Timber millers trained to use industry portal of wood tracking system

Over 120 Timber millers have received training to use the ‘Industry portal to the Ghana Wood Tracking System (GWTS)‘. The millers were grouped into four and trained on separate days in New-Edubiase, Takoradi, Goaso and Dormaa. Each group of the millers were trained on features and functionalities of the ‘Industry portal to the GWTS’ and the approved Chain of Custody a sawmill operating in Ghana must have.

The training was organized by Nature and Development Foundation (NDF) in collaboration with the Timber Validation Department (TVD) and the Area offices of Timber Industry Development Division (TIDD) in Assin-fosu, Takoradi, Asankrakwa and Sunyani. The activity is part of the project, “Building the Capacity of Small-Medium Forest Enterprises (SMFEs) in Ghana and Liberia to Supply and Trade in Legal Timber, Phase-II” which is funded with UK aid from the UK Government.

The training was essential because, the initial design of the Ghana Wood Tracking System (GWTS) did not grant any access to timber operators and with the continued operation of the system, this lack of access by the private operators to the GWTS emerged as a critical gap.

The gap gave rise to delays in the capture of producer’s transaction data thus delaying their business. It became a sore point of complaint by the private sector and they easily advanced the argument that the implementation of the Legality Assurance System (LAS) is creating inconvenience for business.

The Timber Validation Department (TVD) of the Forestry Commission taught it wise that, if this source of inconvenience persists, it could pose significant challenges to the success of the operation of the licensing system.

With funding from UKaid under their FGMC programme, Nature and Development Foundation (NDF) collaborated with the TVD and develop an industry portal to the GWTS. Development of the portal by NDF and TVD was part of implementing the project, “Building the Capacity of Small-Medium Forest Enterprises (SMFEs) in Ghana and Liberia to Supply and Trade in Legal Timber, Phase-I”. NDF in phase-II of this project is building the capacity of timber operators to use the portal for their business.

At the end of the four (4) trainings, some participants testified of the benefits derived and thanked the organizers for the initiative. In their assessment of the training, they said the portal is a tool for great transparency which will enhance the work they do. Nonetheless, they requested that the training be organized every six months as most of them are not ICT inclined.