Forty loggers trained on legality compliance

A total of forty (40) loggers without processing mills, have been identified, engaged and their capacity built to comply with legality requirements in their forestry operations.

These industry players were trained on the seven (7) legality principles underlying the Ghana Legality Assurance System. The principles are namely: 1-Source of timber, 2- Timber Right Allocation, 3-Timber Harvesting Operations, 4-Transporation, 5- Processing, 6-Trade and 7 – Fiscal Obligations. Emphasis was however placed on principles 1,2,3,4 and 7 as the operations of these players were noted to be centred on.

Safety and Health Issues at the various stages (Felling, Hauling, Loading and Transportation of logs) of their operations were also delved into. As a way to ease reference and enhance continuous learning even after the engagements, infographics on the ‘Dos & Don’ts’ of safety requirements and the various legality principles tackled, were developed for the players.

The engagements and pieces of training were conducted by the Nature and Development Foundation (NDF) in close collaboration with the Forestry Services Division (FSD) and the Timber Validation Department (TVD) – both of the Forestry Commission.

The engagements and pieces of training were funded by the FAO under their FAO-EU FLEGT PROGRAMME. The loggers without processing mills engaged under the project and other key stakeholders in the timber industry, expressed their gratitude to FAO for funding the project and NDF for the implementation of the project.

The one-year project was titled, “FLEGT Compliance in Ghana: Developing the Capacity of Loggers without Processing Mills”.