Is Ghana's FLEGT VPA grinding to a halt...? Challenges of the forest sector

Continuing from earlier post (in the series) on the paper "Is Ghana's FLEGT VPA grinding to a halt and failing to achieve improvements in forest governance?". I delve into the challenges of the forest sector. I will first talk about the challenge of over-exploitation of timber and Chainsaw Milling. My intention here is to point and dwell more on the underlying causes of this challenge and the solutions to address the underlying causes. 

2         Challenges of the forest sector

2.1      Overexploitation of timber and Chainsaw Milling 

One of the main challenges of the forest sector is the overexploitation of forest resources. There is excess installed capacity of the timber processing mills (5 million m³ installed log processing capacity)[1] compared to the supply of raw material. Currently Ghana is harvesting timber at unsustainable levels (both in the on and off-reserve areas). An estimated 4.5 million m³ is extracted annually, which is more than double the Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) set by the Forestry Commission at 2 million m³. This problem of overharvesting is closely linked with the Chainsaw Milling (CSM) issue. According to estimates from recent studies[2], CSM alone is currently supplying 2.5 million m³ (above the ACC) to both domestic and international wood market. Majority of lumber found on the various timber markets scattered across the country (Takoradi, Ofankor, koforidua, Sokoban wood village, etc) come from Chainsaw Milling operations. There are several underlying causes for overexploitation of timber and CSM. Unfair benefit sharing arrangements, lack of clear and secure tenure arrangements for land and trees, unfair access to the forests especially for communities are some of them. The domestic timber market policy and the procurement policy have been discussed by stakeholders for some months now (started in 2012). There is scepticism among some civil society organizations (CSOs) whether these policies have the requisite reform approach to halt and reverse the trend of deforestation or even tackle the problem of CSM heads-on. The objective and approach of any workable proposal should be the involvement of the Chainsaw operators in the bidding process for timber permits and regulate their operations. It should also include strategies to introduce their operations to efficient machinery like the logosaws and improving benefit sharing between government, farmers and landowners.

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[1] The Annual Allowable Cut (based on sustainable levels) of timber in Ghana is set at 2 million m³ by the Forestry Commission

[2] The report on Chainsaw milling in Ghana, drivers, contexts and impacts 2010 by Emmanuel Marfo (works with the Forest Research Institute of Ghana, FORIG) provides information and statistics on the dynamics and impacts of Chainsaw Milling in Ghana. Most of the statistical data on chainsaw milling and its impacts were source from the publication.