In recent years, however, producer and consumer countries alike have paid increasing attention to illegal logging. In 2003 the EU adopted an Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) to address these problems. The Action Plan combines measures in producer and consumer countries to facilitate trade in legal timber, and eliminate illegal timber from trade with the European Union (EU).
WWF-WAFPO’s FLEGT/VPA project sought to provide technical support to Government of Ghana’s negotiating team in the VPA negotiating process with the European Union. It also created and continues to create an enabling environment for active involvement of civil society players in the process by providing a platform for which players could share ideas and contribute to the process. Ghana’s VPA has since September 2008 been signed. With the signing of the VPA in Ghana, the project seeks to contribute to forest management by monitoring and reporting on the processes and disseminating information to stakeholders.
WWF-WAFPO’s FLEGT/VPA project will continue to provide avenues for civil society groups in the forestry sector to continually make inputs into forest governance in particular and the sustainable management of forest resources in Ghana in general.