Accra (Greater Accra) 25 Feb. 2000
The Ministry of Lands and Forestry on Thursday, appealed to Parliament to support its efforts to curb the environmental threat posed by the indiscriminate and illegal exploitation of forest resources.
The Ministry said "in this way we can effectively conserve and manage our remaining forest and timber resources to sustain the flow of present and future benefits to all segments of the Ghanaian society."
Dr Christina Amoako-Nuama, sector Minister, made the appeal when she delivered a statement in the House on the scarcity of lumber, in response to one made by Mr Kosi Kedem, MP for Hohoe South on 11 January 2000.
She noted that members' contributions to Mr Kedem's statement dwelt on the fact that although the enactment of legislation against the conversion and sale of chainsaw timber was necessary in the national interest, the enforcement of the law had caused serious shortage of lumber.
The law has also made a number of workers previously engaged in chainsaw operations jobless, she said.
"Indeed, some of the contributions created the impression that it would have been better if the law had not been passed or was not enforced, so that lumber would be available even if the wasteful chainsaw timber operations would continue."
The Minister told the House that the sector has adopted strategies towards the implementation of the law, among which is the creation of public awareness about the illegality of chainsaw lumbering.
Other strategies are the provision of alternative sources of affordable lumber supply to the local market.
Dr Amoako-Nuama said 28 sawmills have been identified and offered access to fell timber from off-reserve areas in order to supply local consumers with affordable lumber in the short-term.
The selected sawmills would be able to save up to 30 per cent on their operational costs and thus produce timber at prices comparable to prevailing chainsaw lumber rates.
This provision is intended to augment local supplies from the trade-registered mills, she added.
On measures to halt the trade in illegal lumber, Dr Amoako-Nuama said the Ministry has mounted more checks and is ensuring more efficient control on the movement of illegal logs and lumber from the forests.
The Ministry is also restricting access of consumers to purchase such products at the timber markets. She said it is the expectation of the Ministry that as supplies of chainsaw lumber in the markets become depleted, sawn timber traders would make contacts with the selected sawmills and other members of the Ghana Timber Millers Organisation for legitimate supplies.
The Minister told the House that recent visits to the selected sawmills indicated that almost all of them were in production for the local market and had stock-piled more than 200,000 cubic metres of sawn lumber, as compared to the average annual local consumption of 300,000 cubic metres.
The Minister said with all this lumber available at the advertised facilities in addition to what is available at the other sawmilling compounds, one would have expected wood dealers in the existing supply chain to link up and obtain supplies for sale at their retailing outlets.
Stressing on the extent and nature of the waste in chainsaw operations, Dr Amoako-Nuama said the waste generated in all the processes of re-shaping of such chainsaw lumber is costing the domestic market more than twice the volume of timber required for any particular end-use application.
"Our latest analysis of chainsaw lumber activities shows that the wood component, which actually ends up in a finished product, represents as little as eight per cent of the original round-log volume from which the wood was sawn.
"This picture is even more alarming when one compares the above figure with the 30-35 per cent average conversion rate of the trade-registered sawmills, which by world standards, is still considered quite low.
Dr Amoako-Nuama explained that although the law relating to the use of chainsaw for the production of lumber was passed in December, 1998, before its implementation four months ago, the Ministry had constructively prepared the ground through public education and advertisements.
The Minister told the House that the current state of the country's forests could not afford her the luxury of uncontrolled use of timber as was done in the past.
"The fact is that there is a real shortage of timber and lumber to meet the demands of the economy.
"We have to bear in mind that the natural resources can sustain only one million cubic metres of timber per year, and the continued pressure on the natural forest, with all these inefficient operators, will leave the country poorer in trees, in a very short space of time."
Dr Amoako-Nuama said measures such as the mounting of public education programmes, implementing poverty reduction schemes to rehabilitate the displaced illegal chainsaw operators and exploring the possibility of importing lower cost utility woods for the construction industry, are all short-term strategies to the solution of the existing problem.
"We cannot escape the fact that only a forest plantation strategy for timber production will relieve the pressure on our natural forests, sustain our timber industry and provide jobs for our youth."
On concerns about the difficulty in obtaining lumber for community projects, Dr Amoako-Nuama drew the attention of the House to the relevant sections of the law regulating the utilisation of forest resources.
Under the provision, the Chief Conservator of forests may on application, issue a timber utilisation permit to a district assembly, town committee, any rural community or a non-governmental organisation, she said.
The provision states that "any timber harvested or converted to lumber under a permit issued under the regulation, shall be used only for social or community purposes and shall not be sold or exchanged".
The Minister acknowledged that though teething problems have emerged with the implementation of the law, "we hope that we can collectively solve these through carefully-thought out programmes".
"The Ministry of Lands and Forestry will continue to rely on your suggestions on alternative legitimate ways of sustaining our forests, as the laws require."
After the Minister had delivered her statement, a number of members made comments, stressing on the need for effective monitoring of the implementation of the law to check abuses.
They also called for a sustained effort in afforestation and re-afforestation, as well as the establishment of timber plantations.
Dr Amoako-Nuama in response to some of these comments, said the Ministry has drawn up a programme for forest plantation development, and that a bill to this effect is before the relevant parliamentary committee for consideration and report.
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