Forestry Commission Strengthens Commitment to Forest Restoration and Sustainable Management.
The Forestry Commission has reiterated its commitment to strengthening forest restoration programmes, expanding commercial plantations, combating illegal logging, improving forest monitoring, and supporting community participation in sustainable forest management.
The Executive Director of Timber Industry Development Division of the Forestry Commission, Dr Richard Gyimah, made this known during a one-day Global Timber Index Platform Strategic Partnership Forum in Kumasi, on Tuesday, July 21,2026.
The Global Timber Index Initiative (GTI) is a professional information sharing platform serving the Global Timber industry. It is a joint initiative by the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) and the Global Green Supply Chains Initiative (GGSC), with Forestry Commission as the local implementing Agency.
The Global Timber Index (GTI) platform aims to establish legal and sustainable forest product supply chains by facilitating data exchange and collaboration among stakeholders in Timber producing and consuming countries in a stable and transparent business environment.
The forum was to engage timber companies to know their challenges and find lasting solutions.
“This project aims to collect information from all timber producing countries to know their challenges as far as the timber trade is concerned and then ITTO will find how best to help, but we don’t want to wait and take our own problem to them for help.
Rather, we want to start discussions on the issues in the country, find practical ways of addressing it. Because there might be a global standard but that might not fit into Ghana’s case. So, we have gathered the timber industry players here today, so that they all look at areas that are affecting us today. And of the areas we all know is the raw materials availability. This is because, the forest we all know is going down,” he said.
He recognised that conversation and economic development are not competing objectives, rather they are mutually reinforcing pillars of sustainable national development.
According to him, technology is transforming every sector of the Global economy, and forestry is no exception.
Digital timber tracking systems, satellite-based forest monitoring, remote sensing technologies, Geographic Information Systems, artificial intelligence, blockchain enabled traceability, and modern wood processing technologies are redefining international competitiveness.
The Forestry Commission is committed to embracing innovation and digital transformation to improve transparency, strengthen enforcement, enhancement, enhance operational efficiency, and increase confidence among international buyers in Ghanaian timber products.
Technology, however, cannot succeed without partnerships.
It requires collaboration among government institutions, Technology providers, academia, development agencies, and private sector.
The Managing Director of Samatex, Dr Richard Duah Nsenkyire, said this event is long overdue looking at the challenges confronting the timber sector.
“It should have happened long ago. Especially, looking at issues with the timber sector. There is the need for such a programme so that we build effective, internal partnerships to make sure that timber industry grows,” he said.
By Benjamin Aidoo
