Training programme on forest certification opens

Accra, June 24, GNA - A four-day workshop to strengthen national capacities on Forest Certification (FC) for West and Central Africa is underway in Accra.

 The workshop brought together forestry practitioners in government organisations, academic and research institutions, civil society organisations, and the private sector in the West and Central Africa sub-regions.

 It aimed at equipping forestry practitioners with the needed knowledge, tools and skills on FC to enhance their understanding on the implementation strategies to achieve sustainable forest management.

 The participants were taken through topics such as Overview of Forest Certification, Fundamental Requirements of FC, and Accreditation and Status of FC.

 The programme was organised by the Africa Forest Forum in collaboration with the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) and the Economic Community of West African States.

 Dr Daniel Ofori, the Director of FORIG, said FC was a process of inspecting forests or woodlands to ensure that they were being managed according to an agreed set of standards.

 He said a forest was certified once it had met the set standards using a soft policy instrument as indicator and means of verification.

 Dr Ofori said FC offered management framework for ecological sustainability, economic viability and social inclusion as well as opportunities like access to premium timber markets to the public..

 He said the increasing demand by consumer countries for forest products meant that focus on FC would enhance access to international markets and increase national revenues.

 He said the sub-regions had a long way to go if the stakeholders engaged along the value-chain in the forest sector lacked the understanding of FC concepts, principles and tools to engage in effective processing of forestry activities.

 He said the programme was expected to increase participants understanding of the importance of FC in sustainable forest management and forest governance.

 Mr Godwin Kowero, the Executive Secretary of AFF, said research had indicated that the pace of implementation of FC on the continent was slow due to limited understanding of forest certification concepts and principles.

 He said the continent did not have locally-based forest certification auditors and bodies of its own as well as financial support to enable it to carry out its responsibilities.

 Mr Kowero noted that Africa accounts for only four per cent of the total global forests certification due to inadequate or lack of enabling conditions and policies.