History of Logging

Commercial forestry has been concentrated in southern Ghana in the Western Region. One big problem has been the uncontrolled impact on forests by illegal chainsaw operators and high population growth rates with their accompanying demand for food, fuel and other resources, which have led to the removal of most of the non-reserved forest in the country.

At the end of last century a major part of logs was produced from off-reserved forests.

Of the approximately 126 species which grow to timber size, about 50 are considered commercially viable (EIU 1997, FAO 1998, RoG 1993, Sayer et al. 1992, TT 1997).

A 10 year programme was started in 1999 funded by the World Bank, the European Union and the Governments of Ghana, UK, Denmark and the Netherlands, through which guidelines for the protection and sustainable management of Ghana´s natural resources will be developed. Major agro-forestry efforts are also being undertaken, along with efforts to improve forestry extension (TT 7/1999, Wagner et al. 1993).

last updated: Thursday, October 28, 2004