Exploring willingness-to-pay for the restoration and maintenance of reserved forests in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana

In recent years, debates on the alarming rate of forest depletion emanating from growth in urban settlement and changed urban land-use patterns have gained prominence across the globe. The present study adopts a demand-side management approach to investigate household's willingness-to-pay for the restoration and maintenance of protected forest reserves in three municipalities in Ghana. Using survey data of 733 households from the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, we model the demand for forest restoration and maintenance, respectively, by means of the contingent valuation technique. As part of the findings, the study shows evidence that a household is willing to pay Gh¢50.99 ($8.67) and Gh¢31.12 ($5.29) per annum to restore and maintain the protected forests, respectively. These amounts constitute less than one percent of the average household income per month. Consequently, critical validity tests are conducted to validate the robustness of the results. This study provides willingness-to-pay estimates for forest and forest resources, and its associated determinants. These estimates seek to bridge the information gap and inform policy decisions toward the overarching aim of ensuring sustainable forest management in Ghana.

Anthony Amoah, Adusei Jumah, Kofi Korle