Juabeso and Bia West Districts
The project is currently being implemented in Bia West and Juabeso administrative Districts in the Western region of Ghana.
This is a high-value landscape with landmass covering 240,000 Ha
Population: 120,000
Total Cocoa Production: 60,000 MT (Juabeso : 12,000 MT, Bia West : 48,000 MT)
77% in the areas of Cocoa production, Timber, Oil Palm and Gold mining (Majority engaged in agriculture)
150,000 Ha (Bia National Park and Krokosua Forest Reserve)
Major cocoa companies operate in the landscape but not all are part of landscape scale efforts
Why Juabeso and Bia Districts?
The Juabeso-Bia Landscape has been designated as one of the Hotspot Intervention Areas for the Ghana Cocoa Forest REDD+ Programme (GCFRP), and covers an area of 243,561 Ha. HIAs were selected based on the presence of significant forest patches and their deforestation trends, the types of drivers (in this case cocoa expansion and illegal logging), being a dominant cocoa production landscape, as well as the potential for stakeholders’ engagement. Together, these factors point to a high potential for impact in reducing significant emissions and increasing cocoa yields through a climate-smart approach. The landscape is dominated by cocoa farming in the “off-reserve” areas, and contains two major forest reserves (Bia North and Krokosua Hills, a globally significant biodiversity hotspot) and Bia National Park.