Ghana to host 4th World Teak Conference - Forestry Commission announces

Ghana will host the 4th World Teak Conference from the 5th -8th of September, 2022.

The event will serve as a platform for stakeholders to deliberate on challenges and opportunities in teak production in emerging economies.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Forestry Commission, Mr John Allotey, announced this when a delegation from the Forestry Commission in Edo State, Nigeria, paid a courtesy call on him on Monday.

He noted that apart from Asian nations, Ghana is the only country that produces more teak and it took conscious effort to get to that level, so it was appropriate for Ghana to be the first African nation to host such a significant event.

Mr Allotey invited the team from Edo State to attend, participate in and learn from the conference, explaining that it would bring together stakeholders, traders of teak, researchers and people who matter in the forestry industry to share ideas on how to develop a thriving business in that field.

He told the Nigerian delegation that Ghana's strategy was to plant more teak trees and other indigenous species in degraded areas to shore up the numbers of production, adding that teak formed a large chunk of the country's export in terms of timber.

Regarding trees and their significance, he expressed the hope that the two nations would discover legal avenues for the export of Rosewood from sustainable sources, noting that Ghana would continue to enforce its ban on the product until new mechanisms were implemented.

Mr Allotey congratulated the Acting Chairman of the Edo State Forestry Commission on his accomplishments while working for the Commission in Ghana and expressed the hope that he would apply his experience to the Commission's leadership in Edo State.

The Acting Chairman of the Edo State Forestry Commission, Mr Edward Obiaw highlighted some achievements and challenges being faced by the Edo State Commission as they transition from a department into a Commission.

He appealed to Forestry Commission to collaborate with the Edo Forestry Commission on forestry management planning and wood tracking other initiatives implemented by Ghana’s Forestry Commission.