|
 Today 25th September 2009, is the 1st International FSC Friday. The objective of the day is to celebrate forests around the globe and promote responsible forest management worldwide.
The FSC’s (an international NGO) vision is that the world’s forests meet the social, ecological and economic rights and needs of the present generation without compromising those of the future generations. The WG, which is accredited by the FSC International, works to promote the use of forest certification as a tool for the sustainable management of Ghana’ forests.
In spite of Ghana’s forest laws and regulations hailed globally as comprehensive, the country over the years has seen its Closed High Forest declined from about 8.5 million hectares existing at the turn of the 20th Century to the current estimated 1.8 million hectares. This has resulted in serious environmental problems such as drying of water bodies, loss of habitats and thus threatening the survival of plants and animals, and the livelihoods of fringe communities and farmers. Our government has lost millions of Ghana Cedis through illegal harvesting activities. Forest fringe communities have seen little or no benefit from forest management and many forest workers have lost their lives due to unsafe forest working conditions.
The FSC’s voluntary certification require forest management operations to be verified by independent forest auditors to determine whether such operations meet an agreed forest management standard; which defines what sustainable forest management should be. Ghana has defined its Forest Standards through multi-stakeholder processes led by the Working Group on Forest Certification. The Working Group has a representation from the Government, Land Owners (National House of Chiefs), the Timber Industry, NGO’s, Research and Academia, Tree Growers, Women’s Group, the Trade Union and Independent (professional) Bodies. About eight timber companies in the country have embarked on the process of independently getting their forest operations certified as meeting Ghana’s definition of sustainable forest management.
On this FSC Friday, the Working Group is asking all forest stakeholders to rededicate their commitment to sustainable forest management. We are inviting the public to be part of the solution to forest problems by pledging their support for the use of independent forest certification and support for FSC as the most credible forest certification scheme in the world by patronizing FSC Certified products, e.g. in Ghana FSC certified paper. The public is invited to visit the Working Group’s office at Oduom in Kumasi, to meet the staff and learn about FSC and what the Working Group has been doing over the years. |
Working Group (WG) on Forest Certification, an NGO accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to promote Forest Certification in Ghana has extended its awareness raising activities to communities fringing the Timber Utilization Areas of Log & Lumber Limited (LLL) and Ayum Forest Products Limited (Ayum) in the Western and Brong Ahafo Regions of Ghana.