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Publications
- Laws & Regulations
Main | Forest& Wildlife
Policy | Act 571 | Act
547 | L I 1649 | Act
617 | LI 1721| Act
493 | Act 583 | Act
623 | Act 624
Ghana’s
Forest and Wildlife Policy, which
was launched in 1994, is the guiding document for the
development of the Sector.
The Forestry Commission, the main implementing
body of the Policy, is a corporate body integrating the
activities of all the public agencies that were previously
individually responsible for the management and regulation
of utilization of forest and wildlife resources in Ghana.
Since the establishment of the new Forestry
Commission by Act 571 of
1999, the Commission has focused on improving staff performance,
monitoring, co-ordination and accountability. Managers
from the various Divisions are trained to be aware of
the forest's and wildlife’s value as commercial
assets and to develop a business-like attitude in delivering
service. This change of focus enables scarce resources
to be targeted at clearly defined priorities.
Under the new Forestry Commission, the
right to harvest and utilize timber is awarded in the
form of a ‘timber contract’. This is contained
in Act 547, Timber Resource
Management Act, 1997. Under this Act, the contract
holder enters into a contract with the Government to
utilize and manage the timber resource on stated Terms
and Conditions. The regulations to guide the implementation
of Act 547 are contained in Legislative
Instrument, 1649
The Timber
Resources Management Act 1997, Act 547 has recently
been amended to the Timber
Resources Management (Amendment) Act 2002, Act 617.
This Act is to exclude from its application land with
private forest plantation; to provide for the maximum
duration, and maximum limit of area, of timber rights.
It also provides for incentives and benefits applicable
to investors in forestry and wildlife and to provide
for matters related to these.
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