Sites - Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

Ornithological information See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. Tano-Offin supports several nationally rare species such as Columba unicincta, Cercococcyx olivinus and Tockus camurus. A total of 110 bird species were recorded in a two-week survey.

Site description The Tano-Offin Forest Reserve falls within the Atwima District of the Ashanti Region and is situated between the Kumasi–Wiowso–Tepa and Kumasi–Bibiani roads; the Kumasi–Wiowso–Tepa road forms the northern boundary of the reserve. The site comprises much of the Nyinahin hills, which run north-east–south-west, with Aya Bepo (740 m) the highest point, and which serve as the catchment area for several streams, tributaries of the Tano and Offin rivers. The reserve falls within the moist semi-deciduous forest zone and includes 34,100 ha of upland evergreen forest. The reserve was partitioned into 16 timber concessions in the 1970s and 1980s, and the last official logging was recorded in 1991. Some 2% of the reserve has been converted, under the taungya system, into Mansonia, Pterygota and Terminalia superba plantation. Many of the slopes show signs of periodic burning.

Populations of IBA trigger species

Protected areas

Protected area	Designation	Area (ha)	Relationship with IBA	Overlap with IBA (ha)
Tano Ofin	Forest Reserve	40,223	protected area contains site	40,200

Habitats

Land use

Other biodiversity None known to BirdLife International.

Management considerations The reserve was first created under the Ashanti Native Authority Rules in 1929 and, like most other Forest Reserves in the country, has more recently been protected under the Lands Administration Act (1962), the Forest Protection Decree (1974) and the Forest Protection Law (1986). Ownership of the reserve is vested in the Ashanti Golden Stool, with the Hia, Nyinahin and Nkawie-Panin Stools acting as caretakers. It is classified as a Condition 3 reserve (GHI 70), and a greater degree of protection has been proposed, including a Hill Sanctuary. Some parts of the reserve have been degraded through logging and bush fires, resulting in patchy vegetation in places, but good forest is still predominant, although illegal logging continues.The reserve contains the largest tract of remaining upland evergreen forest in Ghana, which is scattered and very limited in area, but which contains plant species not found elsewhere in the country (see also GH002). The reserve justifies better protection, which would necessitate greater control of bush fires and elimination of illegal mining and logging, as well as an appropriate management strategy involving, amongst other things, allowance of the sustainable exploitation of forest products from areas of secondary forest. The forest is currently exploited by local villagers for non-timber forest products such as poles, cane, palm trees and fruits, chew-sticks, pestles, snails and bush-meat, as well as timber for housing and other development projects. The reserve has bauxite deposits and a number of bauxite concessions have been granted in the past.

References Hawthorne and Abu-Juam (1995), Ntiamoa-Baidu, Asamoah et al. (2000).

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Recommended citation  BirdLife International (2013) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Tano-Offin Forest Reserve. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 20/06/2013

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