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INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER ORGANIZATION ITTO PRE-PROJECT PROPOSAL TITLE DEVELOPMENT OF PAYMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES SCHEME FOR LOCAL COMMUNITY GROUPS AND PRIVATE DEVELOPER FOREST PLANTATIONS IN DEGRADED LANDS, GHANA SERIAL NUMBER PPD 184/15 Rev.2 (F) COMMITTEE REFORESTATION AND FOREST MANAGEMENT SUBMITTED BY GOVERNMENT OF GHANA ORIGINAL LANGUAGE ENGLISH SUMMARY In Ghana, a large number of the forest reserves are degraded. These degraded forests require rehabilitation to restore the tree cover and provide the desired ecosystem services. Under the present Pre-Project, a socio-economic study will be conducted and bio-physical information collected in identified degraded lands. These information and data will be analyzed to identify problems facing the forest-fringe communities and private individuals regarding their involvement in establishing and managing forest plantation for the ecosystem services. The feasibility of applying Payment for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) to incentivize the community groups and the private individuals on forest plantation establishment and management for the ecosystem services will be assessed. The enabling environment for PFES forest plantation establishment and management will be assessed. An in-depth stakeholder analysis will be performed at village, district and national levels to develop effective strategies to address the problems formulated based on the socio- economic and bio-physical conditions of the identified degraded sites. A full project proposal (involving, among others, PFES design and technical specifications) will be developed to implement the appropriate strategy on PFES. EXECUTING AGENCY FORESTRY RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF GHANA (FORIG) COOPERATING AGENCY RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SUPPORT CENTER OF THE FORESTRY COMMISSION (FC) DURATION 12 MONTHS APPROXIMATE STARTING DATE TO BE DETERMINED BUDGET AND PROPOSED SOURCES OF FINANCE Source Contribution in US$ Local Currency Equivalent ITTO Gov't of Ghana TOTAL 76,440 10,440 86,880

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INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER ORGANIZATION

ITTO

PRE-PROJECT PROPOSAL

TITLE DEVELOPMENT OF PAYMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL

SERVICES SCHEME FOR LOCAL COMMUNITY GROUPS AND PRIVATE DEVELOPER FOREST PLANTATIONS IN DEGRADED LANDS, GHANA

SERIAL NUMBER PPD 184/15 Rev.2 (F) COMMITTEE REFORESTATION AND FOREST MANAGEMENT SUBMITTED BY GOVERNMENT OF GHANA ORIGINAL LANGUAGE ENGLISH

SUMMARY In Ghana, a large number of the forest reserves are degraded. These degraded forests require rehabilitation to restore the tree cover and provide the desired ecosystem services. Under the present Pre-Project, a socio-economic study will be conducted and bio-physical information collected in identified degraded lands. These information and data will be analyzed to identify problems facing the forest-fringe communities and private individuals regarding their involvement in establishing and managing forest plantation for the ecosystem services. The feasibility of applying Payment for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) to incentivize the community groups and the private individuals on forest plantation establishment and management for the ecosystem services will be assessed. The enabling environment for PFES forest plantation establishment and management will be assessed. An in-depth stakeholder analysis will be performed at village, district and national levels to develop effective strategies to address the problems formulated based on the socio-economic and bio-physical conditions of the identified degraded sites. A full project proposal (involving, among others, PFES design and technical specifications) will be developed to implement the appropriate strategy on PFES. EXECUTING AGENCY

FORESTRY RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF GHANA (FORIG)

COOPERATING AGENCY

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SUPPORT CENTER OF THE FORESTRY COMMISSION (FC)

DURATION

12 MONTHS

APPROXIMATE STARTING DATE

TO BE DETERMINED

BUDGET AND PROPOSED SOURCES OF FINANCE

Source

Contribution

in US$

Local Currency

Equivalent

ITTO Gov't of Ghana TOTAL

76,440 10,440

86,880

Table of Contents

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ..................................................................................................... 1

PART 1. PRE-PROJECT CONTEXT ....................................................................................................................... 2 1.1 ORIGIN AND JUSTIFICATION ........................................................................................................................ 2 1.2 RELEVANCE ................................................................................................................................................ 3

1.2.1 Conformity with ITTO’s objectives and priorities ........................................................................ 3 1.2.2 Relevance to the submitting country’s policies ............................................................................. 5

PART 2. JUSTIFICATION OF PRE-PROJECT ..................................................................................................... 7 2.1 OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................................................ 7

2.1.1 Development objective ................................................................................................................... 7 2.1.2 Specific objective ........................................................................................................................... 7

2.2 PRELIMINARY PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION .................................................................................................. 7

PART 3. PRE-PROJECT INTERVENTIONS ....................................................................................................... 10 3.1 OUTPUTS ................................................................................................................................................... 10 3.2 ACTIVITIES, INPUTS AND UNIT COSTS ....................................................................................................... 10 3.3 APPROACHES AND METHODS .................................................................................................................... 10 3.4 WORK PLAN .............................................................................................................................................. 12 3.5 BUDGET .................................................................................................................................................... 10

PART 4. IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS ............................................................................................ 20 4.1 EXECUTING AGENCY AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE ....................................................................... 20 4.2 PRE-PROJECT MANAGEMENT .................................................................................................................... 20 4.3 MONITORING AND REPORTING ................................................................................................................. 21

ANNEX 1. PROFILE OF THE EXECUTING AGENCY .......................................................................................................... 22 ANNEX 2. TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF KEY EXPERTS PROVIDED BY THE EXECUTING AGENCY .... 24 ANNEX 3. TERMS OF REFERENCE OF PERSONNEL AND CONSULTANTS FUNDED BY ITTO ............................. 26 ANNEX 4. RECOMMENDATIONS OF ITTO’S EXPERT PANEL AND RESULTING MODIFICATIONS ................... 27 ANNEX 5. Recommendations of ITTO'S Expert panel and resulting modifications…………………….28 ANNEX 6. TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE OVERALL ASSESSMENT AND SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 50TH EXPERT PANEL …………………………………………………29 Annex 7. Recommendations of ITTO's expert panel (51st) and resulting modification…………………30 Annex 8 Taking into accounts the overall assessment and specific recommendations of the 51st expert panel……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..31 REFERENCE…………………………………………………………………………………………………32

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

PFES Payment for Forest Environmental Services

FCG Forestry Commission of Ghana

RMSC Resource Management Support Centre

LC Local communities

DFD Deforestation and forest degradation

NFPDP National forest plantation development programme

HIPC Highly indebted poor countries

FSD Forest Service Division

EPP Expanded Plantation Program

GPP Government Plantation Development Program

UNEP United Nations Environmental Program

STV Standing Tree Value

MTS Modified Taungya System

INDC Intended nationally determined contribution

FORIG Forestry Research Institute of Ghana

NGO Non-governmental organization

ITTO International Topical Timber Organization

GIS Geographic Information System

s. e. Standard error

UNEP United Nation Environmental Program

CI Confidence Interval

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PART 1. PRE-PROJECT CONTEXT 1.1 Origin and justification This pre-project originates from the ITTO’s 48th Expert Panel comments on the project proposal, PD 757/14 (F). The Panel concluded that the project proposal (PD 757/14) lacked fundamental information, and therefore a pre-project was required and to be submitted to the Expert Panel for appraisal. In Ghana, the control of deforestation and forest degradation continuous to be a challenge despite efforts being made to address the problem through policy reforms and rehabilitation of the degraded lands. Various annual reports of the Forestry Service Division of Forestry Commission of Ghana (FSD-FCG) on the restoration of the degraded forest reserves in the country using modified taungya system (food crops interplant with trees) indicate the desired results of these activities are yet to be achieved(FSD-FCG, 2013, 2011, 2008, 2006). Farmers’ unwillingness or inability to maintain these lots of forest plantations, particularly after their food crop activities have been terminated in such lots due to canopy closure and the absence of reliable source of funding for plantation establishment has been identified as the key problem that hamper the success of these restoration activities. Insiadoo (2013) attributes this unwillingness or inability of farmers to maintain these forest plantations to the benefit sharing agreement document for future timber revenue that has not yet been signed between some farmer groups and the government. But this appears not to be the key reason for the farmers’ behavior, because in some cases, farmers continue not to attend to their plots of planted trees after their food crops have been taken away, even after receiving the benefit share document. In the present pre-project, the preliminary key problem identified for the farmer unwillingness or inability to maintain their lots of planted trees is a lack of an innovative mechanism (e.g. payment for forest environmental services (PFES)) that will enable them maintain these trees, and at the same time, obtain their livelihood support. Insiadoo (2013) study alluded to this. One of the findings of Insiadoo (2013) shows a successful restoration case brought about by availability of funds left behind for extensions services for the farmers to maintain the plantation after the completion of the project. In general, payment of forest environmental services (PFES) is an approach towards attaching economic value and establishing a real market for ecosystem services (Forest trends, Katoomba Group and UNEP, 2008). Ecosystem services are connected to human wellbeing, in-situ, within local setting (watershed management) and at regional and global level e.g. carbon sequestration (Fisher et al. 2009). Generally such characteristics as support to sustainable livelihood, reward of good stewardship, resource mobilization, a win for all stakeholders and build capacity in forest management, make PFES a good tool for forest conservation and management in sub Saharan Africa. It appears that, these community members do not derive much benefit from the forest plantations, especially those they help to establish on the degraded natural forest lands. The immediate benefits of fertile farmlands and increased food crops farmers obtain in these lands are not sustainable. They do not motivate local communities enough to commit their time and energy to continuously maintain these forest plantations and protect them against wildfire, timber theft and other environmental factors till the time of harvest of the timber, where they would obtain their share of the proceeds from the wood sale. For these community members, who are mostly peasant farmers, it is their wish that, an innovative mechanism is instituted through the payment for environmental services (PES) for these forest plantations. Such mechanism would enable them derive sustainable compensation (cash and in-kind) to improve their livelihood, and commit enough time to maintain, expand and protect these plantations in order to gain the associated additional co-benefits of such a PES scheme - additional livelihood opportunities, social capital etc. It is in response to these concerns and desires of the small holder forests plantation farmers in the high forest zone of Ghana, this pre-project is proposed (Figure 1). It focused on socio-economic and biophysical data collection; feasibility assessment of applying Payment for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) to incentivise community groups and the private individuals on forest plantation establishment and management for the ecosystem services; assessment of the enabling environment for PFES forest plantation establishment and management; an in-depth stakeholder analysis at village, district and national levels, and a full project proposal development involving, PFES project design document, technical specifications of project activities, project certification and implementation.

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The targeted area for the future project and for which an appropriate PES scheme could be developed and implemented in future is the degraded areas i.e. open forest, farm/grass and the bare surface in the three forest reserves including Pamu Berekum, Worobon North and South Forest reserves (Figure 1). As indicated, the red points in figure 1 are locations of restored plots of plantations established by small holder local community groups in Ntabene, Twumkrom and Abonsrakrom communities in the Pamu Berekum Forest reserve; and Olantan and Akanserem communities in the Worobon North and South forest reserves. These are the target communities and forest plantation for this pre-project. There is the possibility of extending the work to include many other communities and forest plantation sites in the future project. Between 1990 to 2014 in Figure 1, these reserves have large hectares of portions of them degraded with many communities surrounding them that can help in their restoration under a functional PES scheme. Visit to most of these communities, saw many members expressing interest to have portions of these degraded reserves allocated to them for farming and tree planting activities. Map of project area for development of PFES

Figure 1: Map of Ghana showing proposed area in the three targeted degraded forest reserves for development of PFES scheme 1.2 Relevance

1.2.1 Conformity with ITTO’s objectives and priorities

This pre-project is consistent with the overall objectives set out in the International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA) i.e. “to promote the expansion and diversification of international trade in tropical timber from sustainably managed and legally harvested forests and to promote the sustainable management of tropical timber producing forests”. Successful PFES forest plantations are

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established following the requirements of a given carbon standard or certification framework. The requirements of these standards support and promote the sustainable management of the forest devoid of illegalities. The plan vivo standard, one of the certification frameworks under which this pre-project is going to be established is particularly suitable for the small holder plantation developers that are targeted. Furthermore, the pre-project activities are in conformity with the objectives set out in Article 1 of the Agreement as follows: (b) Encouraging members to support and develop tropical timber reforestation, as well as rehabilitation and restoration of degraded forest land, with due regard for the interests of local communities dependent on forest resources. Following the Plan vivo standard or certification framework, this pre-project will facilitate the restoration of degraded forest reserves through collaboration with local communities. The technical specifications of these restoration activities will take into account interests of local communities since they will directly undertake the restoration activities, own the plantations, manage them and receive the benefits there off. In the design stage through to the implementation, the principles of plan standards will be ahead to. These will include among others, a voluntary and participatory planning process to identify project interventions that address local needs and priorities and inform the development of technical specifications, taking into consideration: i) Local livelihood needs and opportunities to improve existing or diversify livelihoods and incomes ii) Local customs iii) Land availability iv) Food security v) Land tenure vi) Practical and resource implications for participation of different groups including marginalized groups vii) Opportunities to enhance biodiversity including through the use of native species. (c) Promoting better understanding of the contribution of non-timber forest products and environmental services to the sustainable management of tropical forests with the aim of enhancing the capacity of members to develop strategies to strengthen such contributions in the context of sustainable forest management, and cooperating with relevant institutions and processes to this end. As Plan vivo standard is designed to ensure that Plan Vivo projects benefit livelihoods, enhance ecosystems and protect biodiversity, non-timber forest products that meet the needs of community members, at the same time promote ecosystem services and support biodiversity, will be incorporated into restoration activities. This will take into accounts the fact that buyers of carbon credits are more attracted to restoration programmes that promote joint services of improvement in living standards and ensuring sustainable environmental management than the ones that promote single service of carbon stocks. (d) Encouraging members to recognize the role of forest-dependent indigenous and local communities in achieving sustainable forest management and develop strategies to enhance the capacity of these communities to sustainably manage tropical timber producing forests. One important requirement of the plan vivo standard that is aligned with this point is that, plan vivo standards Projects should directly engage and benefit smallholders and community groups. project interventions must take place on land where smallholders and/or community groups (collectively known as ‘participants’) have clear, stable land tenure, either via ownership, or user rights that enable them to commit to project interventions for the duration of the PES Agreement. As these restoration activities are to be done largely in state forest reserves, efforts would be made to ensure participating local communities acquire the necessary legal documentations of their restoration activities in these reserves that would that provide them the ownership rights to the benefits to be generated be thereof. Furthermore, this pre-project will contribute to ITTO’s strategic priorities as established in the ITTO Strategic Action Plan 2013-2018, in particular the following 1. Reduce tropical deforestation and forest degradation and enhance the provision of environmental services. The development and management of forest plantation under this pre- project will lead to reduction in deforestation and forest degradation through the forest plantation establishment, the capacity building and knowledge transfer effects

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2. Build and develop human resource capacity to implement SFM and increase trade in forest goods and services from sustainably managed forests. The various capacity building and training activities under this project as well as the detailed case studies to be done will contribute significantly to the human resource capacity to implement SFM and increase trade in environmental services from the sustainably managed forest plantation Cross-cutting actions This pre-project also conforms to ITTO’s cross-cutting actions in the following way: a. Support research and development studies and projects to improve understanding of the marketplace, efficient product processing, industrial and community utilization, the valuation and trade of forest goods and services, and better forest management in general. Capacity building b. Under capacity building, the pre-project will lead to enhancement of the capacity of forest-dependent indigenous and local communities and private individual developer to sustainably manage tropical timber-producing forests and engage in viable forest enterprises, including by improving linkages with commercial trade and government sectors.

1.2.2 Relevance to the submitting country’s policies

The activities of this pre-project contribute to strategic objectives of the Ghana Forest Plantation Development Strategy -2015-2040, particularly: Strategic Objective 1: (a) To establish and manage 500,000 ha of forest plantations and undertake enrichment planting of 100,000 ha through the application of best practice principles, by year 2040. (b) To undertake maintenance and rehabilitation of an estimated 235,000 ha of existing forest plantations through the application of best practice principles. Strategic Objective 4: Increase investments in research and development, extension, training and capacity building for forest plantation development. Other priority research and investigation areas which the present pre-project contribute to include: a. Development of best management practices and silviculture for key indigenous/exotic species and their mixtures. b. Growth and yield studies and prediction for the prioritized and potential tree species. c. Economic calculations (IRR and cost benefit analysis) on the profitability of each prioritized species for various site qualities and scales of operation using the best available growth, cost and price information to guide the choice of species by current and potential investors. This pre-project also contributes to the measures to develop and upgrade capacity in forest plantation development and management as stated in the plantation development strategic document -2015-2040 of sponsorship for priority advanced degree programmers in disciplines such as forest economics among others In addition to these, the activities of this project contribute to the 2012 Ghana Forest and Wildlife Policy objectives, particularly the following a. To manage and enhance the ecological integrity of Ghana’s forest, savannah, wetlands and other ecosystems for the preservation of vital soil and water resources, conservation of biological diversity, and enhancing carbon stocks for sustainable production of domestic and commercial produce. The pre-project further contributes to the country’s National Climate Change Policy Framework (NCCPF) whose objectives are: (i) adaptation to and reduction of vulnerability to impacts of climate change; (ii) mitigation of the impacts of climate change; and (iii) low carbon growth. The current pre-project targets reductions in carbon emissions and enhancement of carbon stocks through Land Use and Land Use Land Use change and Forestry (LULUCF) interventions.

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Furthermore, the pre-project promotes one of the most promising REDD Preparedness Plan (R-PP) strategies including; addressing unsustainable timber harvesting by supporting sustainable supply of timber to meet export and domestic timber demand.

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PART 2. JUSTIFICATION OF PRE-PROJECT 2.1 Objectives

2.1.1 Development objective To contribute to emissions reduction from deforestation and forest degradation (DFD) through development of payment of forest environmental services (PFES) scheme for forest plantation establishment on degraded lands by local community groups 2.1.2 Specific objective To collect and process baseline information to formulate appropriate proposal on applying PFES to incentivise farmers and private individuals to establish and manage forest plantation on degraded lands

2.2 Preliminary problem identification In Ghana, the control of deforestation and forest degradation continuous to be a challenge despite efforts being made to address the problem through policy reforms and rehabilitation of the degraded lands through plantation establishment. The National Forest Plantation Development Programme (NFPDP) that is being implemented by the FCG since 2002 focused much on the rehabilitation efforts (FSD-FCG, 2014). As such, the key objectives of the NFPDP are i) to restore the forest cover of degraded forest lands; ii) to reduce the wood supply deficit situation in the country; iii) to generate employment as a means to reduce rural poverty, iv) to improve environmental quality and provide an opportunity for the country to tap the emerging benefits from the climate change market for carbon sequestration; and v) enhance food production and contribute to food security in the country. Under the NFPDP, a total of 177,296.32ha have been established in the country between the 2002 and 2013(FSD-FCG, 2014). Among the seven components of NFPDP that are used to arrive at this figure, the Modified Taungya System (MTS) is the most significant with the highest total number of hectares of plantation established (80,272.30) between 2002 and 2013 (FSD-FCG, 2014). With the MTS component, FSD partners farmers in the forest fringe communities to undertake the planting. The FSD provides technical direction, survey and demarcate degraded forest reserve lands and supply pegs and seedlings while the farmers provide all the labour inputs in the form of site preparation, pegging, planting, tending and fire protection. The farmers are allowed to cultivate their food crops which they interplant with the tree crops on the same piece of land. In addition to the food crops, farmers have a 40% share in the Standing Tree Value (STV) of the planted trees. The Government of Ghana has a 40% share, while the landowner and community share is 15% and 5% respectively. According to the FSD-FCG, (2014), 296 forest fringe communities out of an estimated 2,000 have signed the MTS Benefit Sharing Agreement at the close of year 2014. The signing of the benefit share agreement documents between the tree growing farmers and the government provide tree tenure security for these farmers for the proceeds of timber planted in the degraded state forest reserves at the time of harvest. Participating farmers in these MTS plantation also stand to gain from carbon credits to be generated in future from these plantations in addition to the other environmental services (watershed, good microclimate for growth of food and cocoa and cashew cash crops etc) that these plantations provide. It is not only the participating farmers who are the beneficiaries of these MTS plantations, government, corporate bodies, traditional authority and the local communities as a whole will benefit from them in terms of good microclimate for crops production, timber revenue and future carbon credits. In the same way, forest plantation established on private lands outside state forest reserves will yield the same benefits for the participating farmers, the land owners, government, corporate bodies, the local communities and the traditional authority. Overall these different plantations will add to Ghana’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to the climate change effects) ( Höhne et al. 2014).

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FSD-FCG (2014) reports that the maintenance of these plantations have not been the best, particularly for the MTS, Government Plantation Development Program (GPDP) funded from HIPC funds between 2004 and 2009, and the Expanded Plantation Program (EPP)(Plantation established in private lands located outside forest reserves between 2010 and 2012. Private companies are contracted to undertake the establishment and maintenance of plantations and the supply of seedlings) components. In the case of GPDP that is owned by the land owners and the government, maintenance in these plantations have not been done due to lack of funds. For the MTS, the major constraint to this model has been the inability of the participating farmers to undertake the expected maintenance of the established plantations after the harvesting of their food crops (FSD-FCG 2014). Ros-tonen et al. (2014), Kalame et al. (2011) and various annual reports of the Forestry Commission of Ghana (FCG) on the restoration of the degraded forest reserves in the country using modified taungya system (food crops interplant with trees) indicate the desired results of these activities are yet to be achieved(FSD-FCG, 2014, 2011, 2008, 2006). Farmers’ unwillingness or inability to maintain these lots of forest plantations, particularly after their food crop activities have been terminated in such lots and the absence of reliable source of funding for plantation establishment have been identified as the key problems that hamper the success of these restoration activities (FSD-FCG, 2014). Insiadoo (2013) attributes this unwillingness or inability of farmers to maintain these forest plantations to the benefit sharing agreement document for future timber revenue that has not yet been signed between some farmer groups and the government. But this appears not to be the key reason for the farmers’ behavior, because in some cases, farmers continue not to attend to their plots of planted trees after their food crops have been taken away, even after receiving the benefit share document. In the present pre-project, the preliminary key problem identified for the farmer unwillingness or inability to maintain their lots of planted trees is a lack of an innovative mechanism (e.g. PFES) that will enable them maintain these trees, and at the same time, obtain their livelihood support. Insiadoo (2013) study alluded to this. One of the findings of Insiadoo (2013) shows a successful restoration case brought about by availability of funds left behind for extensions services for the farmers to maintain the plantation after the completion of a project. In general payment of forest environmental services (PFES) is an approach towards attaching economic value and establishing a real market for ecosystem services (Forest trends, Katoomba Group and UNEP, 2008). Ecosystem services are connected to human wellbeing, in-situ, within local setting (watershed management) and at regional and global level e.g. carbon sequestration (Fisher et al. 2009). Generally such characteristics as support to sustainable livelihood, reward of good stewardship, resource mobilization, a win for all stakeholders and build capacity in forest management, make PFES a good tool for forest conservation and management in sub Saharan Africa. PFES reforests and regenerate degraded lands. For example, the Noel Kemp Mercado Climate Action Project (NK-CAP) reforests and regenerates an area that has been already degraded by logging in Bolivia. In the process of the reforestation and regeneration of degraded lands under the PES scheme, adjacent communities also receive livelihood support. For instance, under the Noel Neol Kemp Mercado project, seven indigenous communities (population 1,025) adjacent to the NK-CAP area have received livelihood support (rather than direct payments) in the form of economic development initiatives and community-based benefits. The livelihood support include improved community access to basic health, education and communication services, income-generating activities (community forestry and micro-enterprise), community initiatives in capacity building, organisational empowerment and securing land titles. Strategies are also introduced to address leakages in deforestation and forest degradation to other geographical areas. In the case of this project, educational campaigns, workshops and training in sustainable agriculture were introduced. The activity considered most successful in this project has been assistance in securing legal status, tenure and a management plans for ancestral lands (Cross and McGHee, 2015). In most cases, PFES programs have positive impacts on forest cover. Studies that focus solely on reducing deforestation suggest that PFES programs have, on average, tended to reduce the annual rate of deforestation by 0.21 percentage points (s.e.=0.09, 95% CI: [0.03, 0.39]). Effect sizes are a bit larger for studies that examine forest cover change, which measures not only forest loss, but also forest gain. Estimated effects on annual forest cover change rates ranged from 0.50 percentage

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points (s.e.=0.20, 95% CI: [0.11, 0.89]) for a study in Costa Rica to 1.6 percentage points (s.e.=0.80, 95% CI: [0.03, 3.17]) for a study in Mexico (Samii et al. 2014). It appears that, these community members do not derive much benefit from the forest plantations, especially those they help to establish on the degraded natural forest lands. The immediate benefits of fertile farmlands and increased food crops farmers obtain in these lands are not sustainable (Appiah et al. 2009). They do not motivate local communities enough to commit their time and energy to continuously maintain these forest plantations and protect them against wildfire, timber theft and other environmental factors till the time of harvest of the timber, where they would obtain their share of the proceeds from the wood sale. For these community members, who are mostly peasant farmers, it is their wish that, an innovative mechanism is instituted through the payment for environmental services (PES) for these forest plantations. Such mechanism would enable them derive sustainable compensation (cash and in-kind) to improve their livelihood, and commit enough time to maintain, expand and protect these plantations in order to gain the associated additional co-benefits of such a PES scheme, i.e. additional livelihood opportunities, social capital etc. It is in response to these concerns and desires of the small holder forests plantation farmers in the high forest zone of Ghana, this pre-project is proposed. It focused on socio-economic and biophysical data collection; feasibility assessment of applying Payment for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) to incentivise community groups and the private individuals on forest plantation establishment and management for the ecosystem services; assessment of the enabling environment both domestic and international for PFES forest plantation establishment and management; an in-depth stakeholder analysis at village, district and national levels, and a full project proposal development involving, PFES project design document, technical specifications of project activities, project certification and implementation

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PRE-PROJECT INTERVENTIONS 2.3 Outputs Output 1: Baseline information and data for formulation of proposal on development of PFES scheme for forest plantation established on degraded lands available Output 2: Project proposal that develops a PFES scheme for forest plantation established on degraded lands by local community groups formulated and submitted to ITTO for approval 2.4 Activities, inputs and unit costs For Output 1: Baseline information and data for formulation of proposal on development of PFES scheme for forest plantation established on degraded lands available 1. Organise an inception workshop for the pre-project 2. Identify and assess forest plantations in degraded lands for PFES Scheme 3. Identify and analyse actors and stakeholders and their involvement in the PFES scheme 4. Identify and analyse carbon markets, accounting methodologies and certifying institutions for PFES Scheme For output 2: Project proposal that develops a PFES scheme for forest plantation established on degraded lands by local community groups formulated and submitted to ITTO for approval 1. Develop and submit a proposal on PFES scheme for forest established on degraded lands 2. Have the proposal validated and submitted to ITTO for funding 3. Prepare various pre-project reports 2.5 Approaches and methods The implementation of this pre-project will be carried out by a multidisciplinary team of foresters, socio-economists, environmental economists and GIS and remote sensing specialist. Specific studies will be the topic of mutual consultation exercises. The effective implementation will be undertaken in two main steps: (i) compiling and processing baseline information (ii) developing a project that develops a PFES scheme for forest plantations on degraded lands. 2.5.1 Identify and assess forest plantations in degraded lands for PFES Scheme To develop and implement a PFES scheme for forest plantations in degraded lands baseline information regarding the land availability, suitability and accessibility are required. Also required is the economic viability of the activity. PFES schemes that yield additional benefits to the providers of the ecosystems benefit are more attractive to buyers of these services. So in the identification and assessment of degraded lands for the PFES scheme, the following will be done using GIS and remote sensing techniques, econometric analysis, transaction and cost-benefit analysis, carbon biomass assessment using appropriate allometric equations and subsequently determining carbon value of such biomass

Baseline  information  on  identified  on  degraded  lands  including,  size,  biophysical  data 

(carbon mass), and land use change, and surrounding communities available 

Transaction  cost  of  establishing  and  managing  carbon  forest  plantation‐address 

transaction cost of small holders and large private developers 

Ex‐ante cost benefit analysis of producing carbon for emission reduction 

2.5.2 Identify and analyse actors and stakeholders and their involvement in the PFES scheme Good governance of PFES schemes is key to their success. To achieve this, the actors and stakeholders will be identified and their interest, roles and responsibilities defined before-hand. The liability of each actor over time needs to be identified. Institutions, laws and rules required to support the PFES need to be identified. Also important is the risks associated with the implementation of the PFES scheme. These have to be identified and the corresponding mitigative measures found to

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ensure success. The expertise of the international consultant will be relied upon in the identification of these and the development of the corresponding mitigative measures. In assessing risks, the method VCS AFOLU non-permanence risk tool will be used. Generally, the following will be taken into account in the identification and analysis of the actors and the stakeholders. Surveys, focus group discussion, stakeholder consultations techniques and methodologies will be employed Determine governance for establishing carbon forest plantation Determine challenges and mitigation options for carbon forest plantation-attitudes of

communities, distance to site, composition-age, gender, farming practices, issues of illegal activities, nursery establishment opportunities including water availability, fire effects and mitigation prospects, cultural issues including conflicts

Local and national institutions, laws and rules required for forest carbon planation Identify risk and specific mitigation strategy (note those beyond control-fire, insect infestation

or changes in rainfall) Risk assessment, assess potential impact on project performance and remedial measures-

method VCS AFOLU non-permanence risk tool to be used Risk category-internal risk-project management capacity, financial viability Natural risk-occurrence of fires and pests External risk land tenure conflicts

2.5.3 Identify and analyse carbon markets, accounting methodologies and certifying institutions for PFES Scheme To identify prospective buyers, carbon markets in the voluntary carbon markets will be consulted. This will be done with the assistance of the international consultant and through review of published documents on these markets, especially the ecosystem market place documents. From these markets, the possible buyers could be identified and requirements in the design and production of the services would be identified. As the trading of these environmental services are supported by standards bodies and certifying institutions with their requirements on types of PFES projects and scale they deal with, review of such bodies and institutions will be done to support the desired PFES scheme. Acceptable carbon accounting methodologies for the type of forest plantation on degraded lands by local community group will have to be identified. Monitoring and evaluation mechanism will be developed. The international consultant expertise will be relied on heavily to accomplish this task. The following list will be followed in performing this task. Identify  and  analyze  relevant  carbon  markets  including  voluntary  and  REDD  carbon  markets 

performance and requirement 

Identify and analyze  the  requirement  for prospective buyers of environmental  services  from  carbon 

forest plantation 

Identify accounting methodologies available for carbon forest plantation for emission reduction 

Identify appropriate  standards and Certifying bodies available  for  carbon  forest plantation  including 

requirement and same project supported 

Address issue of small holders‐what accounting method available to make them successful 

Design monitoring and evaluation mechanism 

2.5.4 Develop and submit a proposal on PFES scheme for forest established on degraded lands A PES scheme is based on “the user pays” principle. It is also either input or output based. Under this pre-project, an international consultant will be contracted to provide technical inputs into the design of the PFES Scheme, technical specifications of PFES project activities, project certification and identification of buyers. Consultant will offer guidance on implementation. To this end the consultant will visit pre-project sites and make use of the baseline information collected.

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2.6 Work plan

Outputs and Activities Responsible Party

Year 1Quarter 1

Year 1Quarter2

Year 1Quarter3

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

Output 1:: Baseline information and data for formulation of proposal on development of PFES scheme for forest plantation established on degraded lands available 1.1. Organization of inception workshops FORIG/RMSC/LC

1.2. Identify and assess forest plantations in degraded lands for PFES Scheme RMSC/FORIG/

/LC 1.3. Identify and analyse actors and stakeholders and their involvement in the PFES scheme

FORIG/RMSC/LC

1.4. Identify and analyse carbon markets, accounting methodologies and certifying institutions for PFES Scheme

FORIG/RMSC/LC

Output 2: Project proposal on that develops a PFES scheme for forest plantation established on degraded lands by local community groups formulated and submitted to ITTO for approval 2.1. Develop and submit a proposal on PFES scheme of forest established on degraded lands

FORIG RMSCE/LC

2.2 Have the proposal validated and submitted to ITTO for funding

FORIG/RMSC/LC

2.3. Prepare various pre-project reports FORIG/ RMSC/LC

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Pre-project MASTER BUDGET

Quantity ITTO

Outputs/activities Description B

udg

et

com

pon

ent

Yea

r 1

Uni

ts

Uni

t co

st

US

$

Tot

al c

ost

US

$

Yea

r 1

Exe

cutin

g ag

ency

Output 1 Collection of baseline information and data for formulation of proposal on carbon forest plantation development determined/performed.

A1.1 Organize an inception workshop for the pre-project

Forest Economist 11.2 1 Month 300 300 300

Agroforester 11.3 1 Month 300 300 300

GIS/Remote Sensing 11.4 1 Month 300 300 300

Sociologist/Wood Technologist 11.5 1 Month 300 300 300

Technicians 12.1 3 Month 150 450 450

Accountant/Secretary 12.4 1 Month 100 100 100

Project Coordinator 11.1 1 Month 600 600 0 600

Supporting Staff 12.2 1 Month 80 80 0 80

Driver 12.3 1 Month 50 50 0 50

DSA National Expert 31.1 4 Man-day 100 400 400

DSA Technicians 31.3 3 Man-day 80 240 240

DSA Driver 31.4 1 Man-day 40 40 0 40

Fuel 53 100 Gallon 10 1000 1000

Office Supply 54 4 Month 500 2000 2000

Publishing 55 10 Month 100 1000 1000

Vehicle Hiring 52 3 Lump-sum 100 300 300

Local Travel 33 60 Man-day 100 6000 6000

Subtotal 12,690 770

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A1.2 Identify and assess forest plantations in degraded lands for PFES Scheme

Farmer Field Meeting 61.3 10 Lump-sum 300 3000 3000

Site Mapping 61.4 6 Month 200 1200 1200

Forest Economist 11.2 1 Month 300 300 300

Agroforester 11.3 1 Month 300 300 300

GIS/Remote Sensing 11.4 1 Month 300 300 300

Sociologist/Wood Technologist 11.5 1 Month 300 300 300

Technicians 12.1 3 Month 150 450 450

Accountant/Secretary 12.4 1 Month 100 100 100

Project Coordinator 11.1 1 Month 600 600 0 600

Supporting Staff 12.2 3 Month 80 240 0 240

Driver 12.3 1 Month 50 50 0 50

DSA National Expert 31.1 4 Man-day 100 400 400

DSA Technicians 31.3 3 Man-day 80 240 240

DSA Driver 31.4 1 Man-day 40 40 0 40

Fuel 53 200 Gallon 10 2000 2000

Vehicle Hiring 52 6 Lump-sum 100 600 600

Publishing 55 10 Month 100 1000 1000

Office Supply 54 4 Month 500 2000 0 2000

Subtotal 10,190 2930

A1.3 Identify and analyse actors and stakeholders and their involvement in the PFES scheme

Workshop Participants 15.1 50 Workshop 150 7500 7500

Forest Economist 11.2 1 Month 300 300 300

Agroforester 11.3 1 Month 300 300 300

GIS/Remote Sensing 11.4 1 Month 300 300 300

Wood Technologist 11.5 1 Month 300 300 300

Technicians 12.1 3 Month 150 450 450

Accountant/Secretary 12.4 1 Month 100 100 100

Project Coordinator 11.1 1 Month 600 600 0 600

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Supporting Staff 12.2 3 Month 80 240 0 240

Driver 12.3 1 Month 50 50 0 50

DSA National Expert 31.1 4 Man-day 100 400 400

DSA Technicians 31.3 3 Man-day 80 240 240

DSA Driver 31.4 1 Man-day 40 40 0 40

Fuel 53 200 Gallon 10 2000 2000

Vehicle Hiring 52 6 Lump-sum 100 600 600

Publishing 55 10 Month 100 1000 1000

Office Supply 54 4 Month 500 2000 0 2000

Subtotal 13,490 2930

A1.4 Identify and analyse carbon markets, accounting methodologies and certifying institutions for PFES Scheme

Forest Economist 11.2 1 Month 300 300 300

Agroforester 11.3 1 Month 300 300 300

GIS/Remote Sensing 11.4 1 Month 300 300 300

Sociologist/Wood Technologist 11.5 1 Month 300 300 300

Technicians 12.1 3 Month 150 450 450

Accountant/Secretary 12.4 1 Month 100 100 100

Project Coordinator 11.1 1 Month 600 600 0 600

Supporting Staff 12.2 3 Month 80 240 0 240

Vehicle Hiring 52 6 Lump-sum 100 600 600

Driver 12.3 1 Month 50 50 0 50

Fuel 53 200 Gallon 10 2,000 2,000

Publishing 55 10 Month 100 1,000 1,000

Office Supply 54 4 Month 500 2,000 0 2000

DSA National Expert 31.1 4 Man-day 100 400 400

DSA Technicians 31.3 3 Man-day 80 240 240

DSA Driver 31.4 1 Man-day 40 40 0 40

Subtotal 5,990 2930

Output 2 Project proposal that develops a PFES scheme for forest plantation established on degraded lands by local community groups formulated and

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submitted to ITTO for approval

A2.1 Develop and submit a proposal on PFES scheme for forest established on degraded lands

International Consultant 14.1 1 Man-day 8000 8000 8000

Forest Economist 11.2 1 Month 300 300 300

Agroforester 11.3 1 Month 300 300 300

GIS/Remote Sensing 11.4 1 Month 300 300 300

Sociologist/Wood Technologist 11.5 1 Month 300 300 300

Technicians 12.1 3 Month 150 450 450

Accountant/Secretary 12.4 1 Month 100 100 100

Project Coordinator 11.1 1 Month 600 600 0 600

Supporting Staff 12.2 3 Month 80 240 0 240

Vehicle Hiring 52 6 Lump-sum 100 600 600

International Travel 32.2 1 Man-day 3000 3000 3000

Local Travel 33 5 Man-day 100 500 500

DSA International Travel 31.2 1 Man-day 300 300 300

DSA Technicians 31.3 3 Man-day 80 240 240

DSA Driver 31.4 1 Man-day 40 40 0 40

Fuel 53 200 Gallon 10 2000 2000

Publishing 55 1 Month 100 100 100

Office Supply 54 4 Month 500 2000 2000

DSA National Expert 31.1 4 Man-day 100 400 400

Pre-project Audit 62 1 Year 4000 4000 4000

Subtotal 22,890 880

GRAND TOTAL 65,250 10,440

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PRE-PROJECT CONSOLIDATED BUDGET Consolidated Yearly Project Budget

(featuring Input and Unit Costs)

Budget Components Input

Unit Cost( US$)

TOTAL (US$)

YEAR 1 (US$)

10 Project Personnel

11.1. Project Coordinator 5 600 3000 3000

11.2. Forest Economist 5 300 1500 1500

11.3. Agro forester 5 300 1500 1500

11.4. GIS/Remoting Sensing 5 300 1500 1500

11.5. Sociologist/Wood Technologist 5 300 1500 1500

12.1. Technicians 15 150 2250 2250

12.2. Supporting Staff 13 80 1040 1040

12.3. Driver 4 50 200 200

12.4. Accountant/Secretary 5 100 500 500

14.1 International Consultants 1 8000 8000 8000

15.1. Workshop participants 100

75 7500 7500

19. Component Total 164

10255 28490 28490

30 Travel

31. Daily Subsistence Allowance

31.1. National Experts/Consultants 20 100 2,000 2,000

31.2. International Consultants 1 300 300 300

31.3. Technicians 15 80 1,200 1,200

31.4. Drivers 5 40 200 200

32.2. International Consultants 1 3000 3,000 3,000

33. Local Travel 65 100 6,500 6,500

39. Component Total 107

3620 13200 13200

50 Consumable Items

52. Vehicle Hiring 27 100 2,700 2,700

53. Utilities (Fuel) 900

10 9,000 9,000

54. Office Supplies 20 500 10,000 10,000

55. Publishing 41 100 4,100 4,100

59. Component Total 988

710 25,800 25,800

60 Miscellaneous

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61.3 Farmer Field Meetings 10 300 3,000 3,000

61.4 Communication 6 200 1,200 1,200

62. Pre-project Audit 1 4000 4,000 4,000

69. Component Total 17 4500 8,200 8,200

SUBTOTAL 75,690

80 Project Monitoring and Administration

81. ITTO Monitoring and Review 3,000

82. ITTO midterm, final, ex-post Evaluation Costs

83. ITTO Programme Support Costs (12% on items 10 to 81 above)

8190

84. Donor Monitoring Costs

89. Component Total 11190

90 Refund of Pre-Project Costs (Pre-project budget)

100 GRAND TOTAL (US$) 86880

PRE-PROJECT YEARLY BUDGET BY SOURCE - ITTO

Annual Disbursements Total US$ Year 1 US$

Budget Components

10. Project personnel 24,250 24,250

11.2 Forest Economist 1,500 1,500

11.3 Agroforester 1,500 1,500

11.4 GIS/Remote Sensing Expert 1,500 1,500

11.5 Sociologist/Wood Technologist 1,500 1,500

12.1 Technicians 2,250 2,250

12.2 Supporting Staff - -

12.4 Accountant/Secretary 500 500

14.1 International Consultant 8,000 8,000

15.1 Training (Workshop participants) 7,500 7,500

20. Sub-contracts - -

30. Duty travel 13,000 13,000

31.1 National Experts/Consultants 2,000 2,000

31.2 International Consultants 300 300

31.3 Technicians 1,200 1,200

32.2 International Consultants 3,000 3,000

33 Local Travel 6,500 6,500

40. Capital items - -

50. Consumable items 19,800 19,800

- 19 -

52 Vehicle Hiring 2,700 2,700

53 Utilities (Fuel) 9,000 9,000

54 Office supplies 4,000 4,000

55 Publishing 4,100 4,100

60. Miscellaneous 8,200 8,200

61.3 Farmer Field Meetings 3,000 3,000

61.4 Communication 1,200 1,200

62 Pre-project Audit 4,000 4,000

Subtotal 1 65,250

80. ITTO Monitor. Evaluation. Costs

81. Monitoring and Review Costs (effective estimation) 3,000

82. Evaluation Costs (effective estimation)

Subtotal 2

83. Program Support Costs (12% of Overall Budget) 8,190

84. Donor Monitoring Costs

90. Refund of Pre-Project Costs

ITTO TOTAL 76440

YEARLY PROJECT BUDGET BY SOURCE - E. AGENCY/HOST GOVERNMENT

Annual Disbursements Total US$ Year 1 US$

Budget Components

10. Project personnel 4,240.00 4,240.00

11.1 Project Coordinator 3,000.00 3,000.00

12.2 Supporting Staff 1,040.00 1,040.00

12.3 Driver 200 200

20. Sub-contracts - -

30. Duty travel 200 200

31.4 DSA Driver 200 200

40. Capital items - -

50. Consumable items 6000 6000

54 Office supply 6000 6000

60. Miscellaneous - -

70. Executing Agency Management Costs - -

EXECUTING AGENCY/HOST GOVT. TOTAL 10440 10440

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PART 3. IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS 3.1 Executing agency and organizational structure The Executing Agency of the Project will be the FORIG and the collaborating partners will be Forest Service Division of the Forestry Commission, Resource Management Support Centre (RMSC) of the Forestry Commission and most importantly the local communities (Figure 4). An international consultant will provide technical inputs in the design of the PFES scheme.

Figure 4: Organizational Structure This pre-project will be implemented with support from a project steering committee who will meet once mid-year to provide guidance to ensure successful implementation of the pre-project. The steering committee will have representatives from: Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) Representative of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources Representative of District Assemblies Forestry Commission Representative of farmers in local communities Representative of Traditional Authorities Representative of NGO Representative of ITTO Representatives of donors 3.2 Pre-project management Key project staff and their responsibilities will be: Dr. Lawrence Damnyag: (Project Coordinator, Forest Economics and Climate Change Policy

specialist), Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG). He is responsible for the design of the

Collaborating institution-RMSC, FSD

ITTO Steering committee Executing Agency

(FORIG)

Pre-Project implementation Technical support Administrative support

Local communities

Research Scientists

Project management (Pre-Project Coordinator)

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pre-project; the execution and coordination of all aspects of the project; collection and collation of project reports for all participating scientists and community pre- project teams. He will also take charge of all socio-economic and economics (cost benefit analysis, carbon markets), timber and carbon valuation studies. He will also be liaising with the local communities

Dr. Luke Anglaare (Agroforester), FORIG. He will be take responsibility of all agro-forestry including biophysical related aspects in the pre-project implementation

Mr. Francis Wilson Owusu (Wood Technologist). He will be responsible for identification of tree species to be included in the plantation activities

Mr. Mohammed Yakubu (Forest and remote sensing specialist), RMSC, Kumasi. He will be

responsible for GIS and remote sensing studies relating to site identifications for plantation activities.

Local representatives, responsible for representing farmers in the local communities on

Monitoring and Evaluation Team 3.3 Monitoring and reporting

(a) Monitoring and evaluation 

ITTO monitoring visits will be carried out at an agreed time. An internal monitoring and self-evaluation for the pre-project will be carried out. To do this, a monitoring committee of five (5) members made of three members selected by the community and two project team members in each pre-project area. This team will be responsible for ensuring the successful execution of pre-project in their respective areas and will be required to submit progress on activities in their areas mid-year (before submission of progress report to ITTO) to the project coordinator. The results of the self-evaluation will be used in fine-tuning the activities foreseen for the rest of the pre-project duration. The pre-project steering committee will meet at end of the year to discuss project technical details as well as to approve certain documents. (b) Reporting The pre-project coordinator will be responsible for the preparation of the work plan, timing and pre-project progress reports (including and inception report and mid-year report) to be submitted to ITTO. These will be produced in compliance with ITTO procedures The pre-project technical reports will be prepared by project staff responsible for specific technical activities, peer reviewed by other pre-project staff and submitted to ITTO by the pre-project coordinator. The pre-project coordinator will be responsible for the compilation of the pre-project completion report and have it submitted to ITTO. This will be followed by a financial audit report of the pre-project. In addition ITTO monitoring online monitoring system, will receive information at regular interval/monthly highlights

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ANNEX 1. PROFILE OF THE EXECUTING AGENCY Executing agency (FORIG) The Forestry Research Institute of Ghana is one of the 13 institutes of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). It is located at Fumesua near Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It started as a research unit within the Forestry Department in 1962. It was fully established as a research institute and named FOREST PRODUCTS RESEARCH INSTITUTE (FPRI) under the then Ghana Academy of Sciences in 1964 and in 1968 placed under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). By Act of Parliament (Act 405) the Institute was transferred from the CSIR to the Forestry Commission in 1980. In 1991, the name of the Institute was changed to Forestry Research Institute of Ghana to reflect the widening scope of its research activities. In 1993, by another Act of Parliament (Act 453) the Institute was reverted to the CSIR. The goals of FORIG are: Conduct user-focused research commissioned by its client Generate and disseminate useful scientific and appropriate technological information directly

to its clients, stakeholders and the general public in a timely manner. Anticipate and address the major research information needs that are likely to face managers,

policy makers, and stakeholders in the future, (i.e. develop capacity for quick response to changing circumstances)

Enhance its institutional capability through appropriate training programmes to address technical problems in forestry resources protection, sustainable management, and utilization.

Contribute, through research to the social, economic and environmental well-being of the people of Ghana

Enhance the sustainable management, conservation and efficient utilization of Ghana’s forest resources

Foster strong linkages, through collaborative research across disciplines among forestry professional, stakeholders and external institutions.

FORIG has the following objectives: Develop technologies for sustainable management of natural forests and biodiversity

conservation Develop technologies fundamental to the success of plantation forestry. Generate

technological properties and develop appropriate processing techniques for the efficient utilization of Ghana’s forest resources

Enhance sustainable management and utilization of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) Mobilize, process and disseminate information critical to the management of Ghana’s forest

resources Strengthen capacity and use it for optimum research and commercialized services Establish mechanism for attracting financial assistance from donors, private and public

institutions for research Expertise: The Institute has specialists in Silviculture, Entomology, Forest botany, Forest ecology, Seed technology, Menstruation / Statistics, Genetics, Agro-forestry, Forest Economics and Marketing and Information Science, GIS and Remote Sensing. Staff Strength: The Institute has total staff strength of 278 made up of 47 senior members 17 who have Ph.D degrees and the remaining with M.Sc degrees and 61 non-research senior officers. Facilities: The Institute's permanent offices and laboratories are located at Fumesua, near Kumasi. It has research centres at Bobiri and Amantia both in the Moist, Semi-Deciduous Forest Zone, Benso in the Wet Evergreen Zone, and Bolgatanga in the Savannah zone. There are also research stations at Subri, Afram Headwaters, Pra-Anum, Accra plains, Northern grassland, Bia Tano and Asenanyo.

Externally Funded Projects FORIG has won a number of competitive grants/donor supports for a wide variety of projects. Currently, there are over 10 donor-funded projects. These are in the areas of forest management, wood utilization and construction, sivliculture and management and entomology.

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Donors/sponsors are varied and range from bilateral support through to researcher support. Our donors include ITTO, DFID, AAS and the European Union. Below is the list of some on-going donor sponsored projects:

o Silviculture and Economics of Improved Natural Forest Management in Ghana o Processing and Utilization of Logging Residues through Collaboration with Local

Communities and Forest Industries o Development of an Integrated Strategy for Reduction of Shoot Borer Impact on African

Mahogany in the Tropical Humid Forest of Africa o Increasing Productivity and Quality of West African Teak Plantations using Genetic Diversity

and Sustainable Management o Rehabilitation of Mined Sites o Rehabilitation of Degraded Forests in the Savanna o Rehabilitation of Degraded Forests through Collaboration with Local Communities o Sustainable Development of Bamboo Resources in Ghana and Togo (AFORNET) o Genetic Improvement, Productivity and Biodiversity Conservation of T. scleroxylon

(AFORNET) o Flower induction and mass productivity and biodiversity of T. scleroxylon using tissue culture

(TWAS) o Alternative mixed plantation systems and restoration strategies for conservation and

sustainable production of timber species in Ghana (ITTO) o Silvicultural strategies for mitigating shootborer impact on African Mahogany; Effect of pruning

and companion planting (IFS) Responding to the challenges and demands of national and global trends FORIG is an active member of prestigious international associations such as Commonwealth Forestry Association, International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO) and International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Resource Management Support Centre Resource Support Management Centre is one of the Forestry Commission of Ghana. It is located in Kumasi. RMSC provides technical and professional services to address forestry and environmentally related issues for clients. It is well endowed with specialized competencies and skills on Resource assessment using GIS and Remote Sensing Application, Environmental and Social Impact Assessments and Environmental Governance FSD of the Forestry Commission of Ghana The Forestry Services Division (FSD) forms a part of the Forestry Commission (FC) of Ghana. The functions of the FC-FSD are

Create, protect and manage the permanent forest estates and protected areas in the various ecological zones of the country to conserve Ghana’s biophysical heritage.

Prepare and implement integrated forest and wildlife management plans for the maintenance of the environment to the benefit of all segments of society.

Regulate the harvesting of timber, wildlife and other non-timber forest products. Vet and register contracts and issue permits for export of forest and wildlife products Track the movements of timber, wood and wildlife products. Monitor the harvesting and marketing of forest and wildlife products. Develop and enforce appropriate industrial standards and trade guidelines for timber and

wildlife products. Promote value addition as well as increased use of lesser known timber and wildlife species

to ensure the optimization of utilization and benefits of forest and wildlife resources. Provide market intelligence to inform both Government and industry on pricing, trade and

product trends. Provide technical services in the development and utilization of forest and wildlife resources.

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ANNEX 2. TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF KEY EXPERTS PROVIDED BY THE EXECUTING AGENCY

Responsibilities FORIG:

Will nominate project coordinator Submit all reports relevant to the project implementation Ensure smooth implementation of the project Facilitate writing of all publications including scientific papers Collaborate with others to ensure smooth running of the project

Forest Services Division:

Provide technical input and policy direction to management and marketing of forest plantation on degraded forest reserves

Facilitate in the identification of ecosystem services provided by the forest plantations on degraded forest reserves

Contribute to the identification of the communities to take part in the project Liaise with local communities to ensure effective participation

RMSC

Responsible for all training sessions, providing technical backstopping forest planning models and Spatial decision support system adoption for forest plantation management

Contribute in preparing progress reports and scientific publication Farmers in local communities and private plantation developer

Will be responsible for implementation of most of the field activities Curriculum vitae of Key staff: Lawrence DAMNYAG (PhD)–Forest Sciences (Forest Economics and Climate change Policy Expert)

Lawrence Damnyag is a Senior Research Scientist-(Forest Economics and Climate Change Policy Expert) at the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana. His expertise and relevant experiences include questionnaire design and data analysis, Rural households poverty-environment/forest analysis, Farm/environmental/forest resources valuation, Natural resources decision analysis and working with local communities on natural resources management. He has experience in the application of the following software for data and decision analysis; i) Eviews, ii) SPSS, iii) LIMDEP and v) DEFINITE

Field and institution of graduation: Economics with statistics, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana

Field and institution of post-graduation: M.Phil Economics, specializing in Econometrics and Environmental and Natural Resources Economics, PhD in Forest Economics and Policy, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland

Luke Anglaaere – Agroforester

Dr. Luke Anglaaere is a Principal Research Scientist at the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana. He has expertise in Agroforestry and forest management. He has wide experience in community forestry, land use dynamics as well as the design of agroforestry interventions.

Field and institution of graduation: BSc. Natural Resources Management, KNUST, Kumasi-Ghana

Field and institution of post-graduation: M.Sc. Agroforestry, KNUST, Kumasi-Ghana; Ph. D. Agroforestry, University of Wales, Bangor

Francis Wilson OWUSU – Wood Technologist

Mr. Francis Wilson Owusu is a Senior Research Scientist at the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana with expertise in sawing and machining of wood, Joinery & Furniture testing, lesser-used timber species, product development, monitoring and evaluation, Sawmill studies.

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Services to ITTO on ITTO-FORIG Project No. PD 179/91(Lesser-Used Timber Species) Services to ITTO on ITTO-FORIG Project No. PD 4/98 (Silviculture & Economics) Member, National Project Co-ordinating Team (NPCT) of ITTO/TEDD project PD13/95n Rev. 3(I), “Capacity Building in Training, Planning and Management of Forest Industries in ITTO Producer Member Countries”. Field and institution of graduation: Agricultural Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana Field and institution of post-graduation: M.Sc. Wood technology and Management, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana

Mr. Mohammed Yakubu – GIS and Remote Sensing specialist

Mr. Mohammed Yakubu is a manager at the RMSC. He has an MSc in Geo-information Science

and earth observation and is experienced in remote sensing, aerial photographs, surveys and map

production which are essential for the successful implementation of this pre-project. He has

knowledge and skill in development of land use maps and vegetation trend changes using satellite

imagery.

He is a tropical botanist and plant ecologist with concentration mostly on the interface between the

academic and the practical management of tropical biodiversity, particularly in forest and mostly in

Africa. He has worked for several years as plant ecologist and botanist on forest inventory and

management projects for the Ghana Forestry Department. Additionally, he has worked mostly in

tropical Africa - especially Ghana - and the Caribbean, but also in the America, Mexico, Chile and

Malaysia.

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ANNEX 3. TERMS OF REFERENCE OF PERSONNEL AND CONSULTANTS FUNDED BY ITTO

An international consultant with expertise and relevant experiences in the design and implementation of PFES scheme for forest establishment in degraded lands in sub Saharan Africa will be hired. The terms of references for this consultant will be to Make use of the baseline information to be made available in this pre-project to provide technical inputs in

PFES Scheme design document, Technical specifications of PFES project activities, Identify and contact prospective buyers for their interest and requirements to guide the

development of the PFES project Identify relevant carbon standards and certification bodies for the PFES project design Offer guidance on the implementation of PFES scheme Review local and international policies, rules and regulations to guide the PFES project

design

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ANNEX 4. RECOMMENDATIONS OF ITTO’S EXPERT PANEL AND RESULTING MODIFICATIONS

PD 757/14 (F) Promoting Development and Management of Carbon Forest

Plantations for Emissions Reduction and Timber Production with Local Community and Private Developer Collaboration, Ghana

Assessment by the Forty-eighth Panel A) Overall Assessment The Panel noted the importance of this project intending to promote the development and management of carbon forest plantations for emissions reduction and timber production with local community and private developer collaboration in Ghana. However, major deficiencies in the proposal were identified in most sections and sub-sections, as described here: (1) origin of the project not clearly elaborated in order to explain what could justify the choice of the development and management of carbon forest plantations (payment of environment services (PES)) as a sustainable financial mechanism; (2) conformity with ITTO’s objectives not explained as the three objectives were just listed without any explanation under each; (3) geographical location not sufficiently elaborated for the target project area; (4) lack of stakeholder analysis allowing the understanding of the table of stakeholders; (5) lack of information on the PES national strategy in relation to the implementation of REDD+ mechanism in Ghana; (6) problem tree not well designed in accordance with the requirement of the ITTO manual for project formulation while the key problem was not well defined; (7) logical framework matrix poorly presented and not consistent with the problem tree regarding the number of outputs versus number of causes; (8) expected outcomes not well formulated and not realistic for a 3-year project; (9) number of activities not consistent with the number of sub-causes in the problem tree; (10) Lack of consistency between the outputs in the work plan and the causes and sub-causes in the problem tree; (11) some difficulties to assess different budgets due to the abovementioned weaknesses; (12) risk assessment not consistent with the key assumptions in the logical framework matrix while the sustainability was not sufficiently elaborated in the proposal. B) Specific Recommendations The Panel recommended that, instead of revising this proposal PD 757/14 (F), a pre-project should be formulated and should include the following main elements:

1. Collection of baseline information and data to support a sound and comprehensive elaboration of all sections and sub-sections of a proposal dealing with carbon forest plantations for emissions reduction and timber production with local community and private developer collaboration in Ghana;

2. Undertaking a good problem analysis in conjunction with an appropriate stakeholder analysis for the intended project, and;

3. Formulation of a full project proposal in accordance with the format and instructions specified in the ITTO Manual for Project Formulation (Third edition).

C) Conclusion Category 3: The Panel concluded that the project proposal is missing fundamental information, consequently a pre-project is required and to be submitted to the Expert Panel for appraisal. Response to comments A pre-project has been formulated that takes into accounts the 3 points recommendations of the expert panel by focusing on

Baseline information collection-socio-economic and biophysical data, feasibility assessment of using PFES to incentivize farmers, assessment of enabling conditions and development of a full proposal

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ANNEX 5. RECOMMENDATIONS OF ITTO’S EXPERT PANEL AND RESULTING MODIFICATIONS 

 PPD 184/15 (F) Development of Payment for Environmental Services Scheme for local

community groups and private developer forest plantations in degraded lands, Ghana

Assessment by the Fiftieth Panel A) Overall Assessment The Panel recognized the importance of the proposal dealing with the development of payment for environment services schemes for local community groups and private developer forest plantations in degraded lands, in Ghana. The Panel noted that the origin and justification of the pre-project proposal were well explained in relation to the overall assessment of specific recommendations of the 48th Expert Panel meeting on the project proposal PD 757/14 (F). However, the Panel also noted that there were weaknesses in the following sections and sub-sections: (1) no explanation provided under each objective of the ITTA of 2006, considered as relevant for the future project, in the Section 1.2 (conformity with ITTO’s objectives and priority); (2) difficulty to understand the development objective to which the future project would contribute, due to the use of abbreviations not explained in list of abbreviations and acronyms; (3) the positive correlation between the payment for environment services and rehabilitation of degraded forest lands was not clearly described in the preliminary problem identification while the benefit tree ownership schemes were not clearly explained for different land tenure status in Ghana; (4) ITTO budget too high while the counterpart contribution is too low (less than 1%). B) Specific Recommendations The proposal should be revised taking into account the overall assessment and the following:

1. Improve the conformity with ITTO’s objectives by adding the appropriate explanation under each relevant objective of the ITTA f 2006;

2. Improve the formulation of the development objective by explaining the abbreviations included in it;

3. Improve the preliminary problem identification with the inclusion of elements demonstrating the positive correlation between the payment for environment services and rehabilitation of degraded forest lands, as well as with further explanation regarding the benefit tree ownership schemes for different land tenure status in Ghana, in relation to the rehabilitation of degraded forest lands;

4. Add a list of all abbreviations and acronyms used in the pre-project proposal;

5. Prepare the ITTO budget in line with the above overall assessment and specific recommendations and also in the following way:

a) Significantly reduce the ITTO budget by: transferring some budget costs to the counterpart contribution (project coordinator,

technicians, supporting staff, driver), deleting budget costs not justified in the problem analysis, implementation approaches and

terms of reference (international consultants, duty travel costs for international consultants, meals, field visits, communication, cost benefit analysis, biophysical data collection, incentives to local communities),

reducing significantly some budget costs and provide correlated explanation in the implementation approaches (fuel, office supplies),

b) Add separate tables of budget by component for each source of funding (ITTO and counterpart) while having both tables detailed at the levels of sub-items as done for the consolidated budget by component, and;

6. Include an Annex that shows the overall assessment and specific recommendations of the 50th Expert Panel and respective modifications in tabular form, while making sure to add the pages indicating where to find elements addressing the overall assessment and specific recommendations in the revised version of the pre-project proposal document. Modifications should also be highlighted (bold and underline) in the text.

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C) Conclusion Category 2: The Panel concluded that the project proposal requires essential modifications and will be returned to the proponent. The Panel will need to assess the revised project proposal before it can commend it to the Committee for final appraisal.  

ANNEX 6: TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE OVERALL ASSESSMENT AND SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 50TH EXPERT PANEL

 No. Overall assessment and specific recommendations Page no.

A) Overall assessment

See relevant pages

B) Specific Recommendations

1

Improve the conformity with ITTO’s objectives by adding the appropriate explanation under each relevant objective of the ITTA f 2006

3, 4

2 Improve the formulation of the development objective by explaining the abbreviations included in it 6

3

Improve the preliminary problem identification with the inclusion of elements demonstrating the positive correlation between the payment for environment services and rehabilitation of degraded forest lands, as well as with further explanation regarding the benefit tree ownership schemes for different land tenure status in Ghana, in relation to the rehabilitation of degraded forest lands 6,7, 7 , 8

4 Add a list of all abbreviations and acronyms used in the pre-project proposal 1

5 Prepare the ITTO budget in line with the above overall assessment and specific recommendations and also in the following way

a

Significantly reduce the ITTO budget by transferring some budget costs to the counterpart contribution (project

coordinator, technicians, supporting staff, driver), deleting budget costs not justified in the problem analysis,

implementation approaches and terms of reference (international consultants, duty travel costs for international consultants, meals, field visits, communication, cost benefit analysis, biophysical data collection, incentives to local communities),

reducing significantly some budget costs and provide correlated explanation in the implementation approaches (fuel, office supplies),

10, 12, 13, 14,15, 18, 19, 26

b

Add separate tables of budget by component for each source of funding (ITTO and counterpart) while having both tables detailed at the levels of sub-items as done for the consolidated budget by component 14, 15

7 Include an Annex that shows the overall assessment and specific recommendations of the 50th Expert Panel and respective modifications in tabular form 29

          

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 ANNEX 7 PPD 184/15 Rev.1 (F) Development of Payment for Environmental Services Scheme for

Local Community Groups and Private Developer Forest Plantations in Degraded Lands, Ghana

Assessment by the Fifty-first Panel A) Overall Assessment The Panel Panel noted the efforts made by the proponent to address the comments in the overall assessment and specific recommendations of the Panel in the revised proposal dealing with the development of payment for environment services schemes for local community groups and private developer forest plantations in degraded lands, in Ghana. However, it was noticed that there was a need for further improvement in the revised proposal for some sections and sub-sections. Those improved were still needed in the following issues: (1) although the correlation between the payment for environment services and rehabilitation of degraded forest lands was described in the preliminary problem identification, as well as the benefit tree ownership schemes, there was no information on the area to be targeted by the future project to be derived from the implementation of this pre-project; (2) ITTO budget still too high while the counterpart contribution was still too low (around 4%). B) Specific Recommendations The proposal should be revised taking into account the overall assessment and the following:

1. Further  improve the preliminary problem  identification by providing  information on the area to 

be targeted by the future project, and for which an appropriate PES scheme could be developed 

and implemented in the future; 

2. Prepare  the  ITTO  budget  in  line  with  the  above  overall  assessment  and  specific 

recommendations and also in the following way: 

a) Further reduce the ITTO budget by: deleting  budget  costs  not  justified  in  the  preliminary  problem  identification, 

implementation  approaches  and  work  plan  [driver  (budget  item  12.3),  workshops participants (budget item 15.1), venue hiring (budget item 15.2)], 

further  reducing  some  budget  costs  and  provide  correlated  explanation  in  the implementation approaches (fuel, office supplies),  

b) Recalculate the ITTO Programme Support Costs (sub-item 85) so as to conform with standard rate of 12% of the total ITTO project costs (on budget items 10 to 82), and;

3. Include an Annex that shows the overall assessment and specific recommendations of the 51st Expert Panel and respective modifications in tabular form. Modifications should also be highlighted (bold and underline) in the text.

C) Conclusion Category 1: The Panel concluded that the proposal could be commended to the Committee with incorporation of amendments.

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ANNEX 8: TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE OVERALL ASSESSMENT AND SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 51TH EXPERT PANEL

 No. Overall assessment and specific recommendations Page no.

A) Overall assessment

See relevant pages

B) Specific Recommendations

1

Further improve the preliminary problem identification by providing information on the area to be targeted by the future project, and for which an appropriate PES scheme could be developed and implemented in the future

2 and 3

2

deleting budget costs not justified in the preliminary problem identification, implementation approaches and work plan [driver (budget item 12.3), workshops participants (budget item 15.1), venue hiring (budget item 15.2)], 12-19

3

further reducing some budget costs and provide correlated explanation in the implementation approaches (fuel, office supplies), 12-19

4

a) Recalculate the ITTO Programme Support Costs (sub-item 85) so as to conform with standard rate of 12% of the total ITTO project costs (on budget items 10 to 82), and;

12-19

7 Include an Annex that shows the overall assessment and specific recommendations of the 51st Expert Panel and respective modifications in tabular form 31

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REFERENCES Appiah, M., Blay, D., Damnyag, L., Pappinen, A., Luukkanen, O., 2009. Dependence on forest resources and tropical deforestation in Ghana. Environ Dev and Sustain 11(3), 471-487 Cross, H., McGHee, W. 2015. PES incentives for smallholders to avoid deforestationt:Lessons learned and factors for success A review for the SHARP partnership Insaidoo, T.F.G, 2013. Forest Governance Arrangements and Innovations for Improving the Contribution of Ghana’s Reforestation Schemes to Local Livelihoods. Ph.D. Thesis, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, 2013. Forestry Service Division (FSD) of Forestry Commission (FC), 2014. National Forest Plantation Development Programme. Annual Report 2013. Forestry Commission and Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources Forest Trends, Katoomba Group and UNEP 2008. Payment for Ecosystems Services-Getting started, A Primer Fisher, B. et al. 2008. Ecosystem Services and Economic Theory: Integration for policy-relevant research. Ecological Applications, 18(8), 2050–2067 Höhne ,N., Ellermann, C., Lina Li, L. 2014. Intended Nationally Determined Contributions under UNFCCC. Project number: CLIDE14935 Kalame, F.B.; Aidoo, R.; Nkem, J.; Ajayie, O.C.; Kanninen, M.; Luukkanen, O.; Idinoba, M. 2011. Modified taungya system in Ghana: A win-win practice for forestry and adaptation to climate change? Environmental Science Policy , 14, 529–530 Ros-Tonen, M. A.F., Derkyi, M., Insaidoo, T.F.G, 2014. From Co-Management to Landscape Governance: Whither Ghana’s Modified Taungya System? Forest, 5, 2996-3021.