Physical and Natural Environment

The physical and the natural environment are essential elements or factors for determining socio-economic development of the Municipality. This stems from the fact that apart from being potential resources, they also serve as framework within which all development activities take place. The major factors that need critical analysis and their implications for development in the Municipality under physical and natural environment include location and size, climate, vegetation, relief and drainage, soil, geology and minerals, deforestation, mining and quarrying, bushfires, soil erosion and natural disasters, etc. The interaction between the human and physical environment and its development implications with respect to the above major factors are clearly and briefly described below.

Location and Size

The Bibiani- Anhwiaso-Bekwai Municipal is one of the nine (9) Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in the Western North Region. The Municipality is located between latitude 6° N, 3° N and longitude 2° W, 3° W. The Municipality is bounded on the north by the Atwima Mponua District in the Ashanti Region, south by the Wassa Amenfi West District in the Western Region, west by the Sefwi Wiawso Municipal Assembly in the Western North Region and east by the Upper Denkyira West District and Amansie West District in the Central Region and Ashanti region respectively.

The Municipality covers a total land area of 873 km square and had a population of 123,272 in 2010 and with a growth rate of 1.8% per annum, the projected population for 2018 is 142,365.

There are at least 345 communities with about 65 having a population above 500 persons (2010 Population and Housing Census) making the Municipality predominately rural. The exact location of the Municipality with respect to the regional and national context is indicated in Figures 1.2 and 1. 3. The Municipality capital, Bibiani is located 356 km to the northwest of Sekondi-Takoradi (the Regional Capital) and 88km to Kumasi, the nearest commercial centre.

The Municipality’s proximity to large commercial centre such as Kumasi coupled with good highway, makes it attractive in doing business in the Municipality. As a result, the Municipality experience a very good market day for food stuff especially among subsistence farmers who dominate the Municipality’s population.

Free flow of information from the regional and national level is hampered by the long distances between the Municipality capital and its regional and national capitals. Apparently, this situation results in high administrative cost for the Municipal Assembly and other organization and agencies operating in the Municipality. Prospective investors who want to invest in the Municipality are somehow reluctant due to the above-mentioned bottlenecks.

Climate

The Municipality is located in the equatorial climate with the annual rainfall average between 1200mm and 1500mm.The pattern is bimodal, falling between March - August and September- October. The dry season is noticeable between November - January. The peak periods for rainfall in the Municipality are June and October. The average temperature throughout the year is about 26°c.There is a high relative humidity averaging between 75% in the afternoon and 95% in the night and early morning.

The implication of the climate of the Municipality is that it is suitable for the growing of various crops particularly both cash and food crops. This is the reason why the Municipality is one of the leading producers of the cash crop like cocoa in Ghana.

The good climatic condition provides suitable water table which is good in potable water (boreholes and hand-dug wells) provision in the Municipality. However, the recently changed in the climatic conditions of the Municipality from previously short dry season (harmattan) to almost long dry season has damaging effects on the environment and farm outputs.

The heavy and prolonged rains associated with this type of climate adversely affect cocoa harvest (drying of cocoa beans), and aggravates the black pod disease that attacks cocoa. In addition, almost all the untarred roads in the Municipality become unmotorable during the rainy season.

Vegetation

The Municipality’s vegetation is of the moist semi-deciduous (equatorial rain forest) type. The BAB Municipal has a forest district which has a gross area of 961.52 sq.km of which 365.30sq.km constitutes Forest Reserves. The forest vegetation is made up of many different tree species including wawa (Triplochiton selerexylon), mahogany (Khaya invorensis), esa (Celtis), ofram (Terminalia superba), edinam (Entandro phragma ivorensio), onyina (Ceiba petandra), kyenkyen (Antiaris Africana) and odum (Milicia exelsa), Sapele etc. Hence, the Municipality is a suitable location for the establishment of timber firms. There are eight forest reserves under the Municipality out of which 7 are located within the boundaries of the Municipality. The seven forest reserves have a total area of abou t 286.17 sq.km as indicated in Table 1.8. The forest reserves serve as tourist attractions and influence the rainfall pattern in the Municipality.

The eight forest reserves are productive reserves where timber harvesting is done. Occasional bushfires, overexploitation and encroachment of land are threatening the existence of the reserves. The type of climate has positive impact on the heavy rainfall experiences in the Municipality. However, mechanized farming cannot be practised extensively in the Municipality due to the dense forest cover.

Relief and Drainage

The Municipality forms part of the country’s dissected plateau. The lowest and the highest points in the Municipality are 350m and 660m above sea levels respectively. This highest point is also the highest in the Western North Region at Attanyamekrom (Adiembra), near Sefwi Bekwai. A gently rolling landscape is found over lower Birimian rocks. Over the Tarkwaian rocks, the topography is rugged and hilly rather than smooth and flat or gently undulating.

The Municipality is endowed with a number of rivers and streams, the most important of which is the Ankobra River. The streams and rivers exhibit a dendritic pattern, which forms the Ankobra basin. Other forming tributaries are Awa, Krodua, Atronsu, Subriso, Kroseini, Suraw, Chira and Akataso. The relief and drainage systems favour the development of fish farming, and cultivation of valley bottom rice, sugarcane and dry season vegetables. The rivers can also be taped as resources for future establishment of irrigation schemes and production of potable water for the people in the Municipality. Due to the relatively low level of relief in the Municipality, road construction is less difficult and expensive. However, the presence of many rivers and streams in the Municipality also makes road construction at times very difficult and expensive. Figure 1.3 indicates the drainage system or map of the Municipality.

Figure 1.4: Drainage Map