Socio-Ecological Factors that Impact Sustainable Management of the lake Bosomtwe Basin in Ghana

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the social-ecological factors that hold back sustainability efforts in the Lake Bosomtwe basin in Ghana, how these factors change over time, and what determines their ability to absorb disturbances in either their ecological or social domains. A mixed methods approach was utilized, using primary, secondary, and tertiary literature; unstructured interviews with thirty-one respondents; transect walks, observations and photography. A causal-chain analysis was used to illustrate and trace out the ways in which identified factors act and interact to degrade the lake\u27s ecosystem. The study finds that factors constraining sustainability efforts and exacerbating environmental problems in the lake basin include rapid population growth, high levels of poverty, and weak lake basin governance systems. Further aggravating the problem is irreverence for traditional resource management practices which have been a useful tool in managing resources in the past, and changes in climate variables of rainfall and temperature, thus affecting lake water levels. Systems of interventions necessary to address these problems are noted