<![CDATA[Abstract. Tettey CND, Anderson RS, Kyerematen R. 2020. Rapid assessment of butterfly diversity of two proposed Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs) in the Western North Region of Ghana: Implication for conservation. Biodiversitas 21: 3699-3706. Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs) are non-reserved land masses with local communities living in them that contain important components of biodiversity and are open to free access. Biodiversity in these off-reserve areas in Ghana is fast depleting due to unsustainable anthropogenic activities. The Rapid Biodiversity Assessment (RBA) method was conducted in the proposed Manzan and Yawmatwa CREMAs in Sefwi-Debiso; in the Western North Region of Ghana using butterflies as indicator taxa to estimate species richness and diversity in two proposed CREMAs to prioritize these rapidly diminishing forest areas for conservation. A total of 1,352 individual butterflies were recorded at the end of a two-week rapid assessment; with 83 species belonging to five families (Nymphalidae, Papilionidae, Pieridae, Lycaenidae, and Hesperiidae). The findings of the study revealed that 38.5% of the butterfly population belongs to species associated with severe forest disturbance; indicating that these ecosystems are gradually being threatened by ongoing anthropogenic activities. Management efforts aimed at butterfly conservation should be geared towards protecting these proposed CREMAs from excessive human disturbances.]]>
