CHAINSAW MILLING IN GHANA: CONTExT, DRIVERS ... - Fornis.net

Chapter 1Introduction1.1 BackgroundThe total land area of Ghana is about 23.85 million hectares (ha). Forests areconfined to two vegetation zones, each with different forest types: the high forestzone (HFZ) (34%) and the savannah zone (66%; Table 1). Production forests aremainly concentrated in the southwestern part of the country; forest types range fromwet evergreen to semi-deciduous. Forest lands are owned by local communities andvested in stools (chiefs and families). However, forest resources, whether in forestreserves or outside them, are managed by the Forestry Commission. Thus, eventhough traditional authorities are recognized as “land-owners” and receive benefitsas such, they do not have any management rights over “their” forest.Table 1. Land types in Ghana (ha)reserves:degradedprotectedsuitable for timber productionland type high forest zone savannah zone totaloff reserves:unreserved forests, farmlandsother lands, cocoa, food farms, bush fallows11,678,800390,000350,000938,8006,547,10046,6006,500,500880,60014,747,5006,576,1008,171,4002,559,40021,294,6006,622,70014,671,900total 8,225,900 15,628,100 23,854,000Source: Davies and Awudi 2001Approximately 20% of the HFZ is occupied by forest reserves. These areas aregazetted to be managed for timber production, biodiversity or environmentalconservation. About 0.39 million ha of forest reserves have been categorised as