Ghana: Lessons Learnt

The 2009 Report Card and its impacts

The publication of the first report card for 2009 on transparency in the forest sector in Ghana was received by many stakeholders with considerable interest. The report launch in June 2010 received extensive press review in Ghana. In addition, the report was presented to Environment and Natural Resources sector working group (the platform for policy dialogue between Government and development partners on this sector), following which the Forestry Commission organised a special sub-sector meeting to discuss the implications of the report findings. The Forestry Commission made several observations, including their interest in more indicators covering the issues of wildlife and other non-timber forest products, their desire to see the exercise cover a greater number of regions and districts, and their willingness to collaborate in the compilation of future reports.
In addition, following the 2009 report, other civil society organisations involved in similar governance related work in the forestry sector have agreed to join hands together to expand the coverage of the report. Civic Response under a project called GIRAF (Governance Initiative for Rights and Accountability in Forest Management), which is funded by the EU and implemented by CARE in partnership with other local NGOs, is collecting similar report card data in other districts for inclusion in a joint transparency report.