The Forestry Commission of Ghana Programmes

The Forestry Commission is executing various Forestry Sector Programmes and Projects to enable the Commission to achieve its mandate of protection, development, management and regulation of forest and wildlife resources in the country.

The current programmes and projects include the following:

Natural Resources and Environmental Governance Programme (NREG)
NREG is designed to provide annual Sector Budget Support and to sustain the implementation of broad programme of Natural Resources Governance and Environmenta reforms and innovation for the government.
The programme has been developed and fully owned by relevant government agencies:- MLNR, MEST, FC, MC and EPA. The programme focuses on a set of policies and reforms in the inter-related sectors of forestry and wildlife, mining and environmental protection. It is a five-year programme beginning from September, 2008.
The objective of the NREG programme is to address governance issues as regards to natural resources and environmnent with the overall objective of ensureing sustainable economic growth, poverty reduction, increasing revenues and improving environmental protection.
The NREG draws on the Framework Memorandum of Understanding that has been developed under the leadership of Government of Ghana (GoG) with five participating Development Partners (DPs) including: Agence Francois de Development (AFD), Department for International Development (DfID) of the United Kingdom, the European Commission (EC), the Royal Netherland Government (RNG) and the International Development Association (IDA - WB).
The direct benefits expected at the completion of the programme at the end of five years would include:-

Twenty-five Million Ghana Cedis (GHC 25,000,000) has been approved for FC by MOFEP for 2010.

One of the main agenda in the programme is the implementation of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) between GoG and EC. The first mission of the Joint Monitoring and Review Mechanism (JMRM) was successfully conducted in Accra between January 27 - 29, 2010. Details would be provided by the Timber Validation Department (TVD).

Also, two Performance Assessment Framework have been successfully completed with DPs. All triggers and targets were achieved except the conversion of extant timber leases to TUCs and the charging of Timber Right Fees (TRF).
>> 2009 Annual Report

Community Forest Management Project (CFMP)
The project is being funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and is designed to rehabilitate degraded forest reserves while increasing production of Agricultural, wood and non-wood forest products and strengthening the capacity of relevant institutions.
The project commenced in October 2003 and is expected to rehabilitate six degraded reserves in four regions namely: Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Eastern and Western.
The project faced an initial problem of change of project sites due to unforeseen circumstances at the inception. However, status to date is very encouraging. The project has been extended and would end by the end of the year.
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Government Plantation Development Programme (HIPC)
The project is funded solely by the Government of Ghana through HIPC funds. It aims at rehabilitating degraded foret reserves in suitable off-reserve areas, mangroves, waterheds, planting of amenity trees in urban areas and creating employment for the youth in the rural and urban communities.
The President of the Republic of Ghana launched this employment based model on January 20, 2010 at Abofour in Offinso District in the Ashanti Region.
The strategy shall be the facilitation of activities at the local community levels through the provision of technical and support to various stakeholders. There will also be the involvement of civil society organisations and the private sector.
The programme will have an annual target of 30,000 hectares and this is estimated to generate employment for 30,000 youth.

Forest Resources Management Project (FORUM)
This project is being funded by GTZ and KfW of Germany with an original budget of DM25.0 million. The project aims at reducing the degradation of forest resources in the Volta Region through the protection of the remaining natural forest, rehabilitation of degraded forest reserves and the promotion of private woodlot establishment.
The project ended in February, 2008, however there are a few activities to be mopped up with 0.45million funds that remained at the end of the project. the FC has provided the necessary counterpart fund for the release of the above amount from KfW during the year.

Bamboo and Rattan Development Project (BARADEP)
This project aims at promoting the utilization of bamboo and rattan resources as alternative to timber wood and to create employment for the people of Ghana, thereby reduce poverty. The Government of China has promised to release a grant of $4.0million for the execution of the project, however, the necessary negotiations have not been completed.
The GoG is currently supporting the programme with an annual budget of GHC 180,000.00 (from NREG Funds). The project will in the coming yers concentrate on bamboo plantation development, establishment of model nurseries and assist the private sector in the establishment of cottage industries.>>site
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Non-Legally Binding Instrument on all Types of Forests in Ghana (NLBI)
The objective of this pilot project is to support Ghana to move in the implementation of the non-legally bindng instrument on all types of forests. The experiences generated will be very useful for other countries that embark on implementation of the NLBI and for ossible future support to countries through the extension of the project.
The direct beneficiaries of the project is the main stakeholdrs in Ghana's NFP process, including MLNR, FC, Civil Society Groups and the private sector.
The project is being funded by BMZ of Germany with an amount of $0.4million for a period of about three years. It was officially inaugurated in December, 2008. Click Here

The Forest Preservation Programme
The grant is intended to support measures towards forest conservation in ghana by providing equipment, materials and services while using Japanese products and technology if possible to achieve Green Ghana. The Government of Japan through JICA has provided a grant of US$7.8million. the grant is being processed and would be availabel during the year.

Forest Investment Programme
The Expert Group has recommended for the selection of Ghana (FC) as a pilot under the Forest Investment Programme (FIP). If selected, the FC will receive a carbon grant of about $70.0m to pilot its carbon programmes under climate change.