Cape Coast, Aug. 8, GNA - More than 107,000 hectares of trees have so far been planted under the Plantation Unit of the Forest Services Division of the Forestry Commission (FC), Mr Dominic Fobih, former Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines announced at the week-end. He said the entire programme employed 46,000 full time and approximately 1.1 million part-time workers countrywide.

This was contained in an address read on his behalf by Mr Ahmed Bin Salih, Chief Director, at the opening of the seventh quadrennial delegates conference of the Timber and Woodworkers Union (TWU) in Cape Coast.

The minister said the programme had made available fertile and productive agricultural lands within degraded forest reserves for farmers to boost food production and ensure food security. He said food production from such areas in 2006 yielded 23,000 metric tons of maize and 850,000 metric tons of plantain, noting that the experience had shown that benefit-sharing was a crucial factor in determining the success or otherwise of plantation development programmes.

Cabinet, he said had approved a new benefit-sharing scheme, which would allow the FC 40 percent of the produce obtained from the plantation areas, 40 percent to the farmer, 15 percent to the landowner and five percent to the local community.

The minister said Cabinet was also considering for approval, a reviewed benefit-sharing scheme for parties engaged in commercial plantation development in degraded forest reserves to ensure equity fair returns to investors as a means of facilitating speedy development of commercial plantations in the country.

Professor Fobih said community participation in forest resource management and protection was also being enhanced through various alternative livelihood schemes instituted through projects that have benefited over 1,000 people within forest fringe communities, noting that to date more than 25 billion cedis had been disbursed to individuals in beneficiary communities for the purpose. He said the depletion of forest resources could not be reversed conclusively without the active participation of important stakeholders like the landowners, communities and other organisations within the timber trade.

Mr Joshua Ansah, General Secretary of TWU announced that the Union acquired 240 hectares of land from the chiefs and elders of Techiman at Kokoago for an afforestation project ten years ago and with support from Swedish Wood and Forestry Union had cultivated 75 hectares with various species of trees. He said the project had been partnered with the local community and the members also enjoyed livelihood and poverty support activities such as beekeeping, mushroom fish and snail farming and seasonal employment on the plantation.

The project according to Mr Ansah was recently evaluated by an international mission from the Building and Woodworkers International , which adjudged it the most sustainable managed union project in Africa and recommended it to sister unions in Mali, Burkina Faso, Kenya and Uganda for adoption. 08 Aug. 07