FAO Forestry country profiles - harvesting practicies

Harvesting practicies

Within the forest reserves in Ghana the Forestry Department is practising selective felling, combined with a polycyclic logging system. Harvesting takes place on a forty year cycle. In the intervening periods the forest is left to recover, and the yield within each compartment is regulated. Efforts are being made to harvest a wider variety of species to prevent overexploitation of some popular species, like Afromosia, Iroko, Sapele, Mahogany and other valuable commercial timber species.

Logging and wood processing in Ghana are largely in private hands. In 1991, 200 logging enterprises were operating in the country, employing 15 500 people (FAO 1991, RoG 1997, TFU 1995, TT 2/1999).