UK Government begins Phase II support for Small-Medium timber industries in Ghana and Liberia

Government of UK through the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) under their Forest Governance Market and Climate (FGMC) programme is supporting small-medium timber industries in Ghana and Liberia to build capacity to supply and trade in legal timber.

Introduction of the FLEGT/VPA programme in Ghana and Liberia revealed serious capacity challenges in the timber industry. Large numbers of the logging and processing companies fell short of legality requirements in their operations.

To support compliance with FLEGT requirements, the FCDO with UKaid funded the Nature & Development Foundation (NDF) to implement the project, “Building the Capacities of Small and Medium Forest Enterprises in Ghana and Liberia to Supply and Trade in Legal Timber”, Phase-I.

Implementation of the Phase-1 of the project, yielded significant gains including the generation of momentum for the implementation of the public procurement policy on timber and timber products. Stakeholders of the policy are motivated and ready to seize the opportunity for easier implementation of the policy.

The project also increased knowledge on use of ‘lesser used timber species’. Members of the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industries (GhCCI) now understand the usability of these lesser used timber species that can serve as substitute for the popular known species which are currently not available in sufficient quantities.

The project also promoted legal timber trade on the domestic market of Ghana; through the development of a virtual “legal timber market” (www.ghanatimbermarket.com). The App hosts suppliers of legal timber with contact details and products as a way to facilitate legal timber trade between individuals and private sector entities interested in purchasing legal timber.

Additionally, it has enhanced transparency in the implementation of FLEGT in Ghana; through the creation of the industry portal to the Ghana wood tracking system. The portal is a window to the GWTS for private sector.

To consolidate these efforts and continue building the capacity of timber companies to be able to comply with FLEGT requirements in Ghana and Liberia, Nature and Development Foundation (NDF) is again being funded by UKaid through the FCDO to implement a phase II of the project.

Giving the importance of gender in the sector, project activities in this phase are designed not only to be gender-sensitive but also gender-responsive as dedicated activities to give voice to women in the sector will also be implemented.

In Liberia, with respect to Liberia Timber Association (LibTA) and Liberia Chainsaw and Timber Dealers Union (LICSATDUN), a lot remains to be done particularly on association management, membership capacity to comply with FLEGT regulations, fund raising and financial management. There is the high desire for LibTA to engage further with LICSATDUN to spearhead the development of the chainsaw code of forest harvesting practices and generally improve timber industry front in Liberia and this extension seeks to support the processes.

It is expected that by the end of the project in Liberia, timber companies and individuals
that are involved in timber harvesting as businesses, log in a responsible manner that supports the sustenance of the forest.

In Ghana, project implementers expect that ending the project, procurement of legal timber for publi c works will be mainstreamed into local government procedures and all local assemblies in Ghana will be enforcing timber procurement guidelines.

Additionally, it is anticipated by project implementer’s that by December 2022, there will be a functional mobile legal timber App with at least 200 venders. Also, that information on the properties of Lesser Used Species (LUS) will be available to relevant stakeholders and demand for these timber species will have increased.

Implementing partners for the project are, Nature & Development Foundation (Lead), Kumasi Wood Cluster (KWC), Liberia Timber Association (LTA) and Liberia Chainsaw and Timber Dealers Union (LICSATDUN).