FOREST GOVERNANCE FORUMWEST AFRICA

Accra June 7&8, 2011

Richard GyimahChris Beeko TVD, FC-Ghana

Outline Introduction- Importance of Ghana’s forest

Ghana’s commitment under the VPA

Where are we in the VPA process?

What systems have been developed?

Indicative Road map

Emerging Lessons

Introduction- Importance of Ghana’s Forest In early 20th century forest cover about 30% (≈8

million ha) of the Ghana’s land area; Forest cover today is about 1.6 million ha Forest sector contribute about 3.5% GDP Timber exports earn the country aboutUS$170

million per annum which accounts for about 18% of total exports

Timber sector provide direct employment (120,000 people) and indirectly provide supplementary income to about 2.5 million people

Though Annual Allowable Cut (timber harvest) is set at 2 million 3/yr, actual harvest is about 3.5 million 3/yr including illegal harvest

Ghana’s forest cover- south of the country

VPA- What was negotiated?• An Agreement on Forest Law Enforcement,

Governance and Trade in Timber Products

• VPA initialed on September 3, 2008 in Accra • Ghana and the EU ratified the Agreement in June & Nov 2009 respectively at their parliaments

Ghana’s commitment under the VPA

Establish a Legality Assurance System (LAS)Issue legality licenses on all European Union bound consignments Non-European bound consignments will still go through

LAS but will not carry FLEGT license Domestic Market included …

Conduct a legislative review (two tier review)Work within an agreed time frame as set in agreement with EU (Voluntary Partnership Agreement – VPA)

WHERE ARE WE IN THE VPA PROCESS?

Annex VIII: Schedule for the Implementation of the Agreement

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3No. Milestones Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11 Q12

1. Capacity building

2. VPA Awareness Campaign

3. WTS Provider Selected

4. Subsidiary Legislation Introduced

5. TVD Established

6. Piloting of LAS begins

7. LAS Pilot Reviewed

8. LAS Implemented Nationwide

9. FLEGT Products Promotion begins

10. FLEGT Licensed products exported

11. EU ready to import FLEGT products

12. Independent Monitor appointed

13. Procurement Policies Introduced

14. Promotion of verified legal timber on Domestic Market

15. Forestry laws reviewed and consolidated

Moths 48

Where are We in the Process?

• 1

In-country consensus

building

• 2

Bilateral Negotiations • 3

Ratification• 4

Development• 5

Implementation

Jan. 2007

Nov. 2005

Sept. 2008

Mid. 2010

Nov. 2009

What Systems are being Developed?

Legality Verification ProtocolsImprovements on the existing Wood Tracking System To deliver an auditable and credible wood tracking

system

Institutional Adjustments to meet requirements of the VPAReview of areas of Legislation that assist in the implementation of the VPA

Legality Verification Protocols

Principle Subject Area No. of Criteria

1 Source of Timber 2

2 Timber Rights Allocation 4

3 Timber Harvesting Operations 7

4 Transportation 2

5 Processing 3

6 Trade 2

7 Fiscal Obligation 4

• Legality Matrix helps determine the legality of the timber• Consists of 7 Principles and 24 Criteria

THE WOOD TRACKING SYSTEM (WTS):

simply a system for tracing wood products from export to forest

including record keeping/documentation

Supply Chain Types of Ghana’s WTS

ExportStock surveyTreefelling&

log production

TUC grant

Import timberinspection

Log preparation

Harvestpreparation

Salvage permit

allocation

Log removalauthorisation

Confiscatedlogs

allocation

Secondary/tertiary transformation at a different mill

Plantation Harvesting

Resource assessment

Plantation harvesting

permit

Plantation Harvesting

Plantation Assessment for thinning, etc

Resource assessment & permit grant

Log processing& processed

woodshipment

Log transportation &log yard entry

Origin assessment

Origin assessment

Resource evaluationResource evaluation ProductionProduction Delivery to

millDelivery to

mill Mill controlMill control Export controlExport control

PlantationPlantation

TUCTUC

ImportsImports

SalvageSalvage

ConfiscatedConfiscated

Import declaration

SourceSource

TOOLS/TECHNOLOGIES OF THE WOOD TRACKING SYSTEM

Tools to Improve Transaction Data Management System

TRANSPORT

HARVESTING

Stock Enumeration

Mill Arrivals & Processing

WTS Piloted

Interface for Financial Transactions on Wood Flows

Generate electronic maps through ARC-GIS software

INVOICE

FORESTRY COMMISSION

Internet/web-based application

Examples of WTS Improving Forest Management

The System Components

Wood Tracking System• CoC

Application of Legal

Standard• Record of

Compliance

Licensing System (TIDD)

• FLEGT Licenses

Independent Monitor

• IM Reports

TIMBER VALIDATION DEPT (TVD) AS INTERNAL AUDITOR OF FC.

FC (DIVISIONS & UNITS) + INDUSTRY

TIMBER VALIDATION COUNCIL-MULTISTAKEHOLDER BODY PRIMARILY FOR DISPUTE RESOLUTION

‘Indicative’ Timeline/Roadmap

Complete & Review WTS Pilot March 2011

Develop and Incorporate Legality Protocols into LASJune 2011

Establish TVC, Roll out LASJune 2011

Complete Review of LegislationSept. 2011

Conduct Review of national/entire LASNov 2011

EMERGING LESSONS

VPA Negotiation LessonsCreate ownership of the process beyond the technical nuclear group (VPA Secretariat)The agreement is binding. Targets, objectives and milestones must be realisticKeep the capacity of your institutions in mind when setting implementation milestones/timelines Combined core team of lawyers and technical personnel need to thoroughly acquaint themselves with content of agreement before concluding negotiations (initialling) Keep your legislature (Senate/Parliament etc.) on board

VPA Negotiation Lessons cont’Development of VPA-LAS systems: Project approach vs implementation through

established structures of bureaucracy

Selling the VPA to stakeholders Government: make a case for revenue, SFM &

good governance Industry: make a business case Civil Society: case for good governance and

livelihood improvement

VPA Negotiation Lessons cont’May be a good idea to develop chain of custody systems together with legality verification protocols on one platform - WTS

THANK YOUcabeeko@yahoo.com; rich_gyimah@yahoo.com;