Forest law compliance in the High-Forest Zone of Ghana: an analysis of forest farmers’ livelihoods, their forest values, and the factors affecting law compliance behaviour

Illegal forest activities are increasingly recognis ed as one of the major sources of deforestation and the degradation of the world’s tr opical forests. International recognition of and response to the problem of illegal forest ac tivities—most notably illegal logging— have significantly increased since the 1990s, with numerous international, regional and bilateral initiatives emerging across the globe. Th e international response to illegal forest activities is largely focussed on illegal logging ( i.e., the harvesting of timber in violation of national laws) and the enforcement of forest regula tions as the major strategy for addressing illegal forest activities and non-compliant behavio ur. This PhD thesis assesses the relationships between law enforcement and the livelihoods, individual motivations and contextual factors that inform compliance with forest rules. The research builds on a case study of the law complian ce of forest farming communities inhabiting the fringes of forest reserves in the Hi gh-Forest Zone of Ghana. The study first explores the concept of forest communities’ livelih oods and the potential implications of the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) for forest communities’ livelihoods (Article I). Second, it examines farmers’ forest values and the potential role of th ese values in farmers’ compliance with forest rules (Article II). Third, it explores the m otivations and factors that influence farmers’ compliance with a number of formal or stat e forest rules (Article III). Finally, Article IV proposes an analytical framework for for est law compliance, outlining a set of factors and variables that affect compliance behavi our at the individual and group levels. The study results are derived from an expert questi onnaire survey concerning the forest communities’ livelihoods in the FLEGT VPA in Ghana and an interview survey with farmers in the High-Forest Zone of Ghana concerning farmers’ forest values and their compliance with a number of forest rules. The study results suggest that the implementation of the FLEGT VPA is likely to have both positive an d negative impacts on forest communities’ livelihoods. Further, it suggests that f rmers ascribe major importance to those forest values, which directly contribute to t heir livelihoods, including forests’ subsistence, environmental and economic values. Con cerning law compliance, it is found that farmers’ compliance with forest rules is deter mined by a myriad of factors, including the perceived fairness and legitimacy of the rules and ruling authorities, social and cultural norms, fear of sanctions, and the need for resource s for their livelihoods and for domestic use. Further, the study suggests that farmers’ fore st values may, to some extent, influence their compliance with forest rules. Finally, based on the theories of rule compliance and available literature on the sources of non-complian ce in forestry, the study identifies a set variables influencing compliance behaviour at the i ndividual level (e.g., instrumental incentives, legitimacy and social and personal norm s), and group or societal level (e.g., regulatory constraints, political capacity, corrupt ion, property rights and markets).