Forest cover change in ho municipality of the Volta region, Ghana

Forests have for long provided life support to the rural people of Ghana, most especially in the Ho Municipality where the forest provides fertile land for food crop production, timber for housing and medicine. Small scale industrial activities, trading and the services sector have recently expanded the scope of employment options in the Ho Municipality. The agricultural sector continues, however, to be a leading employer. These industries are contributing to accelerated deforestation, destroyed animal habitat and contributed to the loss of valuable tree species. While farmers are aware of accelerated forest cover loss, they do not have access to accurate data on the extent and rate of deforestation in order to understand deforestation dynamics and plan remedial measures. In view of the data gap, the study described here was designed to assess the nature, extent and rate of deforestation in the Ho Municipality of Ghana. Land cover change was assessed through the use of classified images from 1975 to 2001 using the Maximum likelihood classification method. Study results show a loss of forest cover of 6562 hectares from 1975 to 1991, and a further loss of 2949 hectares from 1975 to 2001. The study concluded that the accelerated pace of deforestation has negatively affected the biophysical environment.