Photo of discussion with the Ghana delegation

This time the Independent Forestry Monitoring Network (JPIK) had the opportunity to share experiences with the Ghana Delegation on the implementation of FLEGT – VPA in Indonesia, this event was held at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry office on Wednesday (08/08/2017). The arrival of the Ghana Delegation to Indonesia also met with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Association, Certification Institution and visit one of the log processing companies. The arrival of the Ghana delegation represented several government institutions in Ghana, Entrepreneurs and CSOs.

Ghana has about 2.6 million hectares of forest reserves allocated for timber production, and an additional 2 million hectares of agricultural land that also produces timber. The country also has 500,000 hectares of forest. The forestry sector is the fourth largest contributor to Ghana’s GDP. Ghana has a strong reputation for wood processing innovation, producing which is in line with European market demand. About one third of Ghanaian timber exports are sent to the European Union. Ghana has ratified the VPA with the European Union and is developing a system that is needed to control, verify and license legal timber.

JPIK conveyed many experiences when directly involved in the process of building SVLK, monitoring SVLK implementation and policy advocacy, as well as the challenges faced by JPIK in carrying out its role as Independent Monitor.

Indonesia since 2007 has negotiated with the European Union to support legal timber products through the Timber Legality Verification System (SVLK) which is a soft approach policy in combating illegal logging. Last year Indonesia was considered ready to accept the FLEGT-VPA agreement with the European Union. It was decided that Indonesia could issue a FLEGT License on 15 November 2016. Thus the V-Legal Document issued for European Union goals per 15 November 2016 will function as a FLEGT-License. Indonesia is the first country in the world to obtain FLEGT-License from the European Union .