ASSESSMENT OF FOREST COVER DEPLETION DUE TO LOGGING IN THE OFFIN RIVER PORTION AND OFFIN SHELTERBELT

The study was carried out to determine the level of forest cover loss caused by logging in two Ghanaian forest reserves. This study looked at seven villages and analysed the results of forest inventories. In the seven (7) forest-dependent villages, illegal logging, surface mining, NTFP gathering and processing, and unsustainable agriculture practises were all found. In the Offin Shelterbelt and Tano Offin forest reserves, a total of 21.3 percent forest loss has been documented over an eleven (11) year period. If current over-exploitation and forest degradation in the Offin Shelterbelt forest reserve continue, it is expected that the stand density in terms of basal area (m2 ha-1) will be decreased to fewer than 5 m2ha-1 in seventeen (17) years. The aforementioned malpractices have negative practical repercussions that point to the extinction of prime species that are valuable genetic resources across numerous fields, with the aforementioned floral lives eventually becoming extinct. The loss of forest cover and poor land use practises in the catchment have had a significant impact on the regularity of the flow and water quality of the River Offin, which is vital to the cultural processes of the neighbouring people.

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