Ecotourism in Ghana Incorporates Community Protected Areas

The Global Sustainable Criteria developed by The Partnership for Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC Partnership), a coalition of over 40 organizations suggests that an effective sustainable community-based site or company have as its beacon several goals including:

Providing information about and interpretation of the natural surroundings, local culture and cultural heritage to customers, as well as explaining appropriate behavior while visiting natural areas, living cultures, and cultural heritage sites.

Maximize social and economic benefits to the local community and minimize negative impacts.

Employ local residents, including in management positions; offering training as necessary.

Following established guidelines or a code of behavior for visits to culturally or historically sensitive sites, in order to minimize visitor impact and maximize enjoyment.

Contributes to the protection of local historical, archeological, culturally, and spiritually important properties and sites, and does not impede access to them by local residents.

Maximize benefits to the environment and minimize negative impacts.

Ghana's community-based sustainable tourism project sites have instituted these guidelines with much success. According to the Ghana Rural Ecotourism and Travel Office (GREET), they "promote sustainable tourism that preserves Ghana's natural and cultural resources, while providing jobs and economic development to rural communities." GREET provides information on ecotourism sites like the Mole National Park to tourists and works closely with participating ecotourism destinations and service providers "to improve and maintain the quality of the services they offer."

The communities in Ghana own their land and control of the biodiversity, tourism offerings and culture. The Nature Conservation Research Centre (NCRC), one of Ghana's leading conservation groups, established Community Protected Areas (CPAs) in collaboration with other NGOs and the government as an alternative to the traditional state run conservation efforts. The CPA model links resource and cultural conservation, poverty reduction by creating jobs and plowing the proceeds of eco-tourism back into the community and developing ecotourism offerings in the regions.

According to Earthwatch, "After four years of data collection, NCRC and Earthwatch were able to demonstrate that a sanctuary would provide a profitable alternative to unsustainable hunting and fishing. Investment was made in infrastructure, equipment and training using donations from Earthwatch volunteers, with the aim of leaving behind trained individuals from the community to manage the sanctuary, and the facilities for an eco-tourism enterprise."

The NCRC considers the Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary in Ghana's Upper West Region one of their most successful CPA projects. The sanctuary is run by members from Wechiau communities. It now has well over 600 hippos, thousands of medicinal plants and over 500 other species of animals in its protected area. Since 2001, Wechiua CPA has shared profits of over $30,000 from tourism, proving that sanctuaries can be set up successfully without alienating the people.

The NCRC and its collaborators have been replicating the CPA approach in additional locations including:
Avu Lagoon
Afram Arm
Asumura
Boabeng-Fiema
Tafi Atome and
Nyankamba Escarpment