Let all Forestry Agencies Obtain FLEGT License, Mr. Katako called on Forest Services Division

Mr.Katako addressing the participants

The head of programmes of Civic Response (CR), Mr. Albert Katako, has called on Forest Services Division to ensure that all forestry agencies in the country obtain the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) license.

According to him this would demolish the illegal logging of timber and would tighten the weak forest law to improve the governance of forest resources and enhance the management practices to sustain Ghana’s forest.

He made this appeal at the close out workshop of the Civil Society-led Independent Forest Monitoring in Ghana (CSIM-Ghana), a project implemented by CR in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nation and European Union (EU).

Dubbed on “Working towards a transparent, credible and acceptable FLEGT license,” the programme which aims at ensuring civil society actively monitor the issuance of a credible acceptable FLEGT license was organised in Accra on Wednesday.

Mr. Katako indicated that the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources (MLNR) and the Forestry Commission led Ghana into a Voluntary Partnership Agreement with the EU to address the underlying governance challenges in the forest sector to better the regulation of timber trade in the nation.

He stated that illegal logging is a canker bedeviling the forest industry which over the years has retarded economic development adding that “forest governance reform will preserve the forest and ensure the legality of timber trade in Ghana.”

Mr. Magnus Grylle, forestry officer of FAO bemoaned that the weak law regarding the trade of timber has even made the buying of Ghana timber in Europe more legal than buying the timber in Ghana.

Speaking on the benefit of FLEGT-VPA, he opined that the agreement signed by the country would halt the illegal trade of timber and would ensure that culprits are punished for law violation.

“If anyone commits an illegality in the production of timber in Ghana, the person should not be allowed to sell his/her timber and timber products on the local market or export the timber to foreign countries, the person can be reported to the Timber Validation Department,” he said.

The Technical Director of MLNR, Mr. Musa Abu Juam, who threw more light on Timber Validation Department said the department is new under the forestry Commission, saying “the work of the department is to check that timber is produced in a way that complies with all the laws of Ghana to ensure that no illegality happens.”

He lauded CR for creating awareness of the FLEGT-VPA and advancing the rights of communities that depend on natural resources for their livelihood.

By Joyceline Natally Cudjoe