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Ghana Forest Mgt. Certi. Standard, |
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 The Standard Since 1997 Ghana has been developing a national certification programme for forestry. The programme of development started in the form of a project: the Ghana Forest Management Certification Systems Project - a project of Ghanaian Government with technical and financial assistanceprovided by the European Union (EU contract B7-620/97-/4VIII/FOR) and the Government of the Netherlands (GH 008701).
The standards attempt to define good forest practice in Ghana. The process by which these standards were developed involved the consultation and active collaboration of a broad range of stakeholders. A set of draft standards – The Quality Management of the Forests of Ghana: Forest Standards, Principles and Specification - were finalised and published in March 1999. Since 1994, the Government of Ghana and its principal technical and executive agencies have modified the way that forests have been managed.
Ghana has substantially restructured its executive agencies in order to support the new management system and to ensure the delivery of quality forest management. The structure and content of the standards have been strongly influenced by the new forest management system and revised institutional framework. These standards do not seek to replace or substantially redefine the management system that Ghana has developed. Indeed, they seek to reinforce the management system and ensure its application in the field.
The Checklist The current draft standards (Version 5) are presented in the form of a checklist that auditors and managers can use in the field - the Ghana Forest Management Certification Standards and Checklist (hereafter referred to as GFMCS, Version 5).It is applicable to all forest types and sizes in Ghana. The checklist is derived directly from the original standards but presents the principles, criteria, indicators and verifiers in a logical and progressive sequence from which it should be relatively easy to derive an objective and unequivocal decision on the quality of the forest management that has been assessed.
The current draft- Version 5 The current GFMCS is an output of the Working Group on Forest Certification Ghana, in fulfilment of one of its basic function of routine review of the GFMCS. The review of the earlier version (Version 4) has therefore been carried out to reflect new knowledge and changed public values and to ensure that the standards continues to contribute to the processes of improving systems and programmes for Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) in Ghana. |
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Simple Guide on Forest Certification |
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 Since the past four decades, there has been a growing concern worldwide about deforestation and biodiversity loss in the tropical forests. There was pressure from international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on Governments and Industries to halt deforestation.
Consequently, the idea of forest certification came into being in the 1990’s to help protect forests from destructive logging practices. Forest Certification is to serve as a means of testifying to consumers that a forest product originates from a well managed forest.
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Definitions on Forest Certification |
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 WHAT IS FOREST CERTFICATION
Forest Certification is simply the process of independent verification that the management of a particular Forest Management Unit has reached the level required by a given standard. When combined with a chain of custody certificate, Forest Certification allows products, from a certified forest area to carry an eco-label.
WHAT IS FOREST MANAGEMENT UNIT
Forest Management Unit is an area of forest which is under single or common system of forest management. This could be a single forest concession or aggregate of concessions operated by different people but under a common management system.
CHAIN OF CUSTODY
This is the channel through which products are distributed from their origin in the forest to their end-uses. It is usually used to imply a traceable route and it provides ultimate link between the producer and the consumer.
ECO-LABEL
This is a label identifying manufactured products that satisfy certain environmental conditions. |
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Types of FSC Certifications |
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1. FSC Forest Management Certification
Forest managers or owners who want to prove that their forest operation is socially beneficial and managed in an environmentally appropriate and economically viable manner can apply for Forest Management (FM) certification.
Special options for small and low intensity forest management
2. FSC Chain of Custody certification
FSC Chain of Custody traces FSC certified timber through the production chain.
FSC Chain of Custody is for companies that manufacture, process or trade in timber or non-timber forest products and want to demonstrate to their customers that they use responsibly produced raw materials. FSC Chain of Custody helps companies to strengthen their sourcing policies and comply with public or private procurement policies where FSC is the preferred option.
3. FSC Controlled Wood
Forest Management companies that comply with the five FSC Controlled Wood criteria will be able to supply FSC Controlled Wood to FSC Chain of Custody operations. FSC Controlled Wood supports the production of FSC Mixed Sources by providing FSC certified companies with tools to control the non-FSC certified wood in their product groups to avoid the wood produced in socially and environmentally most damaging ways.
FSC Controlled Wood on-line toolkit |
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Ghana has a long history of forest management, aimed at ensuring responsible stewardship over the forests within her territory to yield sustained environmental, social and economic benefits for the owners and for the larger society. In this period of almost 100 years that some form of regulated forestry has been practised, concepts of what constitutes ”good” or “responsible” forest management have evolved in response to various developments and pressures. The development of written, verifiable standards that would make it possible for specific forests to be certified as being responsibly managed is thus only one of the latest initiatives in the process of developing quality forest management in the country.
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