Available online at www.notulaebiologicae.ro Not Sci Biol 2 (3) 2010, 121-127 Print ISSN 2067-3205; Electronic 2067-3264 Notulae Scientia Biologicae Awareness Towards Chain of Custody Certication in Africa: the Case of Ghana Alhassan ATTAH1) , Florin IORAS2) , Jegatheswaran RATNASINGAM3) , Ioan Vasile ABRUDAN4) 1) Timber Industry Development Division, P.O. Box 738, Takoradi, Ghana; anattah@yahoo.com 2) Buckinghamshire New University, Centre for Conservation and Sustainability, Queen Alexandra Road, High Wycome, HP 11 2 JZ, England; orin.ioras@bucks.ac.uk 3) University Putra Malaysia, Faculty of Forestry, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; jegaratnasingam@yahoo.com 4) Transilania University, Faculty of Siliculture and Forest Engineering, Sirul Beethoen 1, Braso, Romania; abrudan@unitbv.ro Abstract Forest certication was introduced in the early 1990s to address concerns of deforestation and forest degradation and to promote the maintenance of biological diversity, especially in the tropics. Initially pushed by environmental groups, it quickly evolved as a potential instrument to promote sustainable forest management (SFM). To date about 126,000 ha of forests have been certied by the dierent certication schemes in Africa, despite Africa accounting for 17% of the World?s forest cover. is has been due to the lack of awareness on forest certication and the low standards of forest management in the tropics. e authors conducted a survey of representative stakeholders, in particular export timber rms in Ghana to identify why Chain of Custody certication in the Ghana Timber sector remains undeveloped. A number of 103 stakeholders were consulted. Results collated indicate that the readiness to adopt chain of custody certication among the sector was low. e lack of a national scheme was cited as the primary reasons deterring the sector from adopting certication. Keywords: Ghana, chain of custody, national scheme, government support Introduction Africa is characterised by extremely diverse ecological conditions, ranging from humid forests to deserts and from mountain temperate forests to coastal mangrove swamps. Superimposed on this ecological diversity are varying de- grees of human interaction, which are shaped by political and institutional arrangements, economic conditions, so- cial and cultural settings. is mix of factors results in a dynamic landscape mosaic. Forests and woodlands, which are estimated to occupy about 650 million ha or 22% of the land area, form an integral part of this mosaic and un- dergo continued changes largely owing to anthropogenic factors (FAO, 2003). African forests have fullled and continue to ful- l critical economic, environmental, social and cultural functions. Currently, forests and forestry in Africa are confronted by a number of problems, including a rapid de- cline in the forest cover, loss of biodiversity and a variety of unsustainable use that cast uncertainty on the future ow of goods and services from the forests. Hence, stakehold- ers at various levels are confronted with various questions relating to the current and future state of forest resources and their ability to contribute to sustainable development (FAO, 2003). is paper is intended to clarify for Ghana the following: ? the slow uptake of certification and the absence of an endorsed national standard ? the question of awareness and government leadership as against that of the NGOs While much has been written about certication of the forest for sound management practices, there has been little examination of chain of custody certication for wood products in Africa. e authors chose Ghana as a representative case study based on Ghana?s advance ap- proach on illegal logging and trade of timber products (eg. Ghana has signed in September 2008 the Voluntary Part- nership Agreement with the European Union). Voluntary partnership agreement requires timber tracking and chain of custody is one tool. Further as the timber sector is the third largest export sector aer the cocoa sector, an evalu- ation of the status of chain of custody certication within industry was necessary. erefore this study assessed the current opinion within the timber sector of why in Ghana the adoption of chain of custody certication among tim- ber industry sector is low. Development of forest certication in Ghana Forest Certication and its associated product certi- cation is taking a global dimension in the light of emerg- ing issues at the various international fora such as meet- Received 29 September 2009; accepted 10 December 2009 Attah, A. et al. / Not Sci Biol 2 (3) 2010, 121-127 122 e re-launch of the National Working Group (NWG) in 2002 and the support received from the FSC reactivated the forest certication process in Ghana. However, a con- straint to this development was the perception by some stakeholders that the regional oce of FSC located in Ghana and which provided oce space for the NWG was casting doubts on the neutrality of the NWG. e lack of support from the central government to the NWG tends to reect the weak political commitment of the Ghana government in advancing certication in Ghana (Teketay, 2005). Teketay (2005) identies poor communication and weak structures for disseminating information in Ghana as a constraint to promoting forest certication. Major progress has however been made in Ghana with the establishment of the producers group under the Global Forest Trade Network (GFTN). Four companies that account for about 40% of Ghana?s timber exports are members of the producers group. e GFTN - produc- ers group in Ghana, have received technical support from WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature and nancial sup- port from Department for International Development (UK) (DFID). It is evident from the companies engaged in the GFTN that this initiative has not targeted the small and medium-sized forestry enterprises (SMFEs) for sup- port and engagement. is initiative has involved only the Large Scale Enterprises (LSEs) in the Ghana timber industry. Development of forest certication has focused on the large scale enterprises. is is a reection of the interna- tional attention in forestry that has been given to improv- ing the conditions for large scale forest enterprises (Sun et al., 2003). In support of this the Ghanaian Government has procedures to monitor log movements through the use of a Log Measurement Conveyance Certicate (LMCC). is certicate is required to permit log haulage from forest to mill gate (ITTO, 2001). However, it is a paper- based manual system, which has made reconciliation be- tween forest output and timber export very dicult to establish in practice. While the paper-based system, with its accompanying procedures, has increased transaction costs to industry, the Forestry Commission has had major problems in monitoring and holding eld sta to account. e volume of illegal logging in the formal sector and the loss of state revenue alluded to in preceding sections result directly from these weaknesses. Economic implications Ghana is yet to sell any certied timber. Various inter- actions with buyers and distributors indicate certied tim- ber could obtain a premium. For Ghana the issue of mar- ket access to its major market in the EU is critical. Ghana has experienced a decrease in its sales to this market (Attah et al., 2009). ere is currently no policy intervention to provide in- centives for certication. However, it is envisaged that in ings of the United Nation Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) and the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO). e development of the ITTO cri- teria and indicators had provided a basis for SFM in the tropics/member countries of ITTO in line with its Objec- tive 2000 (Poore, 2003). ITTO Objective 2000 encour- aged member countries to attain trade in wood products from sustainably managed forest by the year 2000. is led to a number of policy changes and the adoption of a number of guidelines for achieving SFM in member coun- tries of ITTO to achieve SFM. is was in reaction to the alienation of governments from the FSC process that was geared towards concerns of northern consumers (Forestry Department, 1996). Ghana signalled its intention to develop a national for- est certication scheme in 1992. National standards have been developed and eld tested and the current standard is the Ghana Forest Management Certication Standards and Checklist (FMCSC Version 5), published in May 2005. e Standards (FMCSC) has harmonised the Gha- na Standards with the Forest Stewardship Council?s (FSC) Principles and Criteria and the African Timber Organi- sation (ATO)/ITTO Principles, Criteria and Indicators (PCI?s) for the sustainable management of African natural tropical forests (ProForest, 2005). For Ghana a certication scheme introduction required major policy changes and resulted in the introduction of the Forest Policy of 1994 and the Forestry Development Master Plan of 1996 (Donkor, 2003). ese changes were targeted at creating a balance between resource base and industry while curbing the over-exploitation and destruc- tion of forest resources, poor forest management and un- sustainable utilization of timber resources that character- ized the forestry sector in Ghana (MLFM, 1996). Factors that have contributed to the unsustainable use of Ghana?s forest have included a weak and outdated concession rules, poor enforcement of forestry regulations due to resource gaps and commitment of forestry personnel, inecient forest management policies and ineective implementa- tion of policies and management prescriptions (MLFM, 2005). To address these problems the government took the lead role and organised a national stakeholder forum in 1996. e forum agreed that certication should be em- braced as an important tool in forest management and accountability and certication was perceived as a means of gaining access to Ghana?s major markets which are en- vironmentally sensitive. Ghana therefore viewed certica- tion as a strategic marketing policy that would impact on Ghana?s future trade in wood products. is initiative was government driven with the objective of implementing a national certication scheme. However, given the resis- tance to government role and the availability of resources the process became dormant. Attah, A. et al. / Not Sci Biol 2 (3) 2010, 121-127 123 the future companies that are certied could have exemp- tions in procedures for export of timber. At present, all timber exports from Ghana must obtain an export permit from the Timber Industry Development Division of the Forestry Commission. Since September 2006 the process has required companies to indicate their source of raw ma- terial. If companies are certied, they will not in the future be required to provide evidence of source of raw material. is can reduce the processing time of exports permits for such companies. Compared to other African countries, Ghana exports a lot of processed wood products, but the level of value added processing is still low (Attah et al., 2010). Ghanaian companies are mainly exporters of commodity products that are price sensitive. Hence any increases in produc- tion costs lower their protability and competitiveness. Although no studies have as yet quantied the additional cost of certication, it is obvious that, unless companies pursue value added processing, the additional cost of meeting certication requirements will be a constraint. Companies that are embarking on certication through the GFTN and the Kumasi Wood Cluster receive some external support for their certication related activi- ties. e Kumasi Wood Cluster was established in Ghana in November 2004. A key aim of the KWC is to pool re- sources together to achieve forest certication. However, these companies can run into nancial diculties when the support ends at the end of the project period. Abeney (2007) has indicated that the slow pace of certication is also attributed to the lack of a sustainable source of nance to support the work of the National Working Group on forest certication. Constraints to Development of forest certication in Ghana Despite eorts towards certication achievement within the last decade, Ghana is yet to see its forests cer- tied. e following are constraints to Ghana developing and implementing a certication scheme: ? Absence of political commitment - though Ghana?s Forest Certication scheme was driven by the government of Ghana in its desire to respond to its international com- mitments and SFM is contained in its forest policy and forestry development plan it has neither provided resourc- es nor guidance to forest owners or industrialists in Gha- na. It has also kept the ENGOs at an arms length. ENGOs have complained of lack of a consultative process on forest certication related issues in Ghana (FERN, 2005) ? Lack of clarity in the objectives of certification - Gha- na appears to have shied from putting in place a system for forest certication to a legal assurance/validation of timber system which targets improved ow of revenues to central government treasury from timber production and exports. is could be its reaction to purchasing policies being introduced by the EU and the call by donor com- munity for improved governance in the forestry sector. It is however sending out signals that could undermine Gha- na?s progress to Forest Certication. ? Land tenure - Land tenure under the current legis- lation (Act 124 of 1962) continues to be a core issue. In that land in Ghana is vested in the President. Bird et al. (2006) recognise the complexity of land and tree tenure in Ghana and report of the diculty in gazetting the Dede Forest reserve. is forest was rst proposed for gazett- ing in 1935 but was only gazetted twenty years later due to disputes of Land tenure. Bird et al., further cite Haw- thorne et al. (1995) as stating that Dede Forest reserve has since disappeared. ? Lack of capacity in the private sector to undertake certication - the NGO community is poorly resourced and without donor funding are unable to play their watch- dog role and hence aecting governance structures in the forestry sector in Ghana. ? Recognition of national schemes - Difficulty in get- ting national schemes to be recognised by the existing international certication schemes. Although Ghana has itself harmonised the standards with the FSC, Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certication Schemes (PEFC), ATO/ITTO PCI?s it is yet to get its standards endorsed by the FSC and PEFC. ese external agencies have not been engaged in the process of harmonisation. is reects the poor ow and exchange of information in respect of certication in Africa (Teketay, 2005). ? Lack of clarity in the type of scheme, i.e. national ver- sus international to be used. FSC is supporting the national initiative in Ghana. However the NWG is yet to commu- nicate to industry its strategy for certication in Ghana. e research will seek to establish industry?s knowledge about forest certication, in particular of the existence and role of the NWG and the FSC national initiative. ? Communication - Poor communication of progress of forest certication in Ghana. For instance Abenney, (2007) indicate that Ghana has embarked on a stepwise approach to forest certication. He reports that two com- panies, namely Samartex and Ghana Primewood have de- veloped Action Plans while three other companies, namely John Bitar Co. Ltd., Suhuma, and Ehwia Wood Products Ltd. have undertaken baseline studies. However pres- ent literature does not acknowledge Ghana as adopting a phased approach and its standards do not indicate which elements will form the phases and how many phases are to be undertaken in the proposed phased approach. is is a source of confusion in respect of communication to the market and consumers. Abreu and Simula (2004) state that clear communications, including commitment made by producers are important. Producers are also not aware that Ghana is adopting a phased approach (ITTO, 2008). is apparent lack of awareness is one of four practical challenges facing the adoption of forest certication by forest owners (Ozanne et al., 1997; Rickenbach, 2002). Attah, A. et al. / Not Sci Biol 2 (3) 2010, 121-127 124 ? Differences in the types of forest in Ghana - Re- served forests and Outside reserves. ese have dier- ences in management schemes. e existing land owner- ship structures inherited from the colonial period do not promote tenure security, which is a requirement for forest certication. In Ghana this poses some problem in gain- ing acceptance by some international schemes that require long-term ownership by the forest owner. is has legal implications and calls for review of existing laws. Second- ly reviewing the laws could also infringe on the rights of the forest communities who have always had communal ownership of the land and could be a possible source of conict unless they are eectively engaged in the reform process. e challenge for certication would be the abil- ity for various certication schemes and standards to bal- ance this requirement. e management plans are the re- sponsibility of the Forest Service Division (FSD) of the Ghana Forestry Commission. Certication requires that management plans are written by the forest owners (Pro- forest, 2005). In a review of forest practice and certica- tion status in Ghana, Proforest (2005) found a wide gap between current forest management (policy, planning and implementation) and the requirements of FSC and for which the writing of management plans by FSD, a public sector agency, was identied as a major gap. is review identies the following issues: ? Financial resources to promote certification in Gha- na are lacking. Forestry competes for resources with other sectors of the economy such as health and education. e private sector on the other hand prefers to invest in other sectors of the economy that has higher returns. Timber companies who may want to pursue certication will nd the extra costs prohibitive since most of the companies in the Ghana forestry sector are SMEs. ? Low literacy levels in Ghana do not promote docu- mentation, particularly for the small and medium sized enterprises. Documentation is a requirement for certica- tion, in particular FSC certication (Attah et al., 2009). Despite early engagement in the forest certication process in Ghana, the country is lagging behind in forest certication. To date no forests have been certied nor has Ghana traded in certied products. e slow progress in forest certication is not unique to Ghana but to tropical timber producer countries in general. Methodology In order to assess the current status of chain of custody certication awareness in Ghana, a survey of a random sample of various stakeholders, in particular timber rms was conducted by mail post. e study population com- prised of registered timber rms in Ghana that are engaged in exports of wood products. A list of companies that hold concessions, have processing mills or have exported tim- ber at least once since 1986 was compiled. is formed the study population. Companies were grouped into clusters based on geo- graphic locations and sampled. ree geographic areas, namely Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Western regions in Ghana were considered for the sample. ese are part of the High Forest Zone Area (Fig. 1). e three regions were chosen because of the extent of forest concession holdings in the regions coupled with the strong presence of timber processing rms in these regions. e samples were further classied into two groups, Small and Medium Forestry En- terprises and Large Service Enterprises. Data/information was collected over a six month period in 2008. Prior to the implementation of the survey each rm was contacted by telephone to ensure that they are still operat- ing businesses. e questionnaire was designed to collect information on attitudes in respect of Chain of Custody (CoC) certication within the Ghanaian timber sector. Questionnaire development - pilot test A pilot test was carried out to assess the reliability of the questions using correlation to establish the level of re- liability based on a score of 0.8 and above to be consid- ered as relevant (Armor, 1974). e reliability issue was achieved with the help of multiple-item indicators. ese pilot test companies were sub- divided into SM- FEs and LSEs. In the present study pilot group, the test for reliability (internal consistency) for the entire scale yield- Fig. 1. Ghana administrative map Attah, A. et al. / Not Sci Biol 2 (3) 2010, 121-127 125 ed a high Chronbach ? ? value (Tab1), implying that the items in the questionnaire or study instrument measured what they were supposed to measure. e questionnaire design took onto account signicant chain of custody certication factors as reported in previ- ous studies (Volsky et al., 1998; Vidal et al., 2005; Rat- nasingam et al., 2008 a, b). Two parametric statistical tests were used for inferential statistics analysis: the Standard Multiple Regression and the Independent t-test. ese tests were used to test for signicance among the scores from the various groups of respondents. e rationale for the use of the parametric tests (the multiple regression and the Independent t-test) was based on the fact that the dependent variable on which the test for signicance was computed was measured with interval scale and the distribution of mean scores is normally dis- tributed. e data was analyzed using the Statistical Pack- age for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Results 103 respondent rms who participated in this study represented mainly the logging and sawmilling industries that have an export activity. Sawmills accounted for 65% of respondents while loggers accounted for 13.6% of re- spondents. e two groups collectively accounted for over 75% of the respondents. Goernment support Most developing tropical countries are of the view that government should be involved within the certication process hence this section of the questionnaire sought to establish the role of government in the development of forest certication in Ghana. A recent workshop held by the UNECE, concluded that governments should remain neutral to certication schemes and serve as a moderator between schemes (FAO, 2005). Although the extent of support from government in existing certication schemes appears quite low, the sur- vey indicated that the situation could be better if govern- ment introduces legislation for forest certication (Mean = 4.67) (Tab. 2). It also emerged from the research that NGOs for instance, appear to have little role to play in the promotion of certication (Mean = 2.28) in Ghana. e overall relationship between government support and the pace of forest certication as well as the relationship be- tween the dening variables of government support and the pace of forest certication indicated that support from government for forest certication correlated positively but insignicantly with the dependent variable (forest certication in Ghana), [R2 =0.104; F (6, 102) = 1.849, p=ns]. is implies that the forest certication advance in Ghana is independent of the level or degree of government support. us, the low support from government in pro- moting forest certication is not responsible for the slow pace of forest certication in Ghana. e analysis of the relationship between the various in- dependent variables and the dependent variable (pace of forest certication in Ghana) revealed that none of the in- dependent variables could correlate signicantly with the dependent variable with the exception of the ?Forest cer- tication best promoted by NGOs? variable (r = -0.257, p<05). e inverse relationship between NGOs? promo- tion of forest certication and the pace of forest certica- tion in Ghana means that intensied action by Non Gov- ernmental Organisations in promoting forest certication reduces the slowness pace of forest certication in Ghana. is could be responsible for the higher rate of awareness in the Northern Countries where the work of the NGOs is stronger than in the tropical timber producer regions. In the tropics, NGOs are usually considered as opponents of Tab. 1. Reliability Coecient scores (Cronbach?s alpha value) for the sub scale of the research questionnaire # Constructs/Sub Scales Cronbach-? value 1 Stakeholder Consultations 0.621 2 Government support 0.758 Tab. 2. Descriptive statistics for government support and for national scheme for forest certication and companies? pursuance of forest certication (103 respondents) Variables Mean Std. Deviation Company engaged in developing domestic policies 2.61 1.436 ENGO?s dominate debate on FC 1.88 1.767 Government has key role in FC 4.24 0.693 Government to introduce legislation for FC 4.67 7.259 Government to facilitate FC 4.16 0.711 Forest certication should be voluntary 2.80 1.665 Government must contribute at least 30% for FC 3.45 1.419 Forest certication best promoted by NGOs 2.28 1.587 National standards used for forest certication 4.10 0.975 National standards accredited to FSC/PEFC 3.83 1.279 Company awareness of timber certication 2.11 1.894 FSC has best standards for forest certication 1.39 1.880 Pan African Forest certication standards used 2.32 2.078 Meeting certication standards and added cost 3.47 1.571 awareness of ITTO Criteria and Indicators 1.52 1.857 FC=Forest Certication, ENGO=Environmental NGOs Attah, A. et al. / Not Sci Biol 2 (3) 2010, 121-127 126 would see the growth of forest certication in the tropics also. is study identied that NGOs would better pro- mote forest certication than that of governments. is is at variance with the current practice in the tropics where governments are driving and promoting forest certica- tion. However the slow pace of development in the tropics under government guidance calls for a review in approach to provide support to NGOs in promoting forest certica- tion in the tropics. is will however require the provision of support to develop the capacity of NGOs in Ghana and the tropical timber producing countries in general to al- low for the promotion and higher rate of development of forest certication. e role of NGOs in promoting forest certication needs to increase in order to quicken the rate of growth of forest certication in Ghana and the tropical timber countries in general. Presence of a national scheme is apparent the key for CoC certication to be a success story in Ghana. References Abeney, E. 2007. Personal Communication. Lecturer, Institute of Renewable Natural Resources, wame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. Ghana. aabeney@yahoo.com. Armor, D. J. (1974). eta Reliability and Factor Scalling. In Sociological Methodology 1973-1974, p.17-50. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass. Attah, A., F. Ioras, I. V. Abrudan. and J. Ratnasingam (2009). e voluntary Partnership Agreement: the Ghanaian and Malaysian experience. International Forestry Review 11(3):311-318. Attah, A., F. Ioras, J. Ratnasingam, I. V. Abrudan (2010). Chain of custody certication: an assessment of Ghanaian timber sector. European Journal of Wood and Wood Products DOI: 10.1007/s00107-009-0402-5. Jos? Augusto, A. K., Pinto de Abreu and Markku Simula (2004). Report on the Procedures for the Implementation of Phased Approaches to Certication in Tropical Timber Producing Countries. ITTC(XXXVII)/12. Bird, N., T. Fomete and G. Birikorang (2006). Ghana?s Experience on Timber Verication System Design. VERIFOR country case study. Overseas Development Institute, London. Donkor, B. N. (2003). Evaluation of government interventions in Ghana?s Forest product Trade: A post-Intervention Impact Assessment and Perception of Marketing Implications. A dissertation presented to the Louisiana State University, USA. FAO (2003). FAOSTAT-the FAO?s on-line statistical database for agriculture, sheries and forestry, available at: http:// faostat.external.fao.org. FAO (2005). Forest Certication: Do Governments Have a Role? 29 September 2005, Salle XIX. 27-30 September governments and not engaged in the development of for- est certication. National Standard is part of the questionnaire sought to establish if implementing a national scheme would promote forest certication in Ghana and encourage more companies to pursue forest certication. A cursory look at the various mean values in Tab. 2 indicate that ?national standards used for forest certica- tion? as a single variable had more impact (Mean = 4.10) than the other variables in inducing or stimulating Gha- naian timber rms to pursue forest certication. e re- lationship between implementation of a national scheme for forest certication and companies? pursuance of forest certication in Ghana correlated positively and signi- cantly with timber companies? pursuing forest certication in Ghana [R2 = 0.187; F (7, 102) = 3.130, p <.05]. is implies that the tendency for more timber companies to pursue forest certication in Ghana is by far dependent on the implementation of a national scheme for forest certi- cation. e implementation of a national scheme for forest certication will see somehow more companies pursuing forest certication in Ghana is therefore supported. In evaluating the relationship between the indepen- dent variables within the implementation of a national scheme for forest certication model and the dependent variable (companies? pursuance of forest certication in Ghana) revealed an insignicant relationship between all the independent variables. 79.6% of respondents indicated that national standards should be accredited to FSC or PEFC. is is a reection that respondents view the use of national standards as means to achieving forest certication in Ghana. Conclusion e relatively low number of companies involved in the Chain of Custody (CoC) process could be explained by the weak awareness and fundamental economics despite the international market demand. A high proportion of re- spondents purchased their raw material implying the need for an eective chain of custody system if certication is credible in Ghana. Respondents were of the view that the national standard should be accredited to either FSC or PEFC standards. is is the model that has been adopted in the UK where the UK Wood Assurance Scheme was developed and then used to seek endorsement from both FSC and PEFC. is approach has enhanced the growth of forest certication in the UK. is approach has also been used in the Scandinavian region with PEFC where national standards are used as a basis for promoting forest certication. e study therefore supports the approach to using national standards as a basis to seek endorsement for implementation of Forest certication. is approach Attah, A. et al. / Not Sci Biol 2 (3) 2010, 121-127 127 ProForest (2005). Review of the Kumasi Wood Cluster Partnership Project. ProForest. Oxford. Ratnasingam, J., T. H. Macpherson and F. Ioras (2008 a). An assessment of Malaysian wooden furniture manufacturers? readiness to embrace chain of custody (COC) certication. Holz Roh Werkst. Ratnasingam, J., T. H. Macpherson, F. Ioras and I. V. Abrudan (2008 b). Chain of custody certication among Malaysian wooden furniture manufacturers: status and challenges. International Forestry Review 10 (1): 23-28 Rickenbach, M. G. (2002). Practical challenges to forest certication on small ownerships. Journal of Forestry 100(9):43-47. Sun, C. and X. Chen (2003). Small and Medium Forestry Enterprises in China: An initial review of sustainability and livelihoods issues. Research Centre of Ecological and Environmental Economics, Beijing, China and International Institute of Environment and Development, London. Teketay, D. (2005). Status of forest resources, trends in forest certication an FSC in Africa. FSC Stakeholders Workshop. Elmina, Ghana. Vidal, N., R. Kozak and D. Cohen (2005). Chain of custody certication: an assessment of the North America solid wood sector. For Policy Econ 7(3):345-355. Vlosky, R. P. and L. K. Ozanne (1998). Environmental certication of wood products: e US manufacturers? perspective. For Prod J. 48(9):21-26. 2005 Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland. FERN (2005). Forest Governance in Ghana, available at http:// www.illegal-logging.info/uploads/Forest_Governance_in_ Ghana.pdf. Forestry Department (1996). Problems and potentials of applying certication to forest management in Ghana, presented at the Workshop on Forest Certication and other market-based instruments in Ghana, FORIG, Fomesua. 12- 13 June 1996. Hawthorne, W. D., M. Abu-Juam (1995). Forest Protection in Ghana. IUCN Forest Conservation Programme 14. ITTO (2008). Developing forest certication: Towards increasing the comparability and acceptance of forest certication systems worldwide. ITTO Technical Series #29 at http://www.ardot./Documents/TS29.pdf. ITTO (2001). Market report, 1st to 15th July. ITTO, Yokohama, Japan. MLFM (1996). Forestry Development Master Plan 1996-2010. Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines, Accra, Ghana. MLFM (2005). VPA discussion paper 1. e True Cost of Legal Timber. Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines, Accra, Ghana. Ozanne, L. K. and R. Vlosky (1997). Willingness to pay for environmentally certied wood products: A consumer perspective. Forest Products Journal 47(6):39-48. Poore, D. (2003). Changing Landscapes, Earthscan Publications Ltd.