REPUBLIC OF GHANA Forestry Development Master Plan (2016-2036) Ministry of Lands & Natural Resources Accra – Ghana September, 2016 Forestry Development Master Plan (2016 – 2036) © 2016 Ministry of Lands & Natural Resources For more information call the following: 0302 687302 ǀ 0302 666801 0302 687346 ǀ 0302 665949 Fax: 0302 666801 ______________________________________________________________________________________ ii Forestry Development Master Plan (2016 – 2036) ACRONYMS AAC Annual Allowable Cut CF Consolidated Fund CRMU Collaborative Resource Management Unit CSO Civil Society Organization EIA Environment Impact Assessment ESIA Environmental and Social Impact Assessment EPA Environmental Protection Agency FAA Financial Administration Act FASDEP Food and Agriculture Sector Development Policy FAWAG Furniture and Wood Products Association of Ghana FC Forestry Commission FCPF Forest Carbon Partnership Facility FCTC Forestry Commission Training Centre FIP Forest Investment Programme FLEGT Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade FM&R Forest Management and Regulation FASDEP Food and Agriculture Sector Development Policy FORIG Forest Research Institute of Ghana FRs Forest Reserves FSC Forest Service Council FSD Forest Service Division FWP Forest and Wildlife Policy GAG Ghana Auditor General GDP Gross Domestic Product GEDAP Ghana Energy Development and Access Project GHG Green House Gas GHI Genetic Heat Index GIFMIS Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information Systems GoG Government of Ghana GPDP Government Plantation Development Programme GPRS II Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy GSBAs Globally Significant Biodiversity Areas GSGDA Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda GSS Ghana Statistical Service GTMO Ghana Timber Millers Organization HFZ High forest zone IGF Internally Generated Funds IMF International Monetary Fund KWCI Kumasi Wood Cluster Initiative LEB Log Export Ban LI Legislative Instrument LULUCF Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry LUS Lesser Used Species MDAs Ministries, Departments, and Agencies MESTI Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation MLNR Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources ______________________________________________________________________________________ iii Forestry Development Master Plan (2016 – 2036) MMDA Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies MMSE Micro, Medium, and Small Scale Enterprises MoF Ministry of Finance MOPs Manual of Procedures MRV Monitoring, Reporting and Verification MTEF Medium Term Expenditure Framework NDPC National Development Planning Commission NRE Natural Resources and Environmental NREG Natural Resource and Environmental Governance PAs Protected Areas PEFA Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability PER Public Expenditure Review PES Payment of Environmental Services PSC Public Services Commission REDD+ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation RMSC Resources Management Support Center RWE Round Wood Equivalent SMEs Small and Medium Enterprises SRAs Social Responsibility Agreements TIDD Timber Industry Development Division TNA Training Needs Assessment ToR Terms of Reference TRF Timber Rights Fee TUCs Timber Utilization Contracts TVD Timber Validation Department VLTP Validation of Legal Timber Project VPA Voluntary Partnership Agreement WAG Woodworkers Association of Ghana WD Wildlife Division WITC Wood Industry Training Center ______________________________________________________________________________________ iv Forestry Development Master Plan (2016 – 2036) FOREWORD Within the Framework of the 40-year National Development Blue Print, the 2012 Forest and Wildlife Policy and the on-going sector interventions, a 20-year Ghana Forestry Development Master Plan has been formulated as a first step instrument towards (i) cooperation, coordination, coherence and synergy in forestry-related issues at all levels; (ii) promoting good governance through accountability and transparency (iii) modernizing forest enterprises as a means of job creation for the rural and urban poor, iv) promoting timber plantation development; (v) ensuring biodiversity conservation and ecotourism development and vi) pursuing sustainable financing of forestry sector activities. This master plan is the product of several consultative processes involving engagements with experts and technocrats in the forestry sector, traditional authorizes and landowners, development partners, forest fringe communities, policy makers and legislators. The vision, goal, and objectives of the Forestry Development Master Plan (FDMP) reflect the national development agenda, the National Climate Change Action Plan, Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, and the on-going sector activities. The plan seeks to contribute to reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, climate and temperature regulation, sustainable supply of timber and woodfuels, reducing poverty and helping to conserve biodiversity. This plan has taken into full account the need to improve the state of the environment, whilst addressing the complexities of land and tree tenure and the importance of appropriate and efficient land use. The plan is about the place of law, government, organizations, companies, traditional authorities, landowners and individuals in forestry, and how all of these would interact for the national interest and the conservation of forest and wildlife resources. It is about measures to harmonize the relationships between the different elements that lay claim to our land and scarce water resources, and to bring equity into their allocation. It is about the conservation of flora and fauna and the natural environment. It is about people, their beliefs and the forest environment, their working conditions and their livelihoods. It also recognizes the international guidelines and conventions to which Ghana has ratified. The full implementation of the forestry development master plan will witness a structural transformation of the forestry sector including the industries and institutions. It will respond to climate change issues and ensure improvement in the livelihood of the forest dependent communities and individuals. The plan will achieve technology-led forestry management systems that will rehabilitate and restore all degraded forest and savannah landscapes through massive plantation development, and farm/community forestry. It will ensure the development of viable domestic wood market development, sustainable woodfuel production, and marketing and decentralization of forestry sector activities at all levels of governance. It will ensure transparent governance, equitable benefit sharing and stakeholder participation in forest, wildlife, and woodfuel resource management. Indeed engaging the private sector and civil society organizations for forestry development is one of the major transformational pillars of this plan. The plan will provide financial intermediation and incentive mechanisms for natural forest management, timber plantation development, plant and machinery development of tertiary processing activities and micro and small wood processing enterprises. It is the peoples plan. I therefore call for an attitudinal change and support from all stakeholders in pursuit of excellence in the forestry sector. Forest - our heritage, our lives and identity. Let us work together to sustain it. HONOURABLE NII OSA-MILLS Minister of Lands and Natural Resources ______________________________________________________________________________________ v Forestry Development Master Plan (2016 – 2036) Table of Contents ACRONYMS ....................................................................................................................................................... I FOREWORD .................................................................................................................................................... V List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... x List of figures .......................................................................................................................... x 1.0 BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND SECTOR ANALYSIS ........................................................................ 1 1.1. Geographic profile ........................................................................................................... 1 1.2 National demographic characteristics .......................................................................... 2 1.3 Macroeconomic profile ................................................................................................ 3 1.3. Contribution of the forestry sector to the national economy. .................................... 4 1.3.1 Non-wood forest products .................................................................................... 5 1.3.2 Ecotourism ............................................................................................................. 7 1.4 Forestry sector development interventions since 1996 .............................................. 8 1.4.1 Enhanced policy and regulatory reforms for forestry development. .................... 8 1.4.2 Improvement in the policy and regulatory environment for high forest management and timber industry development ............................................................... 9 1.4.3 Savannah woodland resource management ......................................................... 9 1.4.4