Edem with some community members on Agbasiagba.

This project is funded by a Second Rufford Small Grant on the issue of crop raiding by wildlife in the Afadjato-Agumatsa Conservation Area, a community nature reserve in the Hohoe District of Ghana. The project is located in the Gbledi and Fodome Ahor communities. The project will demonstrate local strategies for reducing crop-raiding by wildlife in the project area.

Stakeholders watching a video on crop-raiding.

These strategies, which were recommended during the First Rufford Small Grant in 2006 and 2007, include varying the crops cultivated in farms near the reserve boundary; and using local chilli solutions and / or wildlife faecal solutions on farms to deter crop-raiding wildlife. Other project activities will include planting crops or plants that are palatable to specific wildlife in the forest and monitoring how they serve as food for wildlife. The project participants in the local area will also be trained and educated on the project strategies as well as on forest conservation. This will help to sustain the project activities beyond the project life.

These different activities which are aimed at reducing the amount of crops raided by wildlife will serve as forest conservation incentives to the farmers. The impacts of these incentives of conservation attitudes will also be evaluated as a major part of my research on incentives for forest biodiversity conservation. Project updates will be provided as the project progresses.