Illegal Logging and Related Trade: Indicators of the Global Response Results from Ghana Sam Lawson Chatham House Associate Fellow

2 Measuring the Response: Methodology HeadingIndicators / Information Sources Awareness / Attentionmedia (qual/quant) Governmentpolicies, enf data, survey Private sectorcertif/verif, survey Levels of illegal logging & trade wood balance, survey, trade data discs import-source analysis 5 producers:Brazil, Cameroon, Ghana, Indonesia, Malaysia (40%) 5 consumers:UK, US, France, Japan, Netherlands 2 processors:Vietnam, China(cons+proc= 50%) Development and roll-out of methodology Methodology and results reviewed by independent experts

Methodology  List of 48 ‘ideal’ policies/laws/regs needed for good governance  Summarised into 12 major headings  EG – Heading: Transparency- Q: Do policies, laws or regulations stipulate that information on location of concessions, ownership and contact details is publicly available?  Each policy scored on existence, design and implementation  Justification for scores given  Initial assessment by local consultant (Gene Birikorang)  Review by Chatham House and independent reviewers Government Response POLICIES

Ghana Results (as of Sept 2009) Overall – still quite bad Good news:  Parliamentary oversight of forest agencies good;  Tenure and use rights arrangements better than other countries  Resource allocation procedures also good Government Response – Ghana Results POLICIES

Ghana Results Bad news  Worst scores of five producer countries in relation to information management and the use of best practice in law enforcement  Incoherence and ambiguity still exist in the legislative framework  Resource allocation procedures regularly sidelined  Transparency & CoC poor BUT – many improvements under way under VPA process Government Response – Ghana Results POLICIES

 Most useful data are not collected at central level or published  Study had to visit regional offices in person for data  Data for show increased seizures (up 25%) and increased fines (up 60%)  Mostly due to increased small-scale seizures of chainsaw lumber CAUSE – not clear if increased enforcement or increased illegality  Collection rate for fines is very good (94%)  BUT – fines are very low (5-7% of value of timber seized) – not kept up to date with inflation – not proportionate or dissuasive Government Response ENFORCEMENT DATA

 Numbers of IL cases brought to court also up (up 160%)  BUT – backlog building up – courts cannot keep up  Causes – lack of capacity in judicial system - low capacity of FD to argue cases - lack of clarity in rules and regulations  Consequence – FD falling back on compounding procedures => low fines Government Response ENFORCEMENT DATA

 Relatively poor view of government response compared with other producer countries  Less perception of improvement in government response also  Significant numbers of respondents felt political will and enforcement effectiveness were getting worse Government Response EXPERT SURVEY (Sept 2009)

Private sector response 9 Producer countries: voluntary certif/verif No timber production in Ghana is yet independently verified as legal or sustainable, whereas the proportion in the other producer countries is already considerable and growing rapidly Little take up of other schemes eg TTAP, WWF FTN One concession (Samartex) has FSC Controlled Wood certification, but its FTN membership is currently suspended

Private sector response The proportion of Ghana’s wood exports destined for ‘sensitive’ markets has been declining rapidly since 2001 Most exports now destined for unsensitive markets (eg ply to Nigeria) May be linked to exhaustion of species preferred by sensitive mkts This may be one reason for the poor private-sector response

Methodology Wood balance – extent to which total timber demand (domestic use + exports) exceeds legal supply (legal production + imports) Expert survey – questions on scale & nature of IL, and how it has changed over time Results Wood balance (2006) = 65% of logging illegal Expert survey (2009) = 59% of logging illegal Large reductions in IL over last ten yrs in Indonesia, Cameroon and Brazil NO evidence of large-scale reduction in Ghana – though some evidence from expert survey of slight improvements recently Only a quarter of illegal timber production is from the formal sector – the bulk of the problem relates to artisanal ‘chainsaw’ logging Levels of illegal logging

Government Response Significant improvements already underway, but more action needed E.G. Ghana needs to improve best practice in enforcement: - higher penalties must be applied in practice - coordination between relevant agencies improved - greater use made of technologies and methodologies to detect illegal logging and timber smuggling Action needed to speed up the processing of illegal logging cases through courts Better information management and timber tracking systems needed Resource allocation procedures properly implemented and not bypassed Better control of licensed milling capacity so that it does not exceed legal supply Conclusions / Recommendations

Other Domestic demand exceeds annual allowable cut – need to address how domestic demand can be met while continuing exports Need to reverse decline in exports to more sensitive markets like the EU – crucial for value of VPA licensing system Address factors holding back voluntary private sector response (eg certification) Conclusions / Recommendations

Thank you More Information: - Chatham House report, briefing document, country report cards at (under ‘Indicators of Progress’) - My slawson chathamhouse.org.uk