Mills offer hope for legal lumber supply

Mills offer hope for legal lumber supply

Ghana - 17 June, 2013

The communities of Sankore and Brewaniase in Ghana, have received artisanal mills donated by the Timber Industry Development Division (TIDD) of the Forestry Commission under the EU Chainsaw project implemented by Tropenbos International Ghana and partners. The mills will be used by the communities to process raw materials acquired from legal sources through a partnership arrangement between chainsaw-dependent communities and forest concession holders.

The donation was made in support of the development and promotion of artisanal milling for the supply of legal lumber to the domestic market. Through the TIDD, the Forestry Commission (FC) has been keenly interested in national processes that seek to find a viable alternative to the illegal chainsaw milling. For instance, the TIDD was involved in the multi-stakeholder deliberations and consensus that favoured the artisanal milling concept as a suitable option for supplying legal lumber to the local market. Since then, the Forestry Commission outfit has actively supported the definition of the concept and preparations for its operationalisation.

Besides the two communities that received the mills, TBI Ghana had successfully facilitated a partnership arrangement between chainsaw-dependent communities and forest concession holders toward the acquisition of legal lumber to pilot artisanal milling at Akrodie in the Brong Ahafo Region and Obogu in the Ashanti Region.

Stakeholders have defined artisanal milling as a small-medium scale milling of timber from specified legal sources by a trained, certified, registered and licensed Ghanaian artisan, using licensed mobile sawmilling equipment that excludes any form of chainsaw machines, capable of recovering at least 50% of dimension lumber from logs, for the domestic market only.