Paper short abstract:

Ghana adopted collaborative forest management initiatives to build sustainable partnerships among actors. However, its forest management faces many problems, raising concerns about the effectiveness of the partnership. The study examined factors influencing sustainable forest management partnership.

Paper long abstract:

The realisation of the SDGs requires partnership across sectors and actors in an integrated manner by sharing knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources. The 17th Goal particularly promotes effective public-private partnerships for sustainable development of all countries. However, in Ghana, most of these partnerships had not been entirely successful. Notable among them were Aqua Vitens Rand Limited in the water sector, West African Gas Pipeline Company in the energy sector, and STX Engineering & Construction Limited in the housing sector.

Ghana adopted collaborative forest management initiatives in the 1990s to build sustainable partnerships among various stakeholders from national to local levels and between private and public sectors. Notwithstanding these efforts, forest management in Ghana is plagued with numerous problems, including poor benefit-sharing systems, and weak implementation and enforcement of institutional laws and structures. This raises concerns about the effectiveness and sustainability of the partnership in forest management. This study examined the elements influencing sustainability of the partnership in forest management in Ghana's Central Region regarding the Kakum National Park and Pra Suhien Forest Reserve.

Cluster and purposive sampling techniques were used to select respondents. Descriptive statistics, interest analysis and narrative enquiry were used to analyse the data. The study found that sustainable partnership in forest management was influenced by interest management, equity in benefit sharing, clearly-defined roles and responsibilities, rewards and punishment schemes, monitoring and evaluation, and stakeholder capacity in executing their functions. The study recommended that these elements should critically be featured in partnerships for development initiatives for sustainability.