Cause of Illegal Logging

8/14/2019 Cause of Illegal Logging

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p o l i c y

BRIEFS

D E V E L O P M E N T

n o . 5 d e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8

itut

It is geeall ecogise that illegal loggig

is wiesea i Ghaa. The Ghaa Woo I-

ust a Log Exot Ba Stu estiates the

aual tibe havest o 1999 at 3.7 illio

3 with 1.6 illio 3 haveste b the oal

secto a 1.7 illio 3 b the ioal secto

(chaisaw oeatos) (Biikoag et al. 2001).

This level o havest shoul be coae witha Aual Allowable Cut (AAC) at 1.0 illio

3. Give the iceasig iteatioal ocus

o illegal loggig, suisigl little eseach

has goe ito assessig the tibe havest i

Ghaa i tes o size, a o stuies have at-

tete to ocuet which secies wee ha-

veste whee (o- o o-eseves). Ou ecetl

ublishe eseach (Hase a Teue 2008)

aows this ioatio ga. The ai esults

ae esete hee.

Aah (fts a ths)Illegal loggig is boal efe as whe

tibe is haveste, tasote, bought o sol

i violatio o atioal laws (Back 2003, .

Illegal loggig i Ghaa

Logs on route to sawmill.

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2/4pAGE 2 pOL ICy Br IE nO. 5 dECEmBEr 2008

In Ghana, the actual timber harvest or 2005 is conservatively estimated at 3.3 million m3

while the Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) is only 1.0 million m3. Thus 2.3 million m3 (70 %) is il-

legally harvested.

Chainsaw lumbering, to supply mainly the domestic market, is estimated to account or ap-

proximately 75% o the illegal harvest. This fgure is, however, rather uncertain and mightbe considerably higher. Accordingly, there is an urgent need or research to establish more

reliable estimates on the size o the chainsaw lumber market.

The ofcial harvest records and the estimated actual timber harvest both suggest a strong

preerence or scarlet and red star (the most valuable) species. The actual scarlet star harvest

is estimated at 1.25 million m3, which is six times the AAC. The actual red star harvest is esti-

mated at 1.0 million m3, which is twice the AAC.

The annual harvest inside orest reserve is estimated at approximately 2.0 million m3, against

a recorded reserve harvest o 0.6 million m3, and an AAC o 0.5 million m3. The high harvest-

ing intensity and preerence or certain species suggest that orest reserves are seriously dis-turbed. Illegal logging thus undermines the species composition and may threaten the very

existence o a permanent natural orest estate including its environmental services and bio-

diversity. Moreover, persistent over-harvest renders the current on-reserve AAC unsuitable

to represent a sustainable timber harvest level.

The high incidence o illegal logging documents that the, in principle, sound orest manage-

ment regulations including the AAC have not worked in practice. Illegal logging is, there-

ore, both a symptom and result o a malunctioning orest policy that needs undamental

reorm.

p cuss

196). Howeve, such a ulti-iesioal efitio allows o

a aa o was accoig to which illegal loggig ca be

assesse a aalse, which ees coaisos aog

couties a extacts o geeal olic coclusios alost

iossible. I ou stu, we efe illegal loggig as viola-

tios o oest aageet a tibe havest egulatios

that ae oue o scietifcall sou silvicultual ici-

les, which i Ghaa have bee oeatioalise though the

AAC. I othe wos: We efe illegal loggig as the i-

eece betwee the tibe havest a the AAC. We have

coae the AAC with (i) the ofciall ecoe tibe ha-vest, a (ii) the actual tibe havest. The latte has bee

estiate o woo ouct exot statistics, the oestic

lube ea a efciec ates o covetig logs ito

oucts b the oal a ioal sectos.

r vs. awa t havst

I igues 1 a 2, the ofciall ecoe havest o- a

o-eseves, esectivel, is illustate togethe with the

AAC. The fgues show (i) the bole volue, as easue a

ecoe ate ellig i the Tee Ioatio o (TI) a

(ii) the log volue ecoe i the Log measueet a

Coveace Cetifcate (LmCC) that accoa the log(s)

uig tasot. LmCC-ata ae show o 1996-2005,

while TI-ata ae available o 1998 owas. The havest

ecos ae ot outiel ublishe a the ata have eve

bee ssteaticall aalse.

igue 1A illustates that the total ecoe o-eseve ha-

vest (TI) has bee betwee 0.5 a 0.8 illio 3 auall,

i.e. i all eas exceeig the o-eseve AAC o 0.5 illio

3. Beakows to secies classes ae ovie i igue 1B-

d. igue 1B illustates that oe tha hal o the ecoe

havest is scalet stas (the coeciall ost iotat se-

cies), a that thei havest level has bee at least twice the

AAC thoughout the eio. Ofcial havestig ecos, thee-

oe, ocuet sevee illegal loggig o scalet sta secies i

the oest eseves. B cotast, the ofcial o-eseve havest

o e a ik sta secies is ecoe at levels below theiAACs.

igue 2 eicts the ofciall ecoe o-eseve havest.

It illustates a scalet sta havest (igue 2B) that, i the be-

giig o the obseve eio, was eal 0.6 illio 3,

which is close to te ties the o-eseve AAC. The eco-

e havest the ecease aaticall ove the eio a

was i 2005 close to 50,000 3. This shows that the distict

ellig Quotas itouce i 1997 to kee the o-eseve

havest withi the AAC eve eall woke.

moeove, the esults stogl suggest that the coe-

ciall iteestig staig volue o scalet sta secies o-

eseves has eectivel bee elete. The ecoe e sta

havest has bee close to the AAC a the ik sta havest

is ecoe at a level sigifcatl below the AAC. It is ote


3/4pAGE 3pOLICy Br IE nO. 5 dECEmBEr 2008

A. oal secto havest i oest eseves, all secies

0100200300400500600700800900

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

recoe havest (T I) recoe havest (LmCC) AAC

that i 2002 the miist o Las, oests a mies evise

the o-eseve AAC o 0.5 to 1.5 illio 3.

This, howeve, akes little sese as the ecoe o-eseve

havest at the tie o evisio ha alle below the oigial

level o 0.5 illio 3 a has cotiue to o eve sice.

estat atua vs. awa t havst

igue 3 eicts the estiate tibe havest agaist the

AAC. The total havest i 2005 is estiate at 3.3 illio 3;

1.6 illio 3 b the exot oiete oal secto a 1.7

illio 3 b the ioal secto, sulig ail the o-

estic aket. At least 2.3 illio 3 is thus illegall logge.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3B. Cobie oal a ioal secto havest, scalet stas

0250500750

1.0001.2501.5001.7502.0002.2502.500

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Est. ha vest AAC reco e havest (T I) recoe ha vest (LmCC)

C. Cobie oal a ioal secto havest, e stas

0

250

500

750

1.000

1.250

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Est. havest AAC recoe havest (TI) r eco e havest (LmCC)

roundwoodEquivalent(m3x1000)

A. Cobie oal a ioal secto havest, all secies

0500

1.0001.5002.0002.5003.0003.5004.000

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Est. havest AAC reco e havest (T I) reco e havest (LmCC)



d. Cobie oal a ioal secto havest, ik stas

0

250

500

750

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Est. ha vest AAC recoe havest (T I) recoe ha ve st (LmCC)


A. oal secto havest outsie eseves, all secies

0100200300400500600700

800900

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005


C. oal secto havest outsie eseves, e stas

0

100

200

300

400

500

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

recoe ha ve st (T I) reco e ha ve st (LmCC) AAC

roundwoodEquivalent

(m3x1000)

roundwoodEquivalent

(m3x1000)

roun

dwoodEquivalent(m3x1000)

roun

dwoodEquivalent(m3x1000)

d. oal secto havest outsie eseves, ik stas

0

100

200

300

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

recoe have st (T I) reco e havest (LmCC) AAC

B. oal secto havest ou tsie eseves, scalet stas

0

100

200

300

400500

600

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005


d. oal secto havest i oest eseves, ik stas

0

100

200

300

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005






C. oal secto havest i oest eseves, e stas

0

100

200

300

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005


B. oal secto havest i oest eseves, scalet stas

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005



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The total aual scalet sta havest (igue 3B) is estiate

at aoxiatel 1.25 illio 3 o 2005, soe six ties

above the AAC. Also the e sta a ik sta havests,

estiate at aoxiatel 1.0 illio 3 a 0.6 illio 3,

esectivel, ae wa above thei AACs, although to a lesse

extet tha scalet sta secies.

The available ata o ot allow a f seaatio o o- o

o-eseve havest. yet, sice scalet sta secies aea

alost elete o-eseves, the stu iicates that the

actual o-eseve havest is at least i the oe o 2.0 illio

3 auall, o which 1.0 illio 3 is scalet sta secies.

The scalet stas ae thus beig utilise at a level exceeig

eight ties the o-eseve AAC.

cuss

The stu cofs that illegal loggig costitutes a seious

oble i Ghaa. The aual havest is cosevativel es-

tiate at aoxiatel 3.3 illio 3 agaist the AAC o

1.0 illio 3, i.e. soe 70% o the aual havest i Ghaa

is illegal. This uts Ghaa i the high e iteatioall.

Sevet-fve e cet o the illegal loggig is associatewith chaisaw lubeig, which suggests that a solutio to

the illegal loggig oble i Ghaa is itiatel elate to

easues which aess the uelig causes o chaisaw

lubeig. Ou stu assues that the aual chaisaw lu-

be cosutio uig the eio 1996-2005 is about 1.7

illio 3 i ou woo equivalets. yet, this obabl u-

Series editor

Christian Pilegaard Hansen

Danish Centre for Forest, Landscape and Planning

Rolighedsvej 23DK-1958 Freder iksberg

Denmark

Tel. +45 3533 1500

www.sl.life.ku.dk

eestiates the cuet size o this aket. Thee is thus a

uget ee o uthe eseach o the size o the chaisaw

lube aket i Ghaa.

The ilicatios o the esults ae gave. oest eseves have

i all likelihoo bee gossl ove-haveste o the ast 10

eas, ossibl loge. due to this log staig oveexloi-

tatio, oest eseves ca o loge suot a AAC o 0.5

illio 3, a a utue o-eseve AAC woul eoi-

atel cosist o e a ik sta secies. The esistetoveexloitatio ilies a high egee o loggig istubace

isie oest eseves, ievitabl ivolvig aeas like stee

sloes a ive baks whee o loggig shoul take lace.

This i tu theates the ovisio o evioetal sevices

a bioivesit cosevatio. moeove, o-eseve aeas

ca o loge seve to bue the loggig essue, which

uelies the iceasig vuleabilit o oest eseves to

illegal loggig.

Ou esults suggest that the, i icile, sou oest a-

ageet egulatios establishe uig the i-1990s,

a which le to the AAC, have ot woke i actice.

We coclue that the high egee o illegal loggig is both

a sto a a esult o a aluctioig oest olic

aewok. Cosequetl, uaetal eos o the ti-

be goveace egie will be equie to aess illegal

loggig. The suggeste ai eleets o the olic eo

ocess will be ealt with i a seaate bie.

o a oe elaboate iscussio o illegal loggig i Ghaa

icluig eseach ethos, esults a coclusios, lease

ee to Hase a Teue (2008).

Authors

Christian P. Hansen, PhD fellow ([email protected]) and

Thorsten Treue, Associate professor ([email protected])

Danish Centre for Forest, Landscape and Planning,

University of Copenhagen

rs

bkag, G., oka, r., Ass-ok, K., Aa, S.,

rs, G. 2001. Ghaa Woo Iust a log exot

ba stu. oest Coissio eot to the miist o

Las a oest. oest Coissio, Acca, Ghaa. 53.

bak, d. 2003. Illegal loggig a the illegal tae i o-

est a tibe oucts. Iteatioal oest review 5 (3):

195-198.

Has, c.p. a Tu, T. 2008. Assessig illegal loggig

i Ghaa. Iteatioal oest review 10 (4): 573-570.

On-farm chain-

saw operation in

Brong Ahafo

Development Briefs present information on important development

issues. Readers are encouraged to make reference to the Briefs in

their own publications, and to quote from them with due acknow-

ledgement of the source.

This brief is an output produced under the Performance Contract

between the Danish Centre for Forest, Landscape and Planning

(FLD), University of Copenhagen and the Danish Ministry of Foreign

Affairs (Danida).

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Cause of Illegal Logging