K.S. Nketiah Tropenbos International Ghana

1. Promoting good governance through participation and consensus building K.S. Nketiah Tropenbos International Ghana

2. Outline • Forestry situation in Ghana • Forestry sector governance challenges • The domestic market situation in Ghana • The VPA in Ghana • The MSD Process • How and why it has been set up • Achievements so far • Next Steps • Challenges ahead • Lessons learnt from MSD Process

3. Forests in Ghana • Located on the West Coast of Africa • Total land area of 238,537 km2 • 34% of land area ‘forests’ • 20% of forest area gazetted as forest reserves • Population: 24 million • Estimated rate of deforestation: 3%

4. Current Forest Condition Less than 2% of the current system of 216 HFZ forest reserves have escaped human disturbance

5. Forestry sector governance challenges • Formal timber sector concentrates on exports • Problematic domestic timber sub-sector • Sporadic enforcement of ban on chainsaw milling • Prevalence of conflict • Poor general governance regime • Eventual collapse of the forestry sector

6. The domestic market situation in Ghana • High incidence of illegal CSM; supplying over 84% of local lumber with an estimated volume of 497,000m³ (equiv. to 2.5 million m³ of harvest) • Direct employment (about 97,000 people) and indirect livelihood opportunities (over 650,000 people) • Loss of revenue to the state - about €13 million stumpage revenue annually, useful man hours by Forestry Commission & law enforcement agencies • High level of conflict associated with illegal CSM • Strong support of local communities for illegal CSM

7. The Ghana VPA • Decision of Ghana to include the domestic market • Final ratification took place in November, 2009 • Progress of implementation so far

8. Potential impacts of strict enforcement with VPA • Increasing conflict • Decrease in timber supply to the domestic market • Loss of jobs and loss of livelihood support • Collapse of forest-based enterprises e.g. carpentry shops, wood villages/markets and charcoal production • Increase in poverty levels especially in rural areas

9. Benefits of VPA process • The VPA has really put the spotlight on domestic timber market issues. • VPA is also a driver of change. • The VPA has brought the precarious state of the timber resources into sharp focus. • Up-scaled the space for multi-stakeholder participation in policy processes

10. Potential impacts of the VPA incl. policy reforms • The VPA offers an opportunity to address governance issues in a comprehensive way • Addressing the domestic market • Fiscal discipline • FPIC • etc • However, the VPA by itself cannot ensure SFM

11. The MSD and good governance • MSD is a good way to address complex issues with a range of competing claims and expectations • It helps bridge differences in perceptions of diverse stakeholders • It helps consensus building • The role of MSD in the VPA process • Status of MSD vis-a-vis the VPA • How outcomes influence VPA decisions

12. Objectives of MSD as per TBI Gh. The MSD Platform was established to • provide a mechanism for stakeholders to interact, participate in and influence national policy processes and outcomes • examine issues based on information in a structured dialogue that mitigates existing levels of conflict between stakeholders • provide a more effective pathway for sharing perspectives of issues and solutions of CSM • discuss alternatives to illegal CSM

13. Establishing the MSD

14. The Multi-stakeholder Dialogue

15. Process Managed by an MSD Steering Committee representing stakeholder groups

16. Building Linkages

17. Actions from MSD Transition to artisanal milling Alternative livelihoods Policy reform

18. Achievements: Policy options Three policy options based on a case study, the regional meeting and the technical committee discussions: • Sawmills alone to supply the local market with legal timber • Sawmills and artisanal millers to supply the local with legal timber • Artisanal millers alone to supply the local market with legal timber

19. Other achievements and further actions • Necessary conditions/implications of each option analysed and discussed by the MSD • Option 2 has been agreed upon by 'consensus‘ and jointly with the TIDD process • A cost-benefit analysis carried out to further inform stakeholders of implications of certain choices • Policy for supplying legal lumber to domestic market as well as public procurement policy now in place • Elaboration of actions for operationalising the policy strategies in progress

20. Success factors for the MSD • True representation of stakeholders • Information (about the problems, drivers, impacts and alternatives etc.): understanding the intensity of the problem. • All-inclusive stakeholder participation. • Good facilitation skills (capacity) • Capacity of stakeholders to participate effectively in the dialogue. • Scope for institutional embedding and linkages • Adoption of adaptive management principles

21. Success factors cont’d • Strong feedback mechanism • The alignment with the VPA implementation processes and the active participation of the FC in the project gives the process a lot of leverage in Ghana. • Support by the EU

22. Challenges in MSD • How to deal with vested interests and unwilling elements • Getting on-board powerful stakeholders whose interests may be affected • Securing a win-win situation for all stakeholders • Securing the necessary political will • Dynamics of national politics • Power imbalances between stakeholders • Keeping pace with national processes

23. Lessons learnt • A successful dialogue depends on trust • Equitable participation demands time, resources and good facilitation skills • The design of the MSD process takes time • ensuring fair representation of stakeholders • sufficient feedback mechanisms • opportunities for the “voiceless” to contribute to the discussion • Collaboration with other forest policy development initiatives is necessary for impact

24. Concluding Remarks • Significance of what has happened • Is the Ghana experience unique or transplantable? • Any lessons for other countries (esp. DRC) from this experience?

25. THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION