular."--P. [4] of cover.

An area of tropical forest the size of England continues to be lost each year. This gives rise to around 17 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, greater than global emissions from transport. Addressing deforestation is as essential as decarbonising electricity or transport if the world is to avoid dangerous climate change. A failure to act on deforestation could double the cost of avoiding dangerous climate change to 2030. Deforestation is caused by a range of factors, many of which are exacerbated by a growing global population and increasing consumption. Halting deforestation requires: (a) support for rainforest nations to help them manage their development so that it does not allow continued deforestation; (b) management of the demand for commodities whose production encourages deforestation; and (c) the introduction of a mechanism to pay developing countries for maintaining, and in due course recreating, their forests. The UK needs to act in all three areas if its policies on deforestation are to be successful. Ignoring any one undermines the effectiveness and durability of action in the other areas. As part of this work the Government must: remove subsidies that contribute to deforestation, such as biofuels policy; develop sustainability standards for agricultural commodities; implement and enforce government timber procurement; and, seek an EU-wide ban on illegal timber imports combined with robust sanctions. Illegal timber imports are still a fact of life within the UK timber trade. The economic, environmental and development case for immediate action on deforestation is clear. But success is possible only if the international community works together effectively.

This stunning 400-page Atlas is a unique and powerful publication which brings to light stories of environmental change at more than 100 locations spread across every country in Africa. There are more than 300 satellite images, 300 ground photographs and 150 maps, along with informative graphs and charts that give a vivid visual portrayal of Africa and its changing environment that provide scientific evidence of the impact that natural and human activities have had on the continent's environment over the past several decades. The observations and measurements of environmental change help gauge the extent of progress made by African countries towards reaching the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals. More importantly, this book contributes to the knowledge and understanding that are essential for adaptation and remediation, and should be of immense value to all those who want to know more about Africa and who care about the future of this continent.