Project to strengthen capacity of non-state actors in the forestry sector launched

Accra, May 19, GNA - A Project to strengthen the capacity of non-state actors to improve Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT), Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPA) and REDD+ processes in Western Africa has been launched.

The €35.5 million project was launched by Tropenbos Ghana, a forestry research non-governmental organisation, in conjunction with Nature and Development Foundation (NDF).

It aims at ensuring the full participation of stakeholders in the forestry sector in the FLEGT-VPA and REDD+ Processes currently ongoing in Ghana, Liberia and Ivory Coast.

The 48-month project seeks to improve the contribution of Non-State Actors to forest governance and sustainable forest management in West Africa, strengthen the contribution of forests to development in West Africa and promote inclusive, transparent and accountable forest governance.

Mr Benito Owusu Bio, the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, speaking at the launch of the project, said government would continue to support initiatives like this, especially those that promote the sustainability of the country's natural resources.

He said the non-formal section of the forest sector was active and provided employment to thousands of Ghanaians and was among the leading sectors that contributed to the national economy.

'In addition to the economic and social contributions to the economy, the environmental benefits that Ghana derives from the forest and associated activities cannot be over emphasized,' he added.

He said the forest sector in spite of its enormous contribution to the economy has struggled with some issues, which successive governments had made efforts to tackle, key among the challenges were dealing with illegal logging and wildfire.

Mr Samuel K. Nketiah, the Programme Director Tropenbos Ghana, said the project was also to build the capacity of Non-State Actors to monitor, advocate and engage with State Actors in the FLEGT-VPA and REDD+ processes.

He said the Non-State Actors under the project would have the role to monitor and act as watch-dog to achieve transparent, inclusive and accountable governance and they needed to be seen as reliable, serious partners that were well-informed and operated in a professional way.

He said the project would target organisations of small and medium enterprises and operators in the forest production and timber sectors, including their umbrella organisations like the Artisanal Millers Group of Ghana.

Mr Christopher Ackon, Programme Officer, European Union Delegation to Ghana, said the current challenges in the forestry sector calls for closer collaboration between initiatives aimed at protecting the resource to ensure resource availability for posterity.

He encouraged partners of the project to work closely together with various stakeholders in achieving the expected results.

He said the EU as part of efforts in addressing global challenges in forestry was hosting a conference on illegal logging and deforestation in Brussels from June 20 to June 23.

The event will gather government, science, industry and civil society leaders to explore challenges to sustainable forest management and climate change related issues.

He said the event would aim at engaging with EU Member States, partner countries and stakeholders on future work plan for the implementation of the EU FLEGT action plan (2017-2020) as well as on opportunities for future action deforestation and forest degradation.

GNA

By Morkporkpor Anku, GNA