ACRN REGIONAL WORKSHOP 2013 PROGRESS of FLEGT & REDD IN GHANA 24/09/20131

PRESENTATION OUTLINE Key Community rights concerns in NR in Ghana FLEGT & REDD+ Commitments Progress with FLEGT & REDD Obstacles/concerns/challenges Lessons 24/09/20132

Key Community Concerns Democratic participation of communities in forest decision making The question of ownership of land & trees Equity in the access to and the distribution of NR rents A framework for greater role of forest communities in the management of resources Capacity of communities in forest management 24/09/20133

Commitments under FLEGT & REDD+ Review the existing forest and wildlife policy – Develop subsequent policies to make them more responsive to local and global forest trends Legislative review – Clean up the conflicting forest laws into a consolidated forest act – A legislation to give legal mandate to the new FLEGT institutions (Timber verification Department, the Timber Validation Council) 24/09/20134

Commitment cont’d Reform land and tree ownership regime to reduce conflict and give security to land owners and farmers – Benefit sharing Reform the domestic market to make it legal – Domestic market supplies 84%-90% of timber on the domestic market Law enforcement – Collective role of the state, csos & communities 24/09/20135

Progress with FLEGT/REDD+ A new Forest and Wildlife policy is in place – Has bold intentions for community participation in Forest governance – Plans to legislate participatory processes in forest governance – Opportunities for local forest communities to engage in forest enterprises – community forest plantation, wildlife management – A Forest Master Plan to be developed to implement the policy 24/09/20136

Progress Contd Legislative review yet to take off – Clean up the current permit regime (legality definition is different from the existing permits in Ghana) – Ministerial tuc will not be issued under the current minister – CSO will have representation on the Timber Validation Committee as Private sector – Consultation to include transparency annex 24/09/20137

Progress contd Consultations on the verification protocols REDD+ pilots are taking place since 2012 – 7 pilots which are donor dependent – Swiss government has offered some support for the pilots to continue REDD+ has stalled due to lack of funds Climatic change policy 24/09/20138

Progress cont’d Tree/Land tenure reform is now beginning to take off – CSO have offered workable options models and alternatives – Three other tree tenure studies going on without clarity on where they converge Domestic Market reform – Support to the Domestic Lumber Traders Association to self regulate – Domestic Market & public procurement policies have been developed to different stages 24/09/20139

CHALLENGES The timber permit regime – Conversion from Leases, expired concessions and tuc’s to TUCs – The authenticity of salvage permits Review of stumpage fees & the fiscal regime The practicality of artisanal milling as a solution to the domestic market problem – Costs and technology up which excludes the chainsaw logger – Access to raw materials Realizing community management of forests 24/09/201310

Working with industry to achieve common issues of interests has been poor Direct representation of communities in the process(M SIC and other committees under REDD) Level of consultation in the REED process is very low. Linkages between FLEGT & REDD are poor 24/09/201311

LESSONS VPA provides some leverage for CSOs to get concerns on the table Follow up with bills that go to parliament. A final-final draft bill is still not ok. Beware of copy-cat processes – REDD processes which claim to use VPA consultation processes 24/09/201312