Progress achieved world-wide and FAO's contribution
An example from a developed country - USA
An example from a developing country - Ghana
Gary Bull
Forest Products Division, FAO, Rome
Introduction
Since the 1992 UNCED meeting, which produced a set of international forest principles and agenda for action (Agenda 21), five years have elapsed and sceptics argue that little has happened to improve the situation of the world's forests. While there is merit to this argument, it clearly does a disservice to the forest products companies, NGOs, research institutes, universities, international organizations and governments attempting to take the principles of sustainable forest management (SFM) and translate them into concrete action.
This paper gives a brief overview of the global forest policy environment and the initiatives FAO and others are taking at the policy level. It also provides a description and discussion of the more technical aspects of SFM and how it is being implemented at the management level in forest operational trials. It concludes with a discussion of the major challenges ahead for converting the concept of SFM into measurable results.
SFM at the policy level
Criteria and indicators for implementation, monitoring and reporting
Since UNCED, criteria and indicators have been formulated and refined through several international and national, governmental and non-governmental processes. The intergovernmental processes have been conducted mainly within the framework of a number of major international initiatives which are summarized in Table 1. These initiatives are described more fully in the 1997 State of the World's Forests report (FAO 1997a).
Table 1: Ongoing international initiatives by geographic region
|
Ecological region |
Initiative |
Number of countries |
Forest area (thousand ha) |
|
Temperate and boreal forest |
Helsinki Process1 |
38 |
904 577 |
|
Montreal Process |
12 |
1 500 000 |
|
|
Tropical forest |
ITTO Producer Countries |
25 |
1 305 046 |
|
Tarapoto Proposal |
8 |
540 000 |
|
|
Dry-zone sub-Saharan forest |
FAO/UNEP Dry Zone Africa |
27 |
278 021 |
|
Dry-zone Near East |
FAO/UNEP |
30 |
69 895 |
|
All types of forests |
FAO: Central American / Lepaterique Process |
1 |
19 631 |
1CIS was included in both the Helsinki and Montreal processes.
These international initiatives are now being tested in operational sustainable forest management systems in several countries. The Center for International Forest Research, for example, has been field testing Criteria and Indicators for three years in different location world-wide (Prabhu 1996).
Improvement of forest legislation and policy reform
Many countries have recently introduced new forest policies and laws protecting their resources through improved management. Table 2 presents selected examples of the kinds of reform currently under way. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list but rather indicative of the extent and nature of the reform under way. These reforms are indicators of how the concept of SFM is being interpreted in the policy and legislative arena.
Table 2: Selected examples of legislative and policy reform
|
Country |
Types of reform recently introduced |
|
Canada |
British Columbia forest practices code ISO based wood certification scheme by Canadian Standard Association |
|
Cameroon |
Reform of forest law |
|
Ghana |
National timber certification scheme Log export ban |
|
Cambodia |
Forest policy reform process Logging control and log verification |
|
Indonesia |
National timber certification scheme Criteria and indicators of natural production forest sustainability at the national level Sustainable management on natural production forest on management unit level Technical guidance on criteria and indicators at the management unit level |
|
Malaysia |
Regional code of practice for timber harvesting in Asia-Pacific National timber certification scheme Guidelines on logging practice in Peninsular Malaysia |
|
New Zealand |
Forest code of practice |
|
Papua New Guinea |
PNG logging code of practice National forest plan |
|
Congo |
Log export controls |
|
South Africa |
South African harvesting code of practice |
|
USA |
Codes of best management practice Oregon Forest Practice Act |
SFM at the management unit level
To forest companies reforms at the management unit level are equally if not more important to their operations since this will have direct impacts on their operating practices, legal agreements for timber cutting, and ultimately on their profitability.
However, before discussing the more specific impacts of SFM, it is useful to describe and assess the differences of SFM from the older concept of sustained yield. This is one way to articulate the shift in management emphasis in forest operations.
Sustained yield and SFM
The SFM is primarily a systematic approach to sustaining each component of the forest ecosystem and their interactions. In forests available for wood supply, this means combining wood production with other management objectives, above all, the conservation of plant and animal biological diversity and soil and water conservation. Similar intentions were not as clear in the classic management concept of sustained yield but it is now agreed that forest management must systematically address a fuller range of environmental, social and economic issues (Lanly 1995). Table 3 is a summary of major differences in management approach between the two concepts.
Table 3: Comparison of SFM and sustained yield forestry objectives for temperate forests
|
SFM |
Sustained yield forestry |
|
Maintain the productivity of the forest, by avoiding erosion, soil degradation, and impoverishment of the soil ecosystem. |
Emphasizes productivity but the tendency is to use agricultural techniques to establish plantations or to use the least cost regeneration technique. |
|
Use practices which mimic natural disturbances to the extent that is feasible. |
No emphasis on the mimicking of natural disturbance. Aesthetic impacts are considered, as well as silvicultural characteristics of species and economics. Where feasible, convert stands of species with low commercial value to high valued species. |
|
Search for harvesting methods which reduce the level of disturbance in the forest, which primarily has meant that the size of clear-cut areas is being reduced and partial harvesting systems are being used more widely. |
Increasing utilization and reducing cost are the primary motivators, subject to social constraints on clear-cut size. |
|
Maintain wildlife populations and maintain species. |
Maintaining wildlife and non-timber species was generally considered outside the purview of forest managers and applied biologists were primarily concerned about maintaining populations of game species. |
|
Maintain structural and biological diversity in managed forests. |
The agro-industrial ideal was to have uniform rows of same sized, single species trees-Aesthetic considerations and economic costs were primary constraints. |
Source: Bull, Williams and Duinker 1996, Williams 1997.
Conveying the differences is critical to forest management and some forest companies are already changing their plans and operational procedures to SFM.
Field application of SFM
The international community has had numerous, some might call it a plethora, of discussions at the national and international level on the subjects of biological diversity, SFM, ecosystem management, wood certification, and, criteria and indicators. At the same time, field managers have been trying to interpret the implications of these initiatives into their operations. The concerns of industry, and in many cases government and communities relate to three major elements:
· Yield regulation
· Silvicultural system
· Harvesting system
Since it is imperative that both forest policy actors and field practitioners understand the implications of their decisions, each of these elements warrant more discussion on their specific mechanics.
Yield regulation
In practical terms, SFM has to be incorporated into timber yield regulations. The many formulas for yield calculation contain three basic elements: the biological rotation period or the felling cycle, the forest volume increment or growth and, existing growing stock of the forest. Changing to SFM means a change in the way we calculate the forest harvest level. The first change is applied to the rotation age or felling cycle; it is frequently being made longer. This means that the interventions in the forest are less and the total volume removed from the total forest has to be less in each felling cycle. So, for example, if the felling cycle is extended from 30 to 50 years for the same forest area then the total average removal per year would necessarily be less.
The forest increment statistic being applied is also changing. Traditionally, the increment was calculated use the mean average growth with insufficient integration of losses dues to mortality. In the tropics for example, where yield calculation are conducted, the regulations are applying a reduction factor of up to 0.5 to account for these losses (FAO 1975). This has enormous implications for sustainable yields, particularly for forests which are already converted to semi-natural forest (FAO 1997b).
The growing stock number is also being carefully scrutinized. Is the reported number the total growing stock, the productive growing stock or the commercial growing stock? As fibre supply is being more restricted in many regions this takes on a growing importance. For example, FAO now has estimates that while the total growing stock in Indonesia is 8.0 billion m3, the current commercial growing stock could be 3.0 billion m3. Obviously the number chosen for yield calculations will have a dramatic effect on the estimate of sustainable fibre yield. In the future, particularly with the advent of technical tools such as geographic information systems, there will be an increasing emphasis on defining the commercial growing stock on the area available for wood supply. It is on this area that you will see the application of SFM principles to forest harvesting.
Finally, the traditional formula variables described above will likely have to be further modified to allow for the application of an additional reduction factor. This factor will allow for the inclusion of, for example, riparian areas and biological diversity in some regions.
Yield regulation can also be analyzed by examining case studies which indicate reduction in various regions at an operational scale. Table 4 indicates that the range of reduction in volumes can be minor to very significant. This has important implications for fibre supply planning. Discussion will therefore have to begin amongst the policy actors as to the appropriate distribution of the costs as a result of forest volume harvest reductions.
Table 4: Forest volumes impacts of SFM
|
Region/Country |
Case study |
Forest volume impact |
|
West Coast North America |
Clayoquot Sound |
30-40% reduction |
|
Nordic Europe |
A. Berklund |
6-8% reduction |
|
Boreal North America |
White River |
15% reduction |
|
Boreal North America |
Seine River |
24% reduction |
|
Sabah, Malaysia |
Dermakot |
up to 100% reduction |
|
East Kalimantan, Indonesia |
STREK Project |
9% reduction |
|
Bolivia |
Chimanes Forest |
24-57% reduction |
|
Eastern Amazonia, Brazil |
Paragominas Region |
61% reduction |
Harvesting and silvicultural system
The harvesting and silvicultural systems will increasingly be blended into one overall system management under the concept of SFM. At the operational level, increasingly the person(s) responsible for harvesting operations must also plan for all the necessary pre- and post-harvesting silvicultural actions as an integral part of the harvesting system. Table 5 summarizes some of the changes in the major silvicultural and harvesting systems. Notice how countries like Indonesia and Malaysia seem to be reversing the systems in opposite directions in their attempts to apply SFM. It is now fairly widely accepted that there is no one "perfect" system which will definitely express SFM; rather, the appropriate system must match the biological and physical factors of the forest area.
A central question for any forest operation is of course the cost impact of adapting to new harvesting and silvicultural systems. Unfortunately, many studies either do not present the cost impacts, and when they do, it is frequently expressed using different terminology. Table 6 presents the information as increase in cost per m3, loss of profits to loggers, and increase in cost per hectare. The financial impacts are due to a number of factors including: increase in planning costs, pre-harvest inventories, extra efforts to reduce logging damage, changing log utilization standards use of new logging equipment to meet environmental standards, and increased costs of combining silviculture techniques with harvesting techniques, mills have to operate at below capacity. In many cases the cost are rising and unfortunately, the revenue from forest products is not. This creates great difficulties for an industry which is not performing particularly well in comparison with some of the other industrial sectors.
Table 5: Silvicultural and harvesting systems used in tropical forests
|
Country |
Other countries where variants applied |
Old system |
Principle characteristics |
Emerging systems |
Principle characteristics |
|
Brazil |
|
|
>45 cm DBH |
|
|
|
Indonesia |
Nepal |
Selective |
>50 cm DBH partially removed |
Shelterwood / Enrichment Planting in Dipterocarps |
monocyclic 60-70 year felling cycle/15 years for the planted species |
|
Malaysia |
India |
Malaysian Uniform System |
> 45 cm DBH monocyclic |
Selective Management System |
>45 cm DBH polycyclic 25-30 year cuts lower volume removed |
|
Nigeria |
Ghana |
Tropical Shelterwood System |
sampling 6 years before final fellings. |
- |
- |
|
Suriname |
|
Regular Management |
>35 cm DBH monocyclic |
CELOS harvesting and silvicultural system |
>35 cm DBH polycyclic 20-25 year cuts |
The financial impacts of SFM are real but they do vary greatly from study to study as indicated below. While the financial impact shown in Table 6 are based on the analysis of individual case studies, there seems to be a general consensus that commercial delivered wood costs are rising.
Table 6: Summary of financial impacts of SFM
|
Region/Country |
Case study |
Financial impacts (short term) |
|
North America-West Coast |
Clayoquot Sound |
8-25% cost increase per m3 |
|
Asia-Malaysia |
Innoprize Corporation |
5% cost increase per m3 |
|
Latin America-Bolivia |
Chimanes |
35-67% loss in profits to logging contractors |
|
Latin America - Eastern Amazonia, Brazil |
Paragominas Region |
US$ 72/ha increase |
|
Latin America - Suriname |
CELOS |
10-20% cost savings |
|
Latin America - Brazil |
Precious Woods |
0% cost increase per m3 but assumes more trees as commercial species |
Private sector response to SFM
Responsible forest management is becoming part of forest concession agreements and companies are increasingly equipping themselves with qualified personnel and scientific support in order to meet the requirements of modern forest management including pre-harvesting prescriptions, pre-harvesting treatments, best harvesting practices guidelines, and management audits.
Increasingly forest products companies are accepting that SFM is a condition of doing business. The challenge is to ensure that all companies have accepted the concept at the operational scale to ensure that the rules are the same for everyone. Otherwise, there is a distinct risk that poor environmental practice will be used as a competitive tool by irresponsible companies.
In adopting an SFM strategy there are still serious challenges for the wood products industry. First, many forest concession agreements are too short in terms of time, frequently incomplete and contain too many risk factors. Second, there is a serious lack of studies to determine the appropriate fiscal incentives necessary to change to new harvesting and silvicultural systems. Third, there is insufficient discussion between governments, industry, communities and NGOs on the appropriate sharing of the social costs of adopting SFM.
FAO's contribution to the debate
Law, policy and technical information
FAO has been very active in forest and conservation law reform in many developing and transition countries. Since 1992 FAO has been advising member countries on reforms to their forest laws that also promote SFM principles (see Table 7).
Table 7: Countries where FAO has provided assistance in law reform
|
Africa |
Asia/Middle East |
Latin America |
Europe |
|
Benin |
Indonesia |
Bolivia |
Armenia |
|
Burkina Faso |
Jordan/Syria |
Trinidad/Tobago |
Cyprus |
|
Cape Verde |
Fiji |
Cuba |
Romania |
|
Congo |
Laos |
Suriname |
Latvia |
|
Guinea |
Cambodia |
|
|
|
Mali |
Myanmar |
|
|
|
Morocco |
Nepal |
|
|
|
Mauritania |
Tonga |
|
|
|
Mozambique |
Yemen |
|
|
|
Namibia |
Bhutan |
|
|
|
Tanzania |
|
|
|
|
Uganda |
|
|
|
Policy dialogue is a major role of the FAO and there are a number of means to facilitate it. At the global level, every two years the FAO Committee on Forestry (COFO) brings together the heads of forest services and other senior government officials to identify emerging issues and to advise FAO on a course of action. FAO also convenes Regional Forestry Commission meetings, international meetings of ministers responsible for forestry and representatives of non-governmental, environmental and development organizations and leaders of the private forest industries to follow up on the UNCED process.
Wood certification
FAO is closely associated with certification issues, both in relation to forest management and to trade. In particular FAO has been involved in efforts to determine how forest management standards may be assessed; what should be evaluated; and what the market effects of certification may be. It also has been closely involved with the development of national-level criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management, a subject that some see as having linkages to certification.
FAO will continue to monitor activities and provide technical input into certification efforts in order to ensure that schemes are soundly based and that their implications are carefully considered. Where appropriate it will carry out studies, and provide information and advice on both forest management and trade aspects of the subject. It will encourage the development of well considered, technically-sound, effective, certification schemes.
Further work is needed before effective, acceptable system(s), which are mutually compatible, are available. Some of the areas needing increased attention are:
· further analysis of all aspects (from in-forest to in-market), including the evaluation of certification schemes that have been in place for a period of time in order to learn from their experience and to ensure that mis-use does not occur;· increased analysis of the likely benefits and limitations of certification, and greater clarity on what its likely impacts may be, including its impacts on trade;
· continuation of trials to determine what factors should be assessed in order to evaluate forest management and how they can be reliably measured;
· development of effective and accurate procedures for tracking wood from the forest to the market (i.e. chain of custody);
· agreement on such issues as who should carry out certification; what the basis of the certification should be; who should issue certificates; who should assess certifiers competence;
· evaluation of the role of the various groups, in particular the role of governments;
· analysis of the degree to which there are linkages between national and management unit level criteria and indicators, and between the latter and forest product certification;
· further efforts to develop stronger linkages between the certification systems that are being developed, and to reach broad agreement and where possible mutual recognition, of alternative schemes in order to limit conflicts. A basic need is to achieve a degree of international and regional agreement on sound approaches to sustainable forestry.
Technical information
FAO is organizing the XI World Forestry Congress. The general theme is "Forestry for Sustainable Development: Towards the Twenty-first Century". It is expected that the Congress will have a broad participation and outreach, considering the current debate on forests within the follow-up to UNCED. The timing of the Congress, just after the conclusion of the tasks of CSD's Inter-Governmental Panel on Forests and the comprehensive review of Agenda 21 by a special session of the UN General Assembly, makes the Congress the logical venue to look at the follow-up in sustainable forestry development.
FAO also seeks specialized technical advice on policy through various standing committees on forest gene resources, forest products and through ad hoc working groups on priority issues. Examples are the Advisory Committee and Paper and Wood Products and the very recent Working Group on Forest Sector Outlook Studies.
In late 1995, the FAO Forestry Department initiated the Global Fibre Supply Study with an outlook to the year 2050. The general objective of the study is to contribute reliable data, information and analysis of industrial fibre sources. The study includes a compilation of the latest available inventory data, including recovered and non-wood fibre, focusing primarily on the sources of industrial fibre as raw material for the sawmilling, wood-based panels, and pulp and paper industries. It will also include a projection and analysis of future developments in fibre supply, based on explicit consideration of the major factors affecting supply.
The Organization undertakes a global forest assessment every 10 years, highlighting forest cover, deforestation and forest degradation. The next assessment will be published in the year 2000 and will be known as FRA 2000. FAO also regularly provided information on wood products production, trade, regional and world forest outlook studies and forest sector studies. The Yearbook of Forest Products is a well-known example of statistics on products and trade, the Asia-Pacific study is the current regional forest outlook study and the Provisional Outlook Study for global forest products consumption, production and trade is an example of model development for world outlook studies.
One of the key elements of non-wood forest products is the gathering, analysis and dissemination of key technical information on non-wood forest products. The overall aim is to enhance the sustainable utilization of non-wood forest products in order to contribute to the management of the world's forest and the conservation of their biodiversity, and to improve food and income security for rural people.
Technical assistance at the management unit level
FAO offers technical assistance to developing countries to help create and implement policies and technologies on SFM. Currently, the FAO is active in some 250 forestry technical assistance projects in 90 countries. Technical projects level assistance covers most dimensions of SFM (Harcharik 1995).
In addition, FAO also develops practical field manuals, analyses sustainable utilization of forest resources and assists in ongoing wood-worker training programmes. These activities are in some respects the most important since SFM has to be translated into the operational setting. This means that resources such as trees and non-wood products will be utilized but at a sustainable level.
FAO is also attempting to offer more practical guidance in SFM. Following are a few examples of projects which attempt to provide such guidance.
Environmentally sound harvesting practices - Congo
This is a case study on forest harvesting in natural forests of the south Congo has just been completed. The study report is part of a series of case studies published by FAO in the field of forest harvesting. The study was carried out in cooperation with a private contractor operating a concession. It is the first one carried out by the FAO in collaboration with a private industrial enterprise. The objective of the study was the establishment of reliable data on a ground harvesting system in the tropics, using power saws, crawler tractors and wheeled skidders. The case study consisted of a study inventory, a harvesting recovery analysis, and a harvesting impact assessment.
Environmentally sound harvesting practices - Brazil
The objective of the Brazilian study was to thoroughly document and establish data on environmentally sound forest harvesting associated with careful planning of every phase of the harvesting operations in the tropical natural forest of the Amazon in Brazil. This type of harvesting was compared with the traditional harvesting system used in the region. Another aim was to establish the applicability of the FAO Model Code for each phase of harvesting. In conducting the study FAO worked with a forest products company whose aim is to demonstrate the economic viability of SFM integrated with a wood processing industry.
Model code of forest harvesting
FAO has just recently developed a Model code of forest harvesting practices with the aim to assist FAO member countries to consider the adoption or revision of their own codes of practice and promote environmentally sound forest operations world-wide. The practical means to achieve is by adopting low impact felling systems, new wood harvesting systems and appropriate road development.
Handbook on tropical forest management
Currently the FAO is in the process of developing a handbook for tropical forest management. The objective is to provide practitioners with a manual which will take the principles of SFM and translate them into practical methods for field practice. This will include suggestions on issues such as regulating harvest or sustainable yield, maintaining a continuous forest inventory, and road and skidtrail construction.
Major challenges ahead
Law, policy and technical information
Most reports still concur that population growth will continue, albeit at a slower rate in richer countries, and that there is a shortage of productive land in the poorer countries for agriculture and wood production. Also there is still a frequent lack of land use planning, for example of converting land from forest to agricultural production and finally, poor enforcement of forest laws.
For the policy-maker, there is still a serious lack of reliable up-to-date information on forest resources. Frequently, for example, forest inventories are old or of poor quality. Therefore planning for the future still requires policy-makers to make many dubious assumptions until there are significant steps taken, such as those by Indonesia, to create a reliable inventory system.
Technical assistance at the management unit level
At the management unit level there continues to be irresponsible forest practices which can only be explained by weak regulatory control, corruption or lack of long-term guarantees for forest supply. In many regions there continues to be ineffective market mechanisms in log distribution which can lead to monopolistic pricing, unfair distribution of economic rents and poor forest management practices.
Changes are and will have to continue to take place in how the forest products industry defines its role in the communities in which it operates. For example, a major forest products company announced on April 9, 1997 a joint venture forest company with an indigenous group in western Canada in which the indigenous group will own 51 percent of the shares. Many more arrangements of this nature will likely happen in the future. Likewise, rural communities will also be much more involved with forest products firms in decision-making, particularly in single industry towns. Building new arrangements will take time and mutual trust of the stakeholders.
Finally, there is a lack of field data and field demonstrations of the impact of SFM and how it can be achieved in practical terms. To address this weakness closer cooperation is required between the industry, government, local people and NGOs. It also means information will have to be more freely shared which can only happen in an atmosphere of mutual trust and cooperation.
Conclusions
Given the preponderance of legal and policy initiatives that include SFM, it is likely that international institutions, such as the World Bank, FAO and UNDP, and country aid agencies, such as the ODA, SIDA, FINNIDA, CIDA, GTZ and many others, will become even more involved in supporting SFM at the management unit level.
The FAO Forest Department is actively trying to contribute to the discussion of SFM but with increasing budgetary constraints it needs to work in stronger partnerships with other institutions, public agencies and most certainly the private sector. Cooperation is not an option, it is a necessity.
By examining case studies, the impacts of SFM at the management unit level produces different results under different conditions. While it is clear that in most cases there is an impact, each forest company will have to determine for their own particular circumstance what change, if any, in timber volume harvested can be anticipated, and what the change in the many financial costs will be under SFM. It will then be necessary to have discussions with governments, aid agencies, NGOs and international institutions on how to distribute the impact of these changes. Private sector companies should not have to bear all the immediate impacts. In the long run, everyone benefits from the application of SFM.
It is also clear from the information presented that some countries are seriously engaged in efforts to ensure that the forest are managed sustainably and that practical progress is being achieved. By giving recognition to this progress, hopefully more forest companies and forest landowners (governments, investors, individuals and communities) will take up the challenge to implement the concept of SFM in all forest operations. The FAO will continue to play a vital role in translating the SFM vision into a reality.
References
Bull G., Williams J. and Duinker P. 1996. The future contribution of the global temperate and boreal forests to the sustainable paper cycle. Report prepared for the International Institute of Environment and Development: Sustainable Paper Cycle Project. London, UK.
FAO. 1997a. State of the World's Forests Report. Rome, Italy (Draft).
FAO. 1997b. Handbook for the Management of Tropical Forest Management. Rome, Italy (Draft).
FAO. 1975. Management Possibilities of Tropical High Forest in Africa. FO/75, Rome, Italy.
Harcharik, D. 1995. Promoting Sustainable Forest Management: Journal of Forestry 93(10): 18-20.
Lanly, J.P. 1995. Sustainable Forest Management: Lessons of History and Recent Developments. Unasylva 46(182): 38-45.
Prabhu R. et al. 1996. Testing Criteria and Indicators for the Sustainable Management of Forests: phase 1. Final report. Centre for International Forest Research. Indonesia.
Williams, J. 1997. Impacts of Sustainable Forest Management on Global Fibre Supply. Background Report. Prepared for the Global Fibre Supply Study. FAO Forestry Department (Draft).
Henson W. Moore
American Pulp and Paper Association, Washington D.C.
Introduction
AF&PA is about to issue the second Annual Progress Report. For the first time it has been possible to compare data and the results are quite positive:
The number of loggers trained more than doubled - from 3 300 to 7 800.
Trained loggers delivered over 60 percent of the raw material used to make paper and wood products, compared to 34 percent in 1995.
The number of non-industrial private foresters receiving information on sustainable forestry grew from 35 300 in 1995 to over 40 000 in 1996.
Member companies spent US$ 61.9 million on research related to forestry, wildlife and the environment - a 17.6 percent increase over the 1995 figure.
The average size of clear-cuts declined from 66 acres in 1995 to 61 acres in 1996.
Total acres reforested in 1996 equalled 1.2 million. This was about the same level as 1995, so a trend is not yet seen.
This is the first time this type of data have been collected in the US. More information will enable AF&PA to continually improve its programme and measure the progress.
Market pressures
Public expectations regarding the management of US forests has grown dramatically. A more educated and aware public now demands that industry be better stewards of the forest resource. Forest management is no longer simply cutting trees - rather, it is essential to manage for multiple societal values such as wildlife, biodiversity, aesthetics, and water quality protection. In other words, the power of the American public to withdraw AF&PA's social license to continue managing forests is not underestimated. Therefore, their demands must be met.
Growing consumer awareness is now impacting the market. A growing number of contractors, architects and retailers are looking for supplies of "sustainably produced" forest products. Government procurement policies are written to favour "environmentally preferable" products. The inter-governmental dialogue is focusing on "market based incentives" to encourage sustainable forest management. Not only is caring for the environment the right thing to do, there is mounting pressure by government and businesses to address the issue.
Through the SFI, AF&PA is working to respond to public concerns, and the response has been positive. However, the global market place will demand that other producers take similar steps as well. If the American public demands accountability and responsibility from its own industry, foreign suppliers will face similar pressures.
International cooperation
As industry is globally changing, new and better ways of cooperation are continuously being sought even though there is the need sometimes to operate under very different cultural, political and social systems - this means that all concerned cannot and should not approach sustainability in the same way. Although the destination is a common one, the paths to take to get there will necessarily be different.
The forest products industry has now participated in three meetings of the International Forestry Roundtable process. Last year in Chile, ten countries met to discuss industry's vision and principles of sustainable forestry. Just as the chemical industry globally came to agreement on a set of environment and health and safety standards through the Responsible Care programme, the forest products industry also needs to agree on the basic vision and principle behind sustainable forestry. AF&PA will continue to work with its counterparts globally to ensure this happens.
Fosuaba A. Mensah Banahene
Ghana Timber Millers Organization, Kumasi
Introduction
Forest resources of Ghana
The High Forest Zone, which is virtually natural forest, covers an area of 8.2 million ha, approximately one-third of the total land area of Ghana. The High Forest occurs in the south-west portion of Ghana, extending northwards to reach the upland evergreen areas of Ashanti region and western parts of Brong Ahafo region. The High Forest in Ghana consists of the wet evergreen rainforest and the moist semi-deciduous forest.
Available studies indicate that 1 634 100 ha of the high forest are under reserves. Of this, 352 500 ha (21.5 percent) are under permanent protection while 762 400 ha are designated timber production area. Information about off-reserve areas is sparse but it is generally accepted that there are about 400 000 ha of forest in off-reserves.
The present state of the forests requires that an intensive management plan be put in place to reduce the high rate of degradation. Of the 352 000 ha of protected forests, as much as 32 percent degradation has occurred and efforts are being made to rehabilitate 122 000 ha of that. On the whole, the forest of Ghana contains a standing volume of 188 million m3 of wood and it has a natural growth rate of 4.6 million m3 at an increment rate of 4 m3/ha/year.
Plantations
Plantation forestry is relatively new in Ghana. Currently, there are some 40 000 ha of plantation consisting of about 15 000 ha planted by the Forestry Department and the rest by forest industry firms and a large numbers of small holdings with teak as the main species. The annual yield from these is 50 000 m3 but this is expected to increase with the years as more companies and individuals have intensified activities in commercial planting.
Land ownership patterns
In Ghana, all the land belongs to the traditional stools (chieftaincy) but they have been vested in the President of Ghana to be managed on their behalf. Legally, this means that land owners have lost the right to allocated the resource but do retain the right to benefit from the resource. The system, therefore, allows for traditional landholding authorities (stools) to hold allodial title to land on behalf of the people. Members of the landholding group have usufruct rights and may permanently appropriate a portion of land. Migrants in a particular traditional area may, however, acquire land by outright purchase or by leasing, usually under customary law.
There is a great difficulty in coming up with a system of land use acceptable to all. However, the Ministry of Lands and Forestry has over the last five years been working on land use policy. The policy is expected to be announced soon.
Contribution of forests to economy of Ghana
The importance of the timber industry can be examined from several angles but for the moment, we may consider the employment benefits and contribution to GDP.
About 75 000 adults/household heads were employed in the industry as at 1994 while 2 million people lived off the industry (TEDB 95). This situation has changed since 1996 with the industry now employing 100 000 household heads and not less than 3 million people depend upon the industry for their livelihood.
In a country where the level of unemployment is as high as 20 percent, the industry's ability to maintain such a level of employment is very significant.
Foreign earnings from the sector have also been rising over the years. For instance, in 1994 timber exports contributed 18 percent to total external earnings of Ghana. In 1990, the overall contribution of the forestry sector to GDP was 5.1 percent. In 1995, timber exports alone contributed US$ 230 million which was 11 percent total export earnings. Export earnings from Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) are rising steadily and constitute a new area of employment for Ghanaians.
Without doubt, the forest industry has the potential to increase its contribution to the country's economy but this can be realised only when more enabling policies are put in place and industry also moves rapidly into further processing.
Sustainable forest management
Historical background on sylvicultural and harvesting practice
Forest management has been practised in Ghana since the closing decade of the twentieth century but it was not until 1927 that the legal power to enforce reservation was secured. Since then, a consistent policy of selection, demarcation and reservation has been vigorously pursued. By the end of 1978, about 3 267 250 ha of forests had been placed under permanent forest estate.
From 1900, the granting of concessions to companies for timber exploitation began. Game production reserves and wildlife sanctuaries were created. There exist five national parks, two of which are located in the tropical forest zone. In all these areas, timber exploitation is forbidden by law.
Various sylvicultural systems have been practised including the normal logging effects on silviculture in selected areas. In the 1950s the Tropical Shelterwood System was experimentally tried but it was abandoned because it was not cost-effective. It consisted in eliminating the uneconomic trees while allowing the rest to grow into maturity. Various methods, including poisoning of the trees, were used to reach the goal. Taungya system which was copied from Southeast Asia at the beginning of the century is also used but mainly for plantation programmes. Almost all the plantations set up by the Forestry Department were through the taungya system. Farmers were encouraged to farm at the selected areas, especially hillsides, and while their foodcrops were growing, planting of trees was also carried out. This practice is randomly performed even today by individuals and most rural communities and it is expected that the Forestry Department would revive the system as it gears up its activities to increasingly improve Ghana's forest. It may be necessary to recommend this practice to the companies that have begun to set up plantations.
Financial and other incentives for SFM
Incentives have long been thought of by the government as a way of motivating forest exploiters and others to respond favourably to the needs of forest protection and conservation. In 1993, the government commissioned IIED to conduct a study into this area and the results re-emphasised the need to inject varied forms of incentive systems into the quest for a more efficient system for sustainable management of the forest.
In addition to royalty payments and other forest fees, there is the need to actively engage the rural people, the forest dwellers, to participate in forest protection and improvement systems. To be able to achieve this, the Forestry Department has embarked upon a number of approaches including programmes such as Collaborative Forestry, Social Responsibility Systems, etc. It is most important to recognise that without bringing in the rural people on whose land the forest grows, any effort to significantly improve the forest will not succeed.
Involving the local people means making them see the forest as an economic asset which they owe in partnership with others and that, if they took good care of the forest along the lines of sustainability, as put forward by the government, they would reap financial gains. This is what has been called the "joint-forest system". Already, one of the leading timber companies in Ghana, Ghana Primewood, has undertaken a "joint-forest management" project with the people Gwira Banso in the western region of Ghana. The Project is supported by DANIDA and already there are verifiable indications that the local people's interest will crystallise in improved sustainable forest management in that area.
Incentives need not only be given to the rural people alone. All other actors on the forest scene must be considered. If industry will need to accept a far greater responsibility for the resource, it is obvious that it will also need to have some incentives. Incentives such as deregulation, participation in policy formulation and financial allowances in the form of investment packages of low interest rates are recommended. There are indications that the government is evolving a system, though slowly and not-transparent enough, towards benefits in direct proportion to responsibility and for this, industry looks forward to its attainment in reality.
Above all, there is the need to adequately equip the Forestry Department and for this the government has been very slow in doing it. The Department lacks logistics which will enable them to put into practice the many action plans it has designed. Vehicles, buildings and tools, are in great demand for the successful implementation of management plans.
New harvesting practices
Responsible harvesting has become a necessary ingredient in sustainable forest management in Ghana. To the extent that proper procedures would be adopted by both District/Technical Officers of the Forestry Department, as well as concessionaires for operators in the forest, the Planning Branch of the Forestry Department provided a "Handbook of Harvesting Rules for Sustainable Management of Tropical High Forest in Ghana" in 1992. The book serves as a guide to all forest exploiters to enable them bring their practices in keeping with the sustainable forest management plans. Issues discussed in the book range from planning considerations through operational considerations to environmental considerations. In line with recent studies, the policy document of the Ministry of Lands and Forestry places a maximum limit on an annual harvesting volume of timber. The Master Plan directs that only 500 000 m3 and between 300 000 m3 and 500 000 m3 of the resource can be harvested annually from the reserves and off-reserves, respectively. Even though studies are incomplete especially with the Off-Reserves, the Forestry Department has already begun implementation of an interim measures which set the Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) at 1.0 million m3. This AAC figure is, indeed, a recommendation by the UK Forestry Commission to the Forestry Department. As a matter of fact, the Forestry Department had set 807 000 m3 for the AAC. It is the considered opinion of the Forestry Department that any level of harvesting beyond this will not make management of Ghana's forests sustainable. Within one year of the implementation of this policy (1995-1996), export volume dropped by 34 percent.
The "Harvesting Rules" sets standards for harvesting and the schedule requires the concessionaire to produce a Logging Plan which ensures that the expected operation is in line with the management plans. Yield is also regulated according to the trend in a stock survey which is carried out prior to the allocation of the concession. The operational plan of the concessionaire should contain schedules of construction of logging roads, bridges, culverts, skidding tracks and also the felling activity. All these will have to be approved by the District Forestry Office (DFO) and then by the Regional Forestry Officer (RFO) before permit to fell can be issued to the concessionaire. In addition, the concessionaire must comply with environmental standards set by the Forestry Department. These include the use of environment-friendly equipment, felling of specified species, respecting protected areas such as sanctuaries and headwaters. Lastly, the concessionaire must practise safety standards in his operations and there are rules that must be followed. Recently, the Forestry Department introduced further measures to ensure effective management of the forest, especially when illegal fellings intensified.
Without doubt, the management plans for the sustainable development of Ghana's forests cannot fail to succeed conservation-wise if these plans are carried through. However, it is the view of the private sector (industry) that sustainability programmes should also ensure that forest industry is enhanced. It is important that the views of those who are the real implementers of the plans are incorporated in the plans. The timber industry association's critical objection to certain aspects of the measures were addressed to the Forestry Department but action towards them are either in piecemeal or are moving at very slow pace or in some areas totally ignored.
Future wood supply to industry
Future supply of wood to industry is very precarious. The implementation of the maximum AAC of 1 million m3 is obviously going to affect the supply of logs to the mills because the capacity of the processing plants far exceeds what the AAC allows. In recent times, the Ministry of Lands and Forestry has indicated that there would be the need to reduce the capacity of the processing plants by a minimum of 33 percent. It was indicated in 1993 that the installed capacity of the mills was in the order of 2 000 000 m3 year and that this was well in excess of what can be sustained by the resource.
But the demand for timber has increased over the past five years, especially for domestic consumption. With increasing demand from housing industry which is receiving a boom, timber and wood supply has become a brisk business. It is estimated that domestic needs of timber is in the region of 1 500 000 m3 as at 1995 (excluding what is used directly in the villages). Some analysts even believe higher figures are involved. Wood exports in 1995 amounted to 547 000 m3.
It needs, therefore, no imagination to realise that supply of timber or wood will experience an acute shortfall in the wake of the implementation of the new AAC. Some have opined that it is the intention of the Ministry of Lands and Forestry to force skewed supply system so that some companies will naturally fall out in order to reduce the capacity. But the point is that the demand will not abate and this will lead to increased illegal activities to deplete the forest. The issue is a big one and it is important that all parties be involved in designing an effective strategy to counteract it.
Forest depletion
Ghana experiences deforestation like most countries in Africa. The Sahara desert is said to be advancing southwards at a threatening rate and this translates into increased savanisation of the forest areas.
Deforestation is, indeed, a phenomenon occasioned by the increase in the number of human beings. There are more mouths to feed than 50 years ago when the population of Ghana was less than 6 million. Fanning activities have increased and demand for energy has also increased. It is estimated that farming and woodfuel (including charcoal) procurement accounts for 79 percent of all the removals from the forest. Indeed, the Ministry of Mines and Energy has it on official record that the charcoal industry and woodfuel account for 15 million m3 of trees removed annually from the forest. At the per caput consumption rate of about 1 m3 of fuelwood and 0.2 m3 of charcoal, the production in 1980 can be estimated at 11 500 000 m3. Probably, if measures were to be taken to curtail this unacceptable level of woodfuel and charcoal consumption, the rate of forest destruction would be reduced to manageable levels.
Social aspects of sustainable forest management
The Government of Ghana envisages that as management plans are implemented, social needs would emerge and they would need to be addressed since the government policy seeks also to see "all segments of society benefit from the sustainable development" of the forest resources.
The rationale behind the government policy is that when others are removed from the management system, their actions, wilful or otherwise, will adversely affect the sustainable forest management plans. Therefore, as it has been pointed out earlier, it is necessary to get all parties, especially local people, involved in the process. But for local people, it is only when the forests have real value to them will they see the need to cooperate in efforts to protect and manage the forest. The 1994 Forest and Wildlife Policy makes adequate provision to attract the local people to participate in forest management. Looking at the thrust of the emerging policies in the forest sector, local people will in future be offered the opportunity to share in the financial wealth of trees in their own farm. Currently, farmers are compensated financially when commercial trees on their farms are felled. There is now a growing propensity among local people to strive to provide ingenuous ideas towards forest protection. In addition to this, timber firms operating in the forests provide a lot of social needs for the people. Indeed, a "social responsibility" performance requirement is to be part of the new concession law being prepared.
Forest certification in Ghana
What is forest certification?
Forest certification has engaged the attention of the government of Ghana for the past three years. Several consultations have been made both inside and outside the country and there are already measures under way to address the issue. Ghana's approaches have been guided by its understanding of what certification means. Forest certification is the assessment of management quality of a specified forest by a single organization against an acceptable international standard. It is seen as an effort towards effective sustainability of the forest. In the view of industry, the purpose of forest certification is so crucial that its execution should not be left in the arena of marketing alone. As a marketing tool, certification risks failure if the efficiency of the market place declines. In other words, an environmental issue cannot be adequately addressed by relying on the dictates of market.
However, looking at the general movement and direction of certification, this view of industry in Ghana is less popular.
Ghanaian approaches
Ghana has adopted the approach of sensitising grassroots perceptions and with that build a consensus for national initiative. A national Workshop was held in June 1996 for all stakeholders. At this Workshop, an important initiative was adopted and that was the setting up of a National Certification Committee, comprising a wide spectrum of stakeholder representation. From the National Committee, a National Technical Committee was appointed to design standards for certification in Ghana.
The National Certification has held two meetings since and will soon meet to discuss the interim report of the National Technical Committee. The standards will be widely discussed before adopting a final set of standards and criteria. It is desired that those standards be in conformity with FSC Principles, ITTO Guidelines and ISO Format though they will maintain unique character reflecting the special circumstances of Ghana.
Issues that have been discussed
Some of the issues that have been and continue to be discussed are:
· voluntary, transparent and non-discriminatory nature of certification;
· cost-effectiveness, credibility and purposefulness;
· who pays for the certification cost;
· national and international standards conformity;
· need for chain of custody;
· accreditation and local bodies' readiness to certify;
· trade impacts and national economy;
· can certification adequately promote sustainability process.
All these are major issues and it takes time to reach acceptable solutions.
Regional workshop on certification
Owing to Ghana's critical approach to certification, it has been the focus of international interest in the subregion which culminated in the holding of a regional workshop in Accra in November 1996.
The workshop took a critical appraisal of forest certification and assessed individual country approaches, sharing strengths and discouraging weaknesses. Major conclusions were:
· certification should be a step-by-step approach in Africa;
· standards must cover both performance (operations) and process (policies);
· national peculiarities should be accommodated in the standards;
· local technical competence should be strengthened and increased;
· cost-sharing should be initially practised by both sellers and buyers;
· consuming North should be informed that "Africa is on its way";
· boycott-happy countries should back out;
· donor-agencies should offer financial packages to propel take-off;
· pilot projects should be set up to demonstrate practice;
· local people should be educated.
Conclusion
It is most important for all to recognise that the forest is a national heritage that must be protected in the interest of society but, at the same time, it is an economic resource that must be exploited for the good of the same society. This dual-quality of the forest creates tension and it is the expectation of posterity that the present generation will employ its immense knowledge and wisdom to carve a credible path for ensuring the sustained presence of the forest to serve mankind at all times.
Whether it is economic exploitation or species conservation, there is a responsibility to ensure that social and national needs are not unduly destroyed or even frustrated for the world and all that it contains is meant for the good of mankind.
