Effective international action on tropical forest could reduce poverty -

ITTC

Accra, June 9, GNA - Ms. Katharina Kuehmayer, Chairman of the International Tropic Timber Council (ITTC), on Monday called for an effective and focused international action on the tropical forest to help reduce poverty, protect biodiversity and mitigate the effects of climate change.

She pointed out that Africa's forest, which constituted about 26 per cent of the world's total forest, was, for instance, under increasing pressure resulting in serious deforestation which had led to significant loss of soil fertility, increased soil erosion, water depletion, soil and water pollution and loss of biodiversity. Ms. Kuehmayer was speaking at the opening of a four-day International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) meeting on operational modalities for future work of the Council.

The meeting, which is a follow-up to the Council meeting held in Yokohama last November brought together Ministers of Forestry from Ghana, Cameroon, Congo and delegates from Norway, Indonesia, USA, Austria as well as representatives from the World Bank and other affiliated agencies. Ms. Kuehmayer attributed the high deforestation rate in Africa to high population growth and poverty with its demand for forest resources, which the economy and livelihood patterns in most rural communities, depended on. "The need for more cautious use of Africa's forestry resources has become even more imperative because of the current climate phenomenon. It is a proven fact that forests are great reserves for trapping and utilization of the emitted carbon dioxide which constitute the highest form of green house gases," she said. The ITTC Chairman also pointed out that a number of policy constraints impeded majority of African countries to implement sustainable forest management practices. She mentioned low government priorities assigned to the forestry sector as seen from the low and insufficient budgetary allocations provided to the sector, weak or non-existing forestry institutions and policies, weak governance and enforcement of regulations leading to illegal logging, lack of incentives to local communities and private sector, high transaction costs in forest resource management and utilization and many others as areas that most African countries lacked policy direction.

Ms. Kuehmayer said the meeting would also discuss the ratification of the International Tropical Timber Agreement 2006 (ITTA) concluded in Geneva in January 2006 by member countries. She said the agreement which was to come into force on February 1 this year had been delayed because so far, only four producer countries and six consumer countries had completed the ratification process. Ms. Kuehmayer expressed the hope that by the end of the meeting more countries would be interested in ratifying the agreement to be part of the solution to tropical forest and not part of the problem. There would also be a ministerial panel to discuss the contributions of forestry to sustainable development and poverty alleviation in Africa and the development assistance needed to address the challenges.

Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani, Chief of Staff and Minister of Presidential Affairs, said the situation of forestry in Ghana was not much different from other tropical timber producing countries the world over. He said government would review the forest and wildlife policies to take into account emerging issues on the international forestry agenda. Mr Mpiani said issues including reducing emission from deforestation and ecosystem degradation, environmental services and carbon markets were policies that the government would consider to enable Ghana to take advantage of the opportunities in tropical forestry and forest management in the future.

Mr Mpiani informed delegates about the 100 years of forestry in Ghana celebration this year and invited them to attend an International Furniture Exhibition with the theme; "100 years of Forestry in Ghana-Networking Partnership for Sustainable Development" in October. "Ghana has had a rich history of forest management and development that spans a hundred years this year." The Chief of Staff encouraged other member countries to follow the example of Ghana and others that had deposited their instruments of ratification to ensure that the agreement can go into force in January 2009.