Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Mr. Samuel Abu Jinapor has called for new strategies and initiatives to grow Ghana’s teak industry to become the number one producer in the world.
According to him, Ghana becoming a major teak growing country in the world, with the highest area of planted teak outside Asia is not by accident by deliberate planning over many years.
Ghana, he said, has prioritized forest landscape restoration, and especially commercial forest plantations anchored around teak and other timber species and implementing an aggressive afforestation and reforestation programme through the Youth in Afforestation Project, the Modified Taungya System, the Forest Investment Program, and quite recently the Green Ghana Initiative.
Speaking at the 4th World Teak Conference in Accra on Monday, 5th September, 2022 the Minister indicated prior to this year’s planting, there were an estimated 200,000 ha of teak plantation in the country owned by both government and the private sector that constitutes approximately 70% of forest plantations in the country.
He averred about 5.2 million of the 26 million tree seedlings planted during the 2022 Green Ghana Initiative in June were teak seedlings.
“Teak is the most exported timber specie from Ghana, both in terms of volume and value. Last year, for instance, teak constituted 54% by volume, and 45% by value, of all the 42 timber species and wood products exported from the country.”
“The position teak occupies in the Ghanaian timber industry today is not by accident but a result of deliberate and structured efforts by government through the Forestry Commission, and in collaboration with private sector players and rural communities, to take advantage of the conducive investment, climatic and edaphic conditions to actively promote the development of forest plantations.”
“These achievements have been chalked through the implementation of enabling policy and legal frameworks, respect for the rule of law and the principles of democratic accountability.”
Teak, also known as Tectona grandis, is a world renowned premium tropical timber with excellent strength and aesthetic qualities and naturally occurred in areas like India, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos, with early introductions into Indonesia, especially the Islands of Java and Muna, around the 7th Century. Its uses are enormous, including high-impact uses such as ship decking, construction of railway carriages, door and window frames, panelling and furniture.
Teak was introduced into Ghana around 1905, more than a century ago, with seeds sourced mainly from India and Burma, now Myanmar.
However, it was not until the early 1970s that the country started embarking on large-scale teak plantation development under the government’s Rural Development Programme.
Today, Ghana is a major teak growing country in the world, with the highest area of planted teak outside Asia.
Mr. Jinapor noted that apart from developing the specie, Ghana is also working to make its harvesting, trade and use in the downstream industry easy and legally compliant, internationally.
He said, “We have, therefore, developed the Ghana Timber Legality Assurance System (GhLAS) under the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Framework being implemented between the Government of Ghana and the European Union, to enhance transparency, efficiency and legality in timber traded from Ghana.”
“We have, also, developed a Wood Tracking – Decision Support System (GWT-DSS), an electronic tracking system that tracks and traces timber from source to export, and ensures that any timber that enters the supply chain originates from legal sources.”
The Conference, he said, will offer Ghana the opportunity to foster partnerships and effective cooperation for the sustainable development and utilisation of one of the most important tree species in the world and therefore the theme, “Global Teak Market: Challenges and Opportunities for Emerging Markets and Developing Economies,” is apt.
He expressed confidence the 300 delegates and experts from 31 different countries across five continents will do justice to the issues and deliver outcomes to ensure more value-addition to teak products from developing economies to improve rural livelihoods.
He assured that Ghana, as the number one teak planting country outside Asia, will continue to work with all partners to develop the teak industry for the socio-economic development of the people and the world at large.
