Akyawkrom (Ash), Aug.9, GNA- Wood products exported last year, fetched the country 177.8 million dollars representing about 11 percent of its total export earnings, Professor Dominic Fobih, Minister of Lands and Forestry, said on Friday.

He, however, noted that the industry could generate four to five times the current export revenue if it improved on efficiency by reducing wastage in logging and processing.

Professor Fobih was addressing an extra-ordinary general meeting of the Ghana Timber Association (GTA) at the Wood Industries Training Centre (WITC) at Akyawkrom in the Ejisu-Juaben District of Ashanti. The Minister expressed concern about illegal timber activities by both chainsaw operators and some GTA members and said the trend if allowed unchecked, could undermine the long-term sustainability of the industry and lead to severe dislocations of the economy.

It is estimated that the industry is sourcing approximately, one million cubic metres of logs illegally.

Professor Fobih warned of stiffer sanctions against those caught engaging in the practice.

He said his Ministry was also concerned about the "ridiculously low prices paid to loggers by Millers in the country", and asked members of the GTA to enter into formal contracts with buyers of their logs before harvesting is carried out.

This, he explained, would ensure that log price transactions are formally negotiated and regularised for fairness to prevail between loggers and millers.

Professor Fobih said the forest inventory results showed that a number of lesser-used and unknown timber species (IUS) were available in commercial quantities.

He, therefore, urged the GTA to focus more on harvesting those species for processing by the tertiary industry whose operations are geared towards downstream processing of the primary and endangered timber species.

He called for greater co-operation among the timber associations in order to maximise the utilisation of the limited resources. The Minister asked the loggers to take advantage of the various incentives provided by the government to promote sustainable forest plantation development in the country.

Mr J.A. Armah, President of the Association, appealed to the Ministry to help source funding for the establishment of local log markets in all the regions and said this could come from the Export Development Investment Fund (EDIF).

The establishment of those markets, he said, could improve on log pricing.

Mr Armah spoke of the need for a revisit of the ban on round logs since there are many LUS that are being destroyed by farmers during land clearing.