Obtain forest certification • Wood producers urged

Daily Graphic (Pg 46) Wed., July 20/10

Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
WOOD producers in the country have been urged to acquire forest certification to satisfy international consumers.
If not, wood and wood products from Ghana in the next few years would not be bougth on the international market.
A Forest Certification Auditor, Mr Joseph W. Osei, made this known at a media sensitisation workshop in Accra on forest certification and sustainable forest management in Ghana.
This would be a big blow to Ghana’s forest sector, which is said to contribute five to six per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with over 50 per cent of the products exported to Europe and the United States of America.
The international forest management certification mandates that forest products such as timber were harvested in a manner which would not lead to deforestation or desertification in the near future.
Ghana, at the beginning of the 20th century, was said to have over eight million hectares of high forests stocked with both timber and non-timber forest products but today it has been reduced to 1.6 million hectares.
According to Mr Osei, even though Ghana’s annual allowable timber cut was two million cubic meters per annum, the current estimated harvest including illegal chainsaw operations was 3.5 million cubic meters.
He said this and other factors had made consumers of topical forest products, especially on the EU and American markets, become concerned about the source of forest products as they want to be assured that the forest products they bought originated from sustainably managed forests.
Retailers and manufacturing industries, he said, were therefore, threatening to stop buying forest products that were not certified.
He said the only way out of the situation was to ensure that timber companies acquired forest certifications through the Ghana Forest Management Certification (GFMC), where they would be mandated to comply with all national laws and international agreements.
He added that forest certification ensured that timber companies acknowledged the cultures of communities living close to the forest, contributed to their development by signing a social responsibility agreement and also enabling forest workers to get better working conditions.
The Director of the National Working Group on Forest Certification, Ghana, Dr Ernest Asare Abeney, who spoke on sustainable forest management and the future of Ghana’s forest, said presently, forest certification was voluntary, independent, non-discriminatory, transparent and market-driven.
According to him apart from one plantation in the country no timber company had a forest certification although a few had applied and were yet to be certified.
He said sustainable forest management required a deliberate human intervention such as policy, legislation and management, to safeguard productive and protective functions of the forest.
Mr Abeney said sustainable forest management in the country aimed at ensuring that the goods and services derived from the forest met present day needs while at the same time securing their continued availability.
He added that forest management was required to help improve forest health and vitality in order to reduce risks and impacts of unwanted disturbances, wildfires, airborne pollution, invasion by species, pests, diseases and insects.