*3.1. Study Sites*

This paper is based on a larger DPhil study that examined the dynamics of land tenure and sustainable land management in Ghana [22]. The analysis presented is based on data collated from two study sites, Kakum and Ankasa Conservation Areas situated in the central and western regions of southern Ghana, respectively (see Figure 1). These landscapes are dominated by the permanently protected Kakum National Park and Ankasa National Park and surrounding communities, spanning a total area of 360 km<sup>2</sup> and 509 km2, respectively. The research was conducted in 19 fringe communities randomly selected in Kakum and Ankasa between December 2013 and September 2015 (Figure 1). Aside from having similar tenurial and social contexts affording comparability, both study sites were selected because of their representativeness in illustrating and exploring the prevailing tenurial situation in Ghana's high-forest zone, which spans the southern third of Ghana. In this context, most of the land in the off-reserve areas is stool land wholly owned and managed by the traditional authorities, with pockets of farmlands owned on a leasehold basis (spanning 2 to 50 years) also present [8,22]. Cocoa, oil palm and food crop farming are the dominant economic activities undertaken by households on relatively smaller plots (<5 ha) in the studied communities, working the land under diverse tenurial arrangements, ranging from customary freehold to customary licenses. The tenurial and ethnic diversity in the studied communities afforded a unique opportunity to explore how differences in socio-cultural dynamics (re-)shape tenurial outcomes and conditions of land rights in the study areas.

**Figure 1.** Overview of the two study sites in Ghana. The green area in the map of Ghana illustrates the high-forest zone, with left and right dark arrows pointing to the approximate locations of Ankasa and Kakum conservation areas in the south-western and central regions, respectively. Source: Based on Asaaga and Hirons [8].
