Ghana has been held at Akyawkrom near Ejisu in Ashanti. The day's workshop was organized by the Forestry Commission in collaboration with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the National Forest Programme Facility, the Forest Forum of Ashanti, Central, Western and Brong-Ahafo and the Growing Partnerships (GFP) Initiative.
It was designed to help participants to identify where Ghana stands with respect to the national policy measures in the instrument, adopted in December 2007 during the United Nations Forum on Forests. The workshop provided the platform for them to deliberate on prioritized issues to move forward the implementation of the Instrument and enhance sustainable forest management to reduce deforestation and forest degradation in the country.
Presenting a paper on "Understanding the implementation of the Forest Investment in Ghana", Reverend David Guba Kpelle, National Project Coordinator of the Instrument, said its primary purpose was to promote commitment and action at all levels. He said even though, it was voluntary, countries were expected to develop and implement priority national policies and measures including the promotion of efficient production and processing of forest products.
Rev. Kpelle said it was also expected that government supported the use of traditional forest-related knowledge in sustainable forest management, created an enabling environment for private sector investment and enhanced cross-sectoral policy to address deforestation and forest degradation. The coordinator noted that in collaborating with development partners, Ghana would mobilize the necessary support to implement the actions, document methodology and experiences and shared lessons to belearnt with other countries. Mr Alex Asare of the Resource Management Support Centre of the Forestry Commission in Kumasi reminded Ghanaians that forest resources were irreplaceable and must therefore be protected.
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