The Forestry Commission in a July 2017 letter, approved a permit for the lumbering firm, AttaKey Limited, to allow it to salvage 5,000 cubic metres of rosewood from the Upper West and three other regions.

But in an August 30, 2017 response to the Forestry Commission, sighted by Citi News, the Upper West Coordinating Council said it will not comply with the directive to “protect the fragile and fast depleting environment of the region.”

“…I am therefore to inform you that the directives per your letter cannot be implemented in this region for the best interest of the state,” the letter signed by the acting Regional Coordinating Director, A.K Boahene, said.

The ban on cutting and export of rosewood, was announced by Peter Amewu, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, as part of efforts to bring sanity in the forestry sector.

As part of the ban, the Forestry Commission was also directed to stop the issuance of cutting permits for rosewood.

Reports in August indicated that, some 25 companies had been given the approval to salvage Rosewood from the Brong-Ahafo, Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions.

An August 16, 2017 letter signed by the acting Executive Director of the Forestry Commission, Forest Services Division, directed the affected companies to comply with the guidelines for the evacuation of lying logs, harvesting, processing and transportation of the Rosewood.

The companies by the guidelines were to among others, maximize revenue and logs with a valid permit by selling them at GHC120.00, while confiscated logs shall be sold at GHC200.00.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post U/W: Licensed company stopped from cutting rosewood appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Previously, there had been a ban on felling of rosewood. In the last few years, harvesting of the species had gone out of control and in curbing the indiscipline, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in 2014 banned the harvesting, transportation, export, sale or processing of rosewood in the country which mainly come from the three Northern regions.

The companies are to strictly comply with seventeen guidelines and regulations relating to the grant of timber rights and also pay all statutory fees and approval premiums.

[contextly_sidebar id=”jHrAyTgkbkxdIHBSIAFPH1KGAK061vty”]In a letter signed by acting Executive Director of the Forestry Commission, Forest Services Division, Oppon Sasu, and dated 16th August, 2017,  directed the affected companies to comply with the guidelines for the evacuation of lying logs, harvesting, processing and transportation of the Rosewood.

The companies by the guidelines are to among others maximize revenue and logs with valid permit shall be sold at GHC120.00, while confiscated logs shall be sold at GHC200.00.

Also payment of statutory levy and premium shall be made upcountry  via bankers draft before approval of export permit.

Containers in transit to the ports are not to be sealed to enable easy access for inspection at check points and customs points.

Inspectors at checkpoints shall endorse and stamp the document covering the rosewood consignment in transit before allowing the truck to move to its final destination.

Inspectors at checkpoints shall within 24 hours report any illegal produced consignment or consignment without appropriate documentation to the nearest forestry commission office, while all broken down trucks carrying Rosewood shall report to the nearest Forestry Commission office within two days.

Efforts to ascertain whether or not there are still rosewood logs to be salvaged in the region proved futile, because  the new regional forestry director for Upper East is yet to report to duty.

But a pressure group, Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA), wants government to revoke permits granted the affected companies stressing that, there was no existing logs of rosewood in the region for salvage.

He hinted that, they shall stage series of actions to stop the move if government fails to act on the plea.

Below is NORPRA’s statement:

NORPRA CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO STOP HARVESTING ROESEWOOD IN NORTHERN SAVANNAH ZONE

The Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA), is calling on the Nana Addo administration to demonstrate one more time that it is a listening government by revoking all permits granted to over 20 companies to harvest and process rosewood trees in northern Ghana and that of the Brong Ahafo region.

NORPRA has intercepted a copy of a document signed by the Chief Executive of Forestry Commission granting approval to over 20 companies to engage in logging rosewood in northern Ghana and Brong Ahafo region. In an effort to ascertain the facts on the operations of these companies, NORPRA made a field trip to a number of communities in the Talensi district of the upper east region and shockingly saw for itself rosewood being cut down in commercial quantities.

It is recalled that environmentally conscious Ghanaians, climate change advocates and people of northern Ghana strongly supported the NPP in opposition when the party raised the alarm bell through a press conference on the felling of these rosewood tress in northern Ghana. The Nana Addo led government was again highly went applauded when government in the 2017 Budget Statement  and Economic Policy stated that it had placed high premium on combating climate change through prioritization of climate change programmes and projects. Regrettably, this same government in this very month of August is authorizing the cutting down of the same rosewood trees in the part of the country that has livelihoods seriously threatened by the harsh impacts of climate change.

What is more worrying is that government is engaging in this environmentally unfriendly action at a time Ghana’s development partners and the international community are sympathizing with the Ghanaian people on the increasing impacts of climate change on livelihoods and supporting the country with huge resources to implement a number of climate adaptation projects to help the people especially rural communities to improve livelihoods under severe climate change impacts through effective adaptation interventions.

Government needs to be constantly reminded that research has already shown clearly that impacts of climate change will intensify in northern Ghana with temperature increasing by 2^OC by the year 2030. This is certainly very alarming and what NORPRA expects of government is to rededicate itself to the implementation of a very comprehensive national policy on climate change to minimize the threats posed by climate change.

This very action of the government is therefore not only undermining and defeating the noble objectives of the country’s climate change policy and that of the Paris Agreement on climate change but also a demonstration of no practical commitment to the global development agenda such as the Africa Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

We wish to conclude by urging government to, as a matter of urgency stop all these companies from further logging of the rosewood trees in northern Ghana that is already grabbling with desertification and other climate change impacts. NORPRA will not hesitate to embark on series of well-organized actions to stop the companies from turning the affected communities into a complete desert if government does not respond in good time.

Bismark Adongo Ayorogo

(Executive Director)

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By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Gov’t permits over 20 companies to fell rosewood appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This comes after one man was arrested for the same reason.

The District Chief Executive (DCE) of Sissala East, Abdul Karim Nanyuo, told Citi News that, “I got the information that they were in one of my communities, that is Sumborun, logging rosewood.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”v0KBo2eKya3vji4tD48KHu6SZqFSLwmN”]“So I mobilized the police, [and] we went to the site where he had gathered this rosewood and we inspected it and I asked the police to arrest him,” he added.

According to the DCE, the man whose name is yet to be known confessed that he is not the only one involved and there are other people in the district who are also cutting rosewood illegally.

He said that “I have asked that he should be granted bail and today I have asked that he should come along with all the companies involved in logging rosewood and from there we would know the stakeholders involved and take the necessary action.”

Abdul Karim Nanyuo questioned the letter the suspect presented to him, claiming that it had been approved by the Forestry Commission.

Meanwhile attempts to contact the forestry commission to verify the letter proved futile.

Stop the issuance of feeling permits for rosewood

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources had earlier placed a ban on the export of rosewood as part of efforts to bring sanity in the forestry sector.

The Ministry also directed the Forestry Commission to stop the issuance of felling permits for rosewood.

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By: Rita Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Police hunt for illegal rosewood loggers in Tumu appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.