Abstract
The scarcity of environmental data means that other sources of information are needed to complement empirical evidence for conservation decisions. We, therefore, aimed to explore Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) on mammal abundance and qualitative population trends through interviews from 331 local people in and around Kogyae Strict Nature Reserve, Ghana. The results show that 62% of the respondents perceived that mammal abundances had decreased, 31% perceived stability, and 8% perceived that mammals had increased between 2006 and 2017. The respondents attributed the decline to habitat degradation and illegal hunting. The knowledge of local people about mammal population trends is consistent with reported mammal encounters by law enforcement rangers. However, the length of residence, location of communities, and cardinal direction of communities influenced local peoples’ knowledge of mammal abundance and population trends. Our results highlight the ability of LEK to provide reliable ecological information on animal abundance and qualitative population trends. Integrating LEK into monitoring and management is appealing because it can be cost-effective, enhance community participation, and provide novel insights into sustainable resource use.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ghana Statistical Service (2014) 2010 Population and housing census of Ghana. Ghana Statistical Service, Accra
Abukari H, Mwalyosi RB (2018a) Comparing conservation attitudes of park-adjacent communities: the case of Mole national park in Ghana and Tarangire national park in Tanzania. Trop Conserv Sci 11:1–14
Wildlife Department (1994) Kogyae strict nature reserve national park management plan. Wildlife Division, Accra
Abukari H, Mwalyosi RB (2018b) Comparing pressures on national parks in Ghana and Tanzania: the case of Mole and Tarangire national parks. Glob Ecol Conserv 15:1–13
Acquah E, Rollins R, Dearden P, Murray G, Rollins R (2017) Concerns and benefits of park-adjacent communities in northern Ghana: the case of Mole national park. Int J Sust Dev World Ecol 24:316–327
Anadón JD, Giménez A, Ballestar R (2010) Linking local ecological knowledge and habitat modelling to predict absolute species abundance on large scales. Biodivers Conserv 19:1443–1454
Anadón JD, Giménez A, Ballestar R, Pérez I (2009) Evaluation of local ecological knowledge as a method for collecting extensive data on animal abundance. Conserv Biol 23:617–625
Ayivor JS, Ntiamoa-Baidu Y (2015) Assessing the socio-economic stressors of Ghana’s only Strict Nature Reserve: Kogyae. Parks 21.2:85–100
Ayivor SJ, Gordon C, Ntiamoa-Baidu Y (2013) Protected area management and livelihood conflicts in Ghana: a case study of Digya National Park. Parks 19:37–50
Balram S, Dragićević S, Meredith T (2004) A collaborative GIS method for integrating local and technical knowledge in establishing biodiversity conservation priorities. Biodivers Conserv 13:1995–1208
Ban N, Picard C, Vincent A (2009) Comparing and integrating community-based and science-based approaches to prioritizing marine areas for protection. Conserv Biol 23:899–910
Bell RHV (1985) Monitoring of illegal activity and law enforcement in African conservation areas. In: Bell RHV, McShane-Caluzi E (eds) Conservation, and wildlife management in Africa. US Peace Corps, Washington DC, p 317–351
Berkes F, Folke C (1998) Linking social and ecological systems: management practices and social mechanisms for building resilience. Cambridge University Press, New York
Berkes F, Colding J, Folke C (2000) Rediscovery of traditional ecological knowledge as adaptive management. Ecol Appl 10:1251–1262
Bobo KS, Kamgaing TOW, Kamdoum EC, Dzefack ZCB (2015) Bushmeat hunting in southeastern cameroon: magnitude and impact on duikers (Cephalophus spp.). Afr Study Monogr 51:119–141
Bosu D (2014) Community resource management areas: Laying the foundation for REDD-plus in Ghana. Accra, Ghana: AROCHA Ghana. http://www.ecosystem-alliance.org/sites/default/files/documents/CREMAs%20and%20REDD%20Plus%20in%20Ghana.pdf
Bragagnolo C, Malhado AM, Jepson P, Ladle R (2016) Modelling local attitudes to protected areas in developing countries. Conserv Soc 14:163–182
Brashares JS, Arcese P, Sam MK, Coppolillo PB, Sinclair ARE, Balmford A (2004) Bushmeat hunting, wildlife declines, and fish supply in West Africa. Science 306:1180–1183
Brook RK, M’Lot M, McLachlan SM (2006) Pitfalls to avoid when linking traditional and scientific knowledge. In: Riewe R, Oakes J (eds) Climate change: linking traditional and scientific knowledge. Aboriginal Issues Press, Winnipeg
Bundy A, Davis A (2013) Knowing in context: an exploration of the interface of marine harvesters’ local ecological knowledge with ecosystem approaches to management. Mar Policy 38:277–286
Cardinale BJ, Duffy JE, Gonzalez AD, Hooper U, Perrings C, Venail P, Narwani A, Mace GM, Tilman D, Wardle DA et al. (2012) Corrigendum: Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity. Nature 489:326–326
Ceríaco LMP, Marques MP, Madeira NC, Vila-Viçosa CM, Mendes P (2011) Folklore and traditional ecological knowledge of geckos in Southern Portugal: implications for conservation and science. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 7:26
Charnley S, Fischer AP, Jones ET (2007) Integrating traditional and local ecological knowledge into forest biodiversity conservation in the Pacific Northwest. Ecol Manag 246:14–28
Collen B, Loh J, Whitmee S, McRae L, Amin R, Baillie JEM (2009) Monitoring change in vertebrate abundance: the living planet index. Conserv Biol 23:317–327
Cook CN, Wardell-Johnson G, Carter RW, Hockings M (2014) How accurate is the local ecological knowledge of protected area practitioners? Ecol Soc 19:32
Craigie ID, Baillie JEM, Balmford A, Carbone C, Collen B, Green RE, Hutton JM (2010) Large mammal population declines in Africa’s protected areas. Biol Conserv 143:2221–2228
Danquah E, Owusu AJ (2015) Distribution of buffalos in the Kogyae Strict Nature Reserve. Ghana Appl Res 1:20–26
Davis A, Wagner JR (2003) Who knows? On the importance of identifying “Experts” when researching local ecological knowledge. Hum Ecol 31:463–489
Davis A, Ruddle K (2010) Constructing confidence: rational skepticism and systematic enquiry in local ecological knowledge research. Ecol Appl 20:880–894
Dıaz S, Fargione J, Chapin FS, Tilman D (2006) Biodiversity loss threatens human well-being. PLoS Biol 4:1300–1305
Djiwa O (2008) Dynamique foerestière et diagnostic de la gestion de la forêt classée d’Abdoulaye au Togo. http://agritrop.cirad.fr/556690/. Accessed 22 Feb 2020
Folke C (2004) Traditional knowledge in social-ecological systems. Ecol Soc 9:7
Fonkwo NS, Angwafo TE, Mbida M (2011) Abundance and distribution of large mammals in the Bakossi landscape area, Cameroon. J Soil Sci Environ Manag 2:43–48
Gandiwa E (2012) Local knowledge and perceptions of animal population abundances by communities adjacent to the northern Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe. Trop Conserv Sci 5:255–269
Gilchrist G, Mallory M, Merkel F (2005) Can local ecological knowledge contribute to wildlife management? Case studies of migratory birds. Ecol Soc 10:20
Gómez-Baggethun E, Groot RD, Lomas PL, Montes C (2010) The history of ecosystem services in economic theory and practice: From early notions to markets and payment schemes. Ecol Econs 69:1209–1218
Gonédélé S, Koné I, Bitty JEA, Béné C, Akpatou B, Zinner D (2012) Distribution and conservation status of catarrhine primates in Côte d’Ivoire (West Africa). Folia Primatol 83:11–23
Grant S, Berkes F (2007) Fisher knowledge as an expert system: a case from the longline fishery of Grenada, the eastern Caribbean. Fish Res 84:162–170
Hagan JE (1998) The Kogyae strict nature reserve. The World Bank/WBI’s CBNRM Initiative
Halme KJ, Bodmer RE (2007) Correspondence between scientific and traditional ecological knowledge: rain forest classification by the non-indigenous ribereños in Peruvian Amazonia. Biodivers Conserv 16:1785–1801
Hariohay KM, Røskaft E (2015) Wildlife induced damage to crops and livestock loss and how they affect human attitudes in the Kwakuchinja wildlife corridor in northern Tanzania. Environ Nat Resour Res 5:72–79
Hariohaya KM, Fyumagwaa RD, Kideghesho JR, Røskaft E (2018) Awareness and attitudes of local people toward wildlife conservation in the Rungwa Game Reserve in Central Tanzania. Hum Dimens Wildl 23:503–514
Hitomi MK, Loring PA (2018) Hidden participants and unheard voices? A systematic review of gender, age, and other influences on local and traditional knowledge research in the North. Facets 3:830–848
Huntington HP (2000) Using traditional ecological knowledge in science: methods and applications. Ecol Appl 10:1270–1274
Jachmann H (2008) Monitoring law-enforcement performance in nine protected areas in Ghana. Biol Conserv 141:89–99
Jones JPG, Asner GPS, Butchart HM, Karanth KU (2013) The ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ of monitoring for conservation. In: Macdonald DW, Willis KJ (ed) Key topics in conservation biology 2. John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey, USA, pp 327–343
Joppa LN, Loarie SR, Nelson A (2010) Measuring population growth around tropical protected areas: current issues and solutions. Trop Conserv Sci 3:117–121
Kablan YA, Diarrassouba A, Mundry R, Campbell G, Normand E, Kühl HS, Koné I, Boesch C (2019) Effects of anti-poaching patrols on the distribution of large mammals in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire. Oryx 53:469–478
Kothari CR (2004) Research methodology: methods and techniques, 2nd Edition. New Age International, New Delhi, India
Kyerematen R, Erasmus O, Lamptey A, Anderson DR, Ntiamoa-Baidu Y (2014) Species composition and diversity of insects of the kogyae strict nature reserve in Ghana. Open J Ecol 4:1061–1079
Law W, Salick J, Knight TM (2010) The effects of pollen limitation on population dynamics of snow lotus (Saussurea medusa and S.laniceps, Asteraceae): Threatened Tibetan medicinal plants of the eastern Himalayas. Plant Ecol 210:343–357
Leedy DL (1949) Ohio pheasant nesting surveys based on farmer interviews. J Wildl Manag 13:274–286
Loring PA, Harrison HL, Gerlach SC (2014) Local perceptions of the sustainability of Alaska’s highly contested Cook Inlet salmon fisheries. Soc Nat Resour 27:185–199
Lozano‐Montes HM, Pitcher TJ, Haggan N (2008) Shifting environmental and cognitive baselines in the upper Gulf of California. Fron Ecol Environ 6:75–80
Maynou F, Sbrana M, Sartor P, Maravelias C, Kavadas S, Damalas D, Cartes JE, Osio G (2011) Estimating trends of population decline in long-lived marine species in the Mediterranean Sea based on fishers’ perceptions. PloS ONE 6:e21818
Ministry of Finance (2015) The composite budget of the Sekyere Central District Assembly for the 2016 fiscal year. https://www.mofep.gov.gh/sites/default/files/composite-budget/2016/AR/Sekyere-Central.pdf
Moller H, Berkes F, Lyver PO, Kislalioglu M (2004) Combining science and traditional ecological knowledge: monitoring populations for co-management. Ecol Soc 9:2
Moller H, Charleton K, Knight B, Lyver P (2009) Traditional ecological knowledge and scientific inference of prey availability: harvests of sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) chicks by Rakiura Maori. NZ J Zool 36:259–274
Murray G, Agyare A, Dearden P, Rollins R (2018) Devolution, coordination, and community-based natural resource management in Ghana’s community resource management areas. Afr Geo Rev 38:296–306
Nyhus P, Sumianto J, Tilson R (2003) Wildlife knowledge among migrants in southern Sumatra, Indonesia: implications for conservation. Environ Conserv 30:192–199
Oduro-Ofori E, Ocloo EKA, Peprah C, Effah G (2015) Assessing natural resource use conflicts in the kogyae strict nature reserve. Environ Nat Resour Res 5:56–71
Okello MM, Kioko JM (2010) Contraction of wildlife dispersal area in Olgulului-Ololorashi Group Ranch around Amboseli National Park, Kenya. Open Conserv Biol J 4:34–45
Platt SG, Platt K, Soe MM, Myo KM, Holmes KE, Rainwater TR (2015) Marine turtles and estuarine crocodiles in Lampi Marine National Park, Myanmar: a conservation and threat assessment with recommendations. Herpetol Rev 46:319–327
Platt SG, Platt K, Myo KM, Moe K, Soe MM, Naing TZ, Lin N, Rainwater TR (2013) Noteworthy records of chelonians from the Chindwin River basin and Naga Hills of western Myanmar. Herpetolo Conserv Bio 8:335–350
Quinlan RJ, Quinlan MB (2007) Parenting and cultures of risk: a comparative analysis of infidelity, aggression, and witchcraft. Am Anthropologist 109:164–179
Scholte P (2011) Towards understanding large mammal population declines in Africa’s protected areas: a West-Central African perspective. Trop Conserv Sci 4:1–11
Sillitoe P (1998) The development of indigenous knowledge. Curr Anthropol 39:223–252
Silvestre G, Pauly D (1997) Management of tropical coastal fisheries in Asia: an overview of key challenges and opportunities. In: Sivestre G, Pauly D (eds.) Status and management of tropical coastal fisheries in Asia. International Center for Living Aquatic Resource Management Conference Proceedings 53, Manila, pp 8–25
Sobral A, La Torre-Cuadros MA, Alves RRN, Albuquerque UP (2017) Conservation efforts based on local ecological knowledge: the role of social variables in identifying environmental indicators. Ecol Ind 81:171–181
Stave J, Oba G, Nordal I, Stenseth NC (2007) Traditional ecological knowledge of a riverine forest in Turkana, Kenya: implications for research and management. Biodivers Conserv 16:1471–1489
Topp-Jørgensen E, Nielsen MR, Marshall AR, Pedersen U (2009) Relative densities of mammals in response to different levels of bushmeat hunting in the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania. Trop Conserv Sci 2:70–87
Vaughan N, Lucas E, Harris S, White PL (2003) Habitat associations of European hares Lepus europaeus in England and Wales: implications for farmland management. J Appl Ecol 40:163–175
Verweij M, Van Densen W, Mol AJP (2010) The tower of Babel: different perceptions and controversies on change and status of North Sea fish stocks in multi-stakeholder settings. Mar Policy 34:522–533
von Glasenapp M, Thornton TF (2011) Traditional ecological knowledge of swiss alpine farmers and their resilience to socioecological change. Hum Ecol 39:769–781
Wintle BA, Runge MC, Bekessy S (2010) Allocating monitoring effort in the face of unknown unknowns. Ecol Lett 13:1325–1337
Woods D (2003) The tragedy of the cocoa pod: rent-seeking, land, and ethnic conflict in the Ivory Coast. J Mod Afr Stud 41:641–655
Young JC, Searle KA, Butler P, Simmons A, Watt A (2016) Jordan: the role of trust in the resolution of conservation conflicts. Biol Conserv 195:196–202
Zimmerer KS (1991) The regional biogeography of native potato cultivars in highland Peru. J Biogeo 18:165–178
Acknowledgements
We thank the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission of Ghana for permitting us to conduct our research. We acknowledge the local communities in and around the protected areas and the many field guides who assisted in the research.
Funding
The study was supported by the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, internal grant agency (CIGA) project number 20185007.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary information
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Owusu Afriyie, J., Opare Asare, M. Use of Local Ecological Knowledge to Detect Declines in Mammal Abundance in Kogyae Strict Nature Reserve, Ghana. Environmental Management 66, 997–1011 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-020-01372-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-020-01372-8