Skip to main content

Ghana gets Forest Management Certification Standard



By:  Fred Yaw Sarpong

Ghana has been accredited the Forest Management Certification Standard (FMCS) by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an international organization that promotes responsible management of the world’s forests.

The accreditation provided the country with an internationally recognized and credible tool kit for assessing sustainable forest management.

The accreditation of the FMCS also means that under the FSC system all forest management practices shall be carried out and measured by these standard requirements to enhance environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial,  and economically viable management of Ghana’s forests.

In addition, independent forest certification bodies undertaking Forest Stewardship Council’s forest certification in Ghana shall be required to use the FMCS for assessment and evaluation.

This was announced at workshop in Accra by the Working Group on Forest Certification-Ghana. The workshop was use as Policy briefing meeting on Ghana Forest Management Certification Standard.

In an interview with Mr. Elijah Yaw Danso, a member of the working group, he stated that Ghana started the process of developing Standards or Certifications way back 1997, but  it only got the approval from FSC just last year.

‘This implies that people who are forest managers for instance (the companies) can put their concessions  under the certification, and when they are certified, it means that it  give them premier on the market when they are going to sell their products. This will show that their timbers are coming from a forest that are sustainable managed, and this will includes legally produced timbers,’ he explained.

According to him, this gives the Ghanaian companies the better opportunity to sell their timbers on the international market.

Daily Express gathered that the certification also indicates that generally, Ghana is sustainable managing it forest.

Currently, there are 10 companies which have come on board going through the process of certification. However, these companies are using the standards FSC. ‘The more companies that are certified, the more we can say that our forest are sustainable managed,’ said Mr. Danso.

However, he added that Ghana could have a different standard that is if different companies decided to belong to a different international certified body.

As to whether this certification will have any conflict with the Volunteer Partnership Agreement (VPA) Ghana is yet to sign with the European Union (EU), Mr. Danso told Daily Express that the VPA is looking at ensuring that Ghana has legal timber imported to the EU.

‘And the legal definition Ghana gave includes a lot of the criteria that actually includes in the FSC standards. So in a broader sense sustainable management is much better than legality. So VPA will therefore become like a subset of the certification process. But the VPA is government initiative and government partnership with the EU, which has become mandatory. When you want to export you need VPA certification,’ Mr. emphasized.

Mr. reiterated that the certification is not mandatory. ‘It is a voluntary initiative a company will take, because it gives visibility and bigger opportunity in the international market. Companies that want to trade under the FSC are better off when they are certified.’

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vodafone sells 45% shares in Verizon for US$130 billion

Vodafone has sold its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless to US telecoms group Verizon Communications in one of the biggest deals in corporate history. The US$130 billion (£84bn) deal was announced by Vodafone after the close of trading on the London Stock Exchange. The company will return £54 billion to its shareholders, of which £22 billionn will go to shareholders in the UK. Vodafone will also invest money in its business, with funds earmarked for high speed mobile phone networks. It said that by 2017 its main five European markets would have almost complete 4G coverage. Possibly it would be wrong to carp and wring hands that Vodafone won't be paying a penny of tax to the British taxman” Vodafone group chairman Gerard Kleisterlee said: "The transaction will position Vodafone strongly to pursue our leadership strategy in mobile and unified communication services for consumers and enterprises, both in our developed markets and across our emerging markets businesses." The...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shortage of weighing cards hit major hospitals in Accra

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong- Daily Express There is scarcity of Child Health Records Book (weighing cards), in some major public hospitals in the capital, information reaching the Daily Express indicates. Checks by this paper revealed that while some of the hospitals have being encountering the shortage for about a year now, others started experiencing it six months ago. In place of the Child Health Record Book (weighing card), the nursing mothers are given a single card on which information of children are recorded on it. Those hospitals identified are the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Korle Bu Polyclinic, Kaneshie Polyclinic, Adabraka Polyclinic and the Ridge Hospital. At the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the nursing mothers are given yellow cards in place of the weighing cards. The Public Relations Secretariat at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital said such information has not come to their notice and for that matter they cannot comment on it. “We do not have some ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Barbering Salons, bridging the unemployment gap in Ghana

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong Barbering business in Ghana is money making venture, depending on the location of the shop. Various barbering shops scattered across the country charges according to the location of the shop. The nature and sustainability of every barbering shop depends on the location of the shop. The location will determine how much one can charge a customer for barbering his or her hair. Checks indicate that some barbering shops located at Spintex, East Legon and Osu Oxford street charges between GHc15.00 and GHc20.00 per hair cut. At South La Estate, it will cost a customer to pay GHc4.00 for hair cut, while one will have to pay GHc3.00 to barber his or her hair at a place like Nima, Maamobi and Mallam Gbawe. Royal Vulture Executive Barbering Salon is one of the biggest barbering salons one can locate within Accra. One is its shops is located at Madina, near Taxi rank while one is located at Accra New Town, near the Post Office. Customers at Madina pay GHc7.00 ...
7 comments
Read more