ghana climate change vulnerability and adaptation assessment

Source: Reich etal., 2001Figure 6.2 Riskof Human-Induced Desertification across AfricaDEFORESTATIONAND DEGRADATIONEstimates of forest cover in Ghana vary considerably and depend on how forest is definedd and the method ofassessment. To date, nocomplete forest inventory of the country exists. Mostt estimates offorest in Ghana focuson the high forest zone, about the southern third of the countryy (the Rain Forest and Deciduous Forest zones,Figure 5.1). Until 1900, it was estimated that 33 percent of the country had forest cover (Wagner and Cobbinah1993). By the late 1980s, forest coverhad declined 78 percent (too 1.8 million ha) and forestareas are nowfragmented. Estimates of deforestation rates for Ghana vary from 1.3 percent-3 percent/yrr (Appiah, Blay et al.2009). TheForestry Commission estimates the amount of high forest in Ghana in 1900 was about 8.2-8. .8 millionha, consistent with estimates of the HFZ as 8.5 million ha (Hansen, Lund et al. 2009). Official statistics of forestcover, on which estimates of deforestation are based, seem to pertain only to the HFZ. Nevertheless,considerable forest cover exists outside of the HFZ(Wardell, Reenberg et al. 2003) and figures for land in forestGHANA CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABILITYAND ADAPTATION ASSESSMENT 99