Mapping of the Kabo River Forest Reserve in Ghana towards Community-Based Fire Management

Post-fire restoration and vegetation management in a fire-prone area, where ‘no burning’ practice is a policy, could subsequently result in severe burning when fuel-load builds up. In line with the Ghana National WildfireManagement Policy objectives, that seek to promote basic and applied user-focused research in wildfire management [Section 3.3 (iv)], and the suggested strategies for effective prevention and control [Section 3.4.1(Bullet 5 & 6)], an analog map of portions of the Kabo River Forest Reserve (KRFR) in the Kadjebi District of the Volta Region was transformed into digital spatial data, using Landsat ETM+ December 2000 satellite imagery. With available ground data sets, the December 2000 pictorial result of processed Landsat ETM+ imagery was corroborated with plant species diversity indices for systematic vegetation analysis to provide the necessary baseline for community-based fire management. The resultant vegetation-type maps derived is used to provide a spectral signature guide on potential ground areas likely to suffer wildfire occurrences, hence strategizing for fire-fighting during the dry season. It is recommended that the quality of other sites of the KRFR and seriously degraded forest reserves in Ghana be assessed, using similar methodological approach, to enable numerous fireprone forest sites to be consistently monitored and compared through time or between sites/treatments, if the relationship between future fire and restoration success has to be measured

The Flora and mammals of the moist semi-deciduous Forest Zone in the Sefwi-Wiawso District of the Western Region, Ghana

The study presents results of a floristic and mammal survey undertaken in the Sefwi-Wiawso District within moist semi-deciduous vegetation zone of the Western Region of Ghana. The floral survey involved estimating the floral distribution, abundance and diversity using the standard indices, Shannon-Wiener, Simpson’s, evenness, species richness, similarity, and â-diversity, while the mammal survey was conducted using direct opportunistic observation, live-trapping (small mammals), animal spoors/trophies, and interviews. There were 271 plant species recorded, out of which 174 species comprising 172 species and 67 families of angiosperms (Angiospermae) and two species of ferns (Pterydophyta) were scientifically-named. Forty species of mammals representing eight orders were recorded, with the dominant orders being Rodentia and Artiodactyla. The greatest faunal diversity occurred in the forest reserves, where suitable habitat niches still occur. There were 48 individuals of seven species of rodents and one individual of one insectivore species captured during live-trapping, with the commonest species being common mice (Mus spp.) and brush-furred mice (Lophuromys flavopunctatus). The greatest threat to the survival of the fauna is habitat destruction. Generally, the Sefwi-Wiawso District is very rich in forest tree species, the commonest being the Celtis-Triplochiton Associations, but bad agricultural practices, bush burning, intense logging, fuelwood harvesting and pollution have resulted in poor soil quality and land degradation in certain areas. Hunting of animals for meat, and destruction of habitats were the greatest threats to faunal diversity and abundance in the Sefwi-Wiawso District