LocationsRestoring Ghana's Northern Savannah Forests for a Climate-Resilient Future
Ghana Shea Landscapes Emission Reductions Project (GSLERP)
A GCF-funded initiative restoring degraded savannah woodlands, protecting shea landscapes, and building community resilience across Ghana's Northern Savannah Zone.
Project Overview
Ghana's Northern Savannah Zone is one of the country's most ecologically and economically significant landscapes — and one of its most threatened. Centuries-old shea trees and woodland ecosystems that sustain millions of livelihoods are being lost to agricultural conversion, timber cutting, and uncontrolled bush fires at an alarming rate.
The Ghana Shea Landscapes Emission Reductions Project (GSLERP) is a landmark response to this crisis. Approved by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and implemented by UNDP with the Forestry Commission as Executing Entity, the project takes a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder approach to restoring and sustainably managing Ghana's savannah forests and shea parklands.
Working across four key outputs, the project:
- Empowers communities through the establishment of 10 Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs), structured with clear benefit-sharing arrangements and sustainable forest management systems
- Restores shea parklands through public-private partnerships led by the Global Shea Alliance, planting 1.75 million shea trees and strengthening shea processing value chains
- Establishes forest plantations using the Modified Taungya System, covering 25,500 hectares and benefitting 13,000 farmers, alongside fire management across 200,000 hectares
- Monitors and verifies greenhouse gas emission reductions through an integrated REDD+ monitoring, reporting and verification system
By shifting from short-term, stop-gap measures to long-term, integrated community resource management, GSLERP aims to reduce emissions, restore ecosystems, and build lasting climate resilience for the most vulnerable communities in Ghana's north.
About the Project
Ghana's Northern Savannah Zone (NSZ) — spanning 9.7 million hectares and home to over 5 million people — is facing a severe deforestation crisis. Total forest cover declined by over 77% between 2001 and 2015, resulting in greenhouse gas emissions of an estimated 3.568 million tCO2e per year. Shea trees, which grow naturally across traditional farming systems and provide vital ecological, social, and economic services to the region, are among the most threatened.
Developed by the Government of Ghana and UNDP, and approved by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Ghana Shea Landscapes Emission Reductions Project (GSLERP) addresses this crisis through a transformational, community-driven approach. The project restores degraded savannah woodlands through Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs), strengthens shea parklands via public-private partnerships, applies the Modified Taungya System for plantation development, and implements integrated fire management and REDD+ monitoring systems. Key partners include the Forestry Commission (FC), the Global Shea Alliance (GSA), FORIG, EPA, COCOBOD, and KNUST.
