Wastes in the wild: types, effects, and management of plastic waste at Mole National Park, Ghana
AbstractAvailable data show that the number of tourists visiting Ghana’s national parks has increased noticeably. Visitors usually carry with them plastic materials for their convenience and use, which are eventually disposed-of in the parks. Primarily, ensuring that national parks, which are ecolog...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Cogent Social Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2024.2316046 |
| _version_ | 1797317351006273536 |
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| author | Ricky Yao Nutsugbodo David Anaafo Rejoice Selorm Wireko-Gyebi Sampson Wireko-Gyebi Yaw Boakye Agyeman Bernadette Ekua Bedua Afful Anna Arthur-Amissah Jemima Adams |
| author_facet | Ricky Yao Nutsugbodo David Anaafo Rejoice Selorm Wireko-Gyebi Sampson Wireko-Gyebi Yaw Boakye Agyeman Bernadette Ekua Bedua Afful Anna Arthur-Amissah Jemima Adams |
| author_sort | Ricky Yao Nutsugbodo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | AbstractAvailable data show that the number of tourists visiting Ghana’s national parks has increased noticeably. Visitors usually carry with them plastic materials for their convenience and use, which are eventually disposed-of in the parks. Primarily, ensuring that national parks, which are ecologically sensitive natural environments are free of plastic waste is a major challenge for park managers. This research, therefore, sought to understand the different types of plastic waste that are generated in the Mole National Park (MNP) of Ghana, the effects they have on the environment, and the strategies being adopted by the park managers to manage the waste so generated. The study was purely qualitative and employed interviews to collect data from fourteen respondents, with the data coded thematically and analysed. It was found that used plastic bottles, take-out trays, plastic grocery bags, and sachets were the commonly disposed of plastic materials in the MNP. The study further found that the improper disposal of these plastics in the MNP led to pollution, destruction of the park’s aesthetic beauty, plastic ingestion and entanglement, and disease outbreaks. While the main waste management methods in the MNP were either to burn, bury, reuse, upcycle, or sell the plastic waste generated, it is recommended that in the medium to long term, efforts should be made to insulate the MNP of plastics by banning the use of plastics in the park or limiting the type of plastics permitted to only recyclable ones. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T03:33:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-de1ed4ac218d45f786c45efb8ec59f40 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2331-1886 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T03:33:39Z |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cogent Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-de1ed4ac218d45f786c45efb8ec59f402024-02-10T08:52:29ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Social Sciences2331-18862024-12-0110110.1080/23311886.2024.2316046Wastes in the wild: types, effects, and management of plastic waste at Mole National Park, GhanaRicky Yao Nutsugbodo0David Anaafo1Rejoice Selorm Wireko-Gyebi2Sampson Wireko-Gyebi3Yaw Boakye Agyeman4Bernadette Ekua Bedua Afful5Anna Arthur-Amissah6Jemima Adams7Department of Ecotourism, Recreation and Hospitality, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, GhanaDepartment of Geography and Sustainability Science, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, GhanaDepartment of Land Management, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, GhanaDepartment of Ecotourism, Recreation and Hospitality, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, GhanaDepartment of Ecotourism, Recreation and Hospitality, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, GhanaDepartment of Geography and Sustainability Science, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, GhanaDepartment of Ecotourism, Recreation and Hospitality, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, GhanaDepartment of Ecotourism, Recreation and Hospitality, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, GhanaAbstractAvailable data show that the number of tourists visiting Ghana’s national parks has increased noticeably. Visitors usually carry with them plastic materials for their convenience and use, which are eventually disposed-of in the parks. Primarily, ensuring that national parks, which are ecologically sensitive natural environments are free of plastic waste is a major challenge for park managers. This research, therefore, sought to understand the different types of plastic waste that are generated in the Mole National Park (MNP) of Ghana, the effects they have on the environment, and the strategies being adopted by the park managers to manage the waste so generated. The study was purely qualitative and employed interviews to collect data from fourteen respondents, with the data coded thematically and analysed. It was found that used plastic bottles, take-out trays, plastic grocery bags, and sachets were the commonly disposed of plastic materials in the MNP. The study further found that the improper disposal of these plastics in the MNP led to pollution, destruction of the park’s aesthetic beauty, plastic ingestion and entanglement, and disease outbreaks. While the main waste management methods in the MNP were either to burn, bury, reuse, upcycle, or sell the plastic waste generated, it is recommended that in the medium to long term, efforts should be made to insulate the MNP of plastics by banning the use of plastics in the park or limiting the type of plastics permitted to only recyclable ones.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2024.2316046Plastic wastepollutionreuseupcyclingMole National ParkPier Luigi Sacco, Humanities, IULM University, Milano, Italy |
| spellingShingle | Ricky Yao Nutsugbodo David Anaafo Rejoice Selorm Wireko-Gyebi Sampson Wireko-Gyebi Yaw Boakye Agyeman Bernadette Ekua Bedua Afful Anna Arthur-Amissah Jemima Adams Wastes in the wild: types, effects, and management of plastic waste at Mole National Park, Ghana Cogent Social Sciences Plastic waste pollution reuse upcycling Mole National Park Pier Luigi Sacco, Humanities, IULM University, Milano, Italy |
| title | Wastes in the wild: types, effects, and management of plastic waste at Mole National Park, Ghana |
| title_full | Wastes in the wild: types, effects, and management of plastic waste at Mole National Park, Ghana |
| title_fullStr | Wastes in the wild: types, effects, and management of plastic waste at Mole National Park, Ghana |
| title_full_unstemmed | Wastes in the wild: types, effects, and management of plastic waste at Mole National Park, Ghana |
| title_short | Wastes in the wild: types, effects, and management of plastic waste at Mole National Park, Ghana |
| title_sort | wastes in the wild types effects and management of plastic waste at mole national park ghana |
| topic | Plastic waste pollution reuse upcycling Mole National Park Pier Luigi Sacco, Humanities, IULM University, Milano, Italy |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2024.2316046 |
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