Mr Bern Guri, Executive Director, Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational Development (CIKOD), on Thursday called for transparency and accountability to save Ghana's forest resources.
He said currently Ghana's forest resources were under serious threat from the activities of illegal timber and lumber companies whose
transactions with various authorities were often shrouded in secrecy.
Mr Guri called on civil society organisations engaged in the forest sector, to be more proactive in using all available efforts to ensure transparent forest governance, saying "greater transparency would not just happen because there are provisions in the law for it; it has to be worked at".
Speaking at the launch of CIKOD's 2009 Annual Transparency Report Card (ATRC), Mr Guri said the annual study was intended to assess and compare disclosure of information on forest use and management in Ghana.
It provides available information to assess its usefulness and evidence for transparency and governance purposes.
He said findings of the report Card, however, indicated that forest communities were often totally alienated to various forestry decisions and transactions.
These include, signing of agreements with timber contractors and local chiefs, without the knowledge of the entire community on compensation paid or revenue accrued from the contract.
Mr Guri appealed to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies as well as Office of Administrator of Stools and Land (OASL), to develop more interest in forest issues because they generate revenue for development in their catchment areas.
"We should develop interest in the transaction, the trust and collaboration of all stakeholders at the community level to ensure
sustainable management of the resources", he added.
Mr Guri challenged the Forestry Commission to intensify its education and awareness campaign in forest rich communities in response to the 1994 Forest and Wildlife policy of Collaborative Forest Management adding "it is not enough to be knowledgeable in the sector when others with whom you are to collaborate fall far behind."
Mr Guri said it was important that adequate information was provided to local forest communities to enable them participate fully in forest governance.
He blamed the lack of transparency and accountability in the forestry sector to the absence of the Right to Information Bill and indicated that even though there was the Whistleblower Act (Act 720) of 2006, the new
concept was yet to be understood by majority of Ghanaians to ensure its benefit.
Mr Guri said sensitisation programmes would help increase transparency and accountability in the forest sector because communities would become more awakened to their rights and responsibilities.
Mr Wilberforce Laate, Coordinator of the Programme, said there was general lack of a platform to seek redress, saying there was no regulatory body that would ensure the Forestry Commission performed its function.
He said ineffective communication between the Forestry Services Division and other stakeholders such as OASL, assemblies, traditional authorities, timber companies and communities were some of the challenges in the sector.
Mr Laate said the report revealed the issue of low priority for environmental services provided by forests in Ghana, in contrast to the
justification for the original designation of forest reserves in the early 20th Century, which were as watershed protection areas, and not to be
logged.