Landowners’ Perceptions and Involvement in the Management of Kyabobo National Park, Ghana

Abstract

This study examines the perceptions of landowners of fringe communities of the Kyabobo National Park (KNP) about their involvement in the creation and management of the KNP. Four KNP-fringe communities namely: Shiare, Odomi, Gekorong, and Keri which are less than a kilometre from the boundary of the park were selected for the study. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to establish the relationship between landowners’ perceptions and their involvement in the management of the park. A systematic sampling method was used to select 212 landowners for interviews using a structured interview schedule. The study found that some landowners in the KNP-fringe communities were employed at various levels in the management of the park but were not managing partners of the park. Landowners also benefited from selling handicrafts to park visitors. The physical infrastructures in the communities have remained poor. It is recommended that landowners in park-fringe communities are given the opportunity to become managing partners of the park to guarantee the successful operation of the park. Government should also provide modern physical infrastructure in the KNP-fringe communities as was promised prior to the establishment of the park.