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Recent estimates indicate that over 291 million hectares of the Earth’s land area are occupied by forest plantations, representing 7% of the world’s forest area and 2% of the world’s land area. In Ghana, a substantial amount of degraded land found in hilly areas has been used to establish teak plantations for commercial wood and carbon benefits. Information on the potential influence of topography and soil properties on tree growth and carbon stocks in these plantations is however limited. The study was carried out to assess the influence of elevation on tree growth parameters and carbon stocks in a 7-year-old teak stand and also determined the differences in soil properties along the elevation gradient and its influence on biomass and carbon stocks. Although stand density was statistically similar for the three elevations, tree, diameter, and basal area significantly differed among the three elevations. They were higher at the valley than the mid-slope and the summit. The aboveground biomass and belowground biomass were also significantly higher at the valley compared to the mid-slope and summit. Measured SOC and CEC values between the three elevations showed no significant difference while a positive significant correlation between soil depth and biomass along the altitudinal gradient was observed. Overall, the mean percentage of nitrogen in the soil, pH, potassium, sodium levels, hydrogen, and aluminum varied significantly among the three elevations. Our study suggests that in mountainous areas teak stands in valleys are likely to produce higher biomass and carbon stocks than those in higher elevations; therefore, for better accuracy in biomass and carbon stocks estimations, site elevation should be taken into consideration during carbon stock assessments.

Forest cover loss, particularly those arising from deforestation and forest degradation, is largely driven by human activities and has attracted global attention over the decades. Globally, countries have adopted strategies to manage and conserve forests in response to these human disturbances. Ghana’s strategy to ensure sustainable management of the forest and its estate was to zone the forest into management regimes based on the resource availability and the object of managing those particular areas. Whilst forest degradation and its drivers and actors have been widely reported in Ghana, it is not known how forest management regimes influence these issues. Focusing on four forest reserves in the high forest zone of Ghana, this paper used interviews of key forest stakeholders, analysis of Forestry Commission field reports, and field verification to demonstrate the effect of forest management regimes on drivers of forest degradation. A combination of many proximate and underlying factors was observed to drive degradation in a synergetic way. The main drivers which were identified and their corresponding actors varied and manifested differently across management regimes. The strive by forest landowners to earn revenue from the protected forest, perceived unfair payment of ground rents for protected areas by Timber Utilization Contract holders, poor forest management practices on the part of forestry personnel, nondeterrent penalties, poor forest monitoring, the granting of compartment re-entry permits to harvest residual yield, overdependence on few species, weak enforcement of forest regulations, and perceived corruption on the part of forestry officials were the major underlying factors that impact on how the drivers manifested in various regimes. Our study reveals that the primary forest stakeholders of the country are the main actors of forest degradation and have developed various means convenient for specific regimes that enable them to benefit from the forest at the expense of conservation.