By Issah Mohammed, GNA
Accra, Aug. 14, GNA – About 1,000 community representatives are being trained to improve transparency and accountability in managing benefits from timber harvesting in forest-fringe communities.
The training involves members of Social Responsibility Agreement (SRA) committees from 150 communities and is scheduled to run from July to October.
Mr Albert Katako, Head of Programmes at Civic Response and a training facilitator, said the programme was aimed at helping communities understand their rights and responsibilities and hold duty-bearers accountable.
“So the training is about letting communities know what their rights and responsibilities are and what the rights and responsibilities of other stakeholders in the forestry sector are,” he said.
The training is being organised by Civic Response under the project, “Support for the Implementation of Social Responsibility Agreements in Ghana’s Forestry Sector – Enhancing SRA Implementation in Ghana”, with support from the EU FLEGT Programme.
SRAs are intended to ensure that communities affected by timber harvesting benefit from logging activities through community development projects.
The agreements represent five per cent of stumpage fees and constitute the only direct financial benefit collectively allocated to the affected communities.
Mr Katako said participants had reported positive changes in communities where similar training had been conducted, including improved compliance by timber companies with their SRA obligations.
He said the training also equipped participants with skills to use mobile phones to document and report suspected illegal activities in forest areas to the Forestry Commission.
Mr Katako said stronger community participation was critical to improving governance in the forestry sector and ensuring that stakeholders benefited from a transparent system.
Some participants said the training had exposed weaknesses in the management and distribution of SRA funds.
Mr Hayford Duodu, Chairman of the SRA Committee for the Jomoro community, said community representatives often lacked access to information on the amounts paid by timber companies, making it difficult to verify whether beneficiary communities received their fair share.
“As to whether that was the actual amount which was brought by the contractor or not, you don’t know and you don’t see it,” he said.
Mr Duodu said the knowledge gained from the training would enable community leaders to demand greater transparency and use the Right to Information Act to obtain records on SRA payments and their distribution.
The training forms part of broader efforts to improve compliance with SRAs, which received legal backing in 2017 through Legislative Instrument (LI) 2254.
Compliance with SRAs also forms part of Ghana’s Timber Legality Assurance System under the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreement framework.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
Reporter: Issah Mohammed
[email protected]
