Forest enterprises equipped with new skills for legal and safe timber production in Ghana

As part of Ghana’s commitment to timber legality under a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) signed with the European Union in 2009, forest enterprises must comply with several forest legality standards. While larger enterprises have the capacity to adapt their operations, small and medium forest enterprises (SMFEs) continue to present gaps in forest harvesting operations.

To address this, the FAO-EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Programme partnered with the Kumasi Wood Cluster Association (KWC) and Preferred by Nature to scale up support to SMFEs to comply with the forest operational planning and health and safety requirements, in line with the Forestry Commission’s Manual of Procedures. Following dedicated trainings, operators are now better prepared to comply with the Ghana Timber Legality Assurance System (GhLAS).

Read the full story here: http://www.fao.org/in-action/eu-fao-flegt-programme/news-events/news-de…