Background
 
Vision 2050 Forestry was established about two decades ago as a community-based non-governmental organization (NGO) in the Kwaebibrim district of Ghana. The objective then was to sensitize residents of the local communities, particularly farmers, about the negative consequences of uncontrolled exploitation of forest resources. Recognizing that the plight of tropical forests and the people who live there attract very little or no attention from officialdom, and the fact that one of the root causes of deforestation is poverty, VISION 2050 Forestry began to pilot a reforestation and an agro-forestry project as a poverty reduction strategy. The outcome of this initial thrust includes a thriving reforestation project in the Jamepesewa, Kobriso, Bamenase St. Dominic Hospital, and Number Five communities in the Kwaebibirim district. 

Vision 2050 Forestry further recognizes that forests play a very important role in sustaining human and animal life. For example, they house over 60% of the world’s biodiversity and provide human beings many products such as food, medicine, fuel, lumber, etc. Aside from the numerous products that can be obtained from the forests, they also play very important ecological roles by preventing soil erosion, protecting watersheds, controlling stream and water flows, regulating atmospheric conditions, and preventing floods and landslides. These positive attributes notwithstanding, deforestation remains one of the most serious environmental challenges of our time.

The Carbon Credit Project-Ghana

At independence, Ghana inherited a total forest cover of about 8.2 million hectares. Current estimates indicate that the country’s forest cover has shrunk to 1.6 million hectares. And the experts predict that at the current annual forest loss in the neighborhood of about 65,000 hectares, Ghana’s forest cover will be extinct in less than 25 years! It will require a massive effort from the public sector, the immediate consumers of forest products, and those directly responsible for their removal, to achieve a halt and reversal of the wanton destruction of the country’s forest cover. There are many causes of deforestation; indeed they vary widely from one location to the other. In most parts of Ghana, deforestation is caused mainly by logging (both legal and illegal), unsustainable agricultural practices (e.g. slash and burn), bush fires, and other human and natural disasters, etc. All these can be tackled, but it is unlikely that we will ever get rid of deforestation altogether. However, so long as we are able to replace what has already been lost and manage the little that is left on a sustainable basis, the problem can be addressed. Well-managed woodlands can actually grow whilst supplying timber on a commercially viable scale!

The government of Ghana is not oblivious of the many consequences of deforestation on the economy of the country and the general well-being of the citizenry. Some of the effects deforestation and attendant environmental degradation are being felt all over the country. Crop yields are dwindling, while once robust, perennial streams are drying up.  The implication of this phenomenon on the current food security situation in the country is legion. It is against this background that Vision 2050 Forestry conceived the Carbon Credit Project-Ghana.

Our Goal

National poverty reduction strategies, together with the development aid that supports them, tend to exclude forest programmes. Yet the FAO estimates that over 300 million people in the developing world, including 60 million people classed as indigenous, live within or close to tropical forests, and are heavily dependent on forest products for their livelihoods -- - food, fuel and medicine. In Ghana, the majority of these people fall into the category of extreme poor whose plight the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (UN MDGs) are supposed to address. Therefore, the primary goal of the Carbon Credit Project-Ghana is to eradicate poverty by developing, and sustaining an effective system of forest extension and public education to ensure greater awareness, appreciation, and management of forests with regard to the multiple roles and values of trees, forests and forest lands.

Our Objectives

Ultimately, the project will assist the Government and people of Ghana to:

• Reclaim degraded forest of the country by planting 450 million trees over a five year period and thereby improve the climatic conditions for both food production and good health.
• Reduce poverty in the rural communities by opening up avenues for employment creation in consonance with both the Ghana government policy of poverty reduction in line with goal number one of the UN Millennium Development Goals.
• Help save river bodies which have been destroyed as a result of wanton destruction of forests in the catchment areas.
• Prevent the occurrence of seasonal droughts and famines, and their concomitant health implications.
• Help decongest the country’s urban centers by stimulating urban-rural migration.

Beneficiaries

The direct beneficiaries of the project are the numerous small/medium-scale farmers who have already bought or will buy into the ‘new’ concept of tree farming, as they receive planting materials and technical advice at no cost, and also observe significant increases in their farm output and incomes. Ultimately, entire communities, the District Assemblies, the nation, and the entire global community, for that matter, will benefit through preservation of water bodies, reduction in soil degradation and atmospheric carbon, and general improvement in the natural environment.

Our Strategy

The Carbon Credit Project-Ghana has developed an elaborate strategy to prosecute the agenda of ‘greening’ Ghana. The strategy involves establishment of land banks; sensitization/education of rural communities and other stakeholders; establishment of nurseries; provision of technical backstopping and small incentives; and resource mobilization through networking and partnerships with like-minded individuals and institutions, including corporate bodies, non-governmental organizations, the public sector and the donor community.

Land Banks

The project has already secured a total of 50,000 hectares of land at various locations in the country to serve as land banks for prospective participants who do not have land of their own to use for the project. Efforts are underway to acquire additional 50,000 hectares to bring the total to 100,000 hectares through network registration. The objective here is to remove one of the major bottlenecks of individuals and group of individuals who desire to participate in the project but do not own or do not have easy access to land in the target areas.   

Education / sensitization

The thrust of the project’s education programmes is to create general awareness about the dangers of deforestation, and to sensitize farmers and rural community dwellers to view reforestation as an important income-generating or poverty-alleviation activity. In this regard, knowledgeable resource persons are usually recruited to share information during the sensitization meetings and workshops. In addition, at no cost to the farmers, a total of 16 field officers provide the necessary extension and technical backstopping services such as lining, fertilization, pruning etc, required to ensure that the trees are planted and nurtured into full maturity. At the appropriate time, the education/sensitization programmes and other project activities will be extended to schools in the participating communities to enhance long-term sustainability of the project 
 

Nurseries

Carbon Credit project-Ghana has already established five plant nurseries at strategic locations in the Western, Volta, Ashanti, and Eastern Regions of Ghana, from where planting materials are supplied to participating farmers. Efforts are far advanced to establish another nursery at Adidome in the Volta Region to produce planting materials for participating farmers from the southern part of the region. The nurseries are at Agona and Kofiase in the Ashanti Region, Dompem in the Western Region, Asato and Apro Kumasi in the Volta and Eastern Regions, respectively. Each of the nurseries has the potential to produce a minimum of one million seedlings at any given time and provides employment for an average of ten persons, mostly women.

 
Special Programmes

Elaborate programmes have been developed under the project to meet individual/group/institutional needs and capabilities. Some of the programmes are summarized below: 

(a) Adult Programmme

Carbon Credit Project-Ghana classifies people above 18 years of age as adults. All adults who possess land are provided with 100 seedlings each to plant and nurture. A registration fee of GH¢25.00 is charged per adult as contribution towards the cost of seedlings and the services of project staff who provide technical assistance / backstopping to nurture the tree. A passbook has been provided for each beneficiary in which annual registration renewal fee of GH¢25.00 is recorded.

Adults who wish to enroll but do not have land of their own to grow the treeeferred to as absentee farmers are allocated 100 seedlings each. These seedlings will, however, be planted on a plot on the land banks created by Vision 2050 Forestry for this purpose. These seedlings will be coded specifically for each farmer to facilitate easy identification. All absentee farmers will pay a registration fee of GH¢25.00 and an indirect planting and documentation fee of GH¢ 25.00 to cover additional services provided. All adults, both landed and absentee, are expected to renew their registration annually at a fee of GH¢ 25.00.

Trees planted remain the bonafide property of the beneficiaries who, may decide to use them as collateral for loans from the Carbon Credit Fund. As a collateral for loan, each tree attracts a fixed face value of GH¢100.00.
 
(b) Children’s Programme

The project classifies all people under 18 as children. Under the children’s programme, parents are provided with a minimum 50 seedlings per child to plant after payment of a registration fee of GH¢10.00. Following this, a certificate with inscription “Educational Fund of the Green Revolution” is issued to each registered child. A child whose parents do not have a piece of land of their own can access land from any of on Vision 2050 Forestry’s land bank for an extra fee of GH¢10.00.

In either case, a certificate will be issued to the child, which will entitle him/her to benefit from a Children’s Educational Fund. Under the fund, each tree is valued at GH¢100.00 after five years. Therefore, an amount of GH¢5,000, representing the 50 trees planted today will be made available after five years to support the child’s education.

(c) VIP Programme

An individual who signs up as an absentee farmer under the VIP programme is expected to plant a minimum of 4,000 trees on a plot allocated from Vision 2050 Forestry land bank at a cost of GHc10.00 per mature tree. Payment of the total cost for the 4,000 trees is spread over a period of 5 years at zero percent interest.  The beneficiary VIP absentee farmer is provided with a signed site plan and an indenture for the land on which the plantation has been established as evidence of a completed transaction under the VIP programme. The registration fee for the VIP programme is GHc 100.00. About 100 people across five regions in Ghana have so far expressed interest to sign up for the VIP programme. 

Current activities

As at the end of August 2009, a combined total of 146,320 individuals / farm families, comprising 30,140 women, 98,622 men, 17,588 children from five regions of Ghana had registered to participate in the project’s core activity of growing trees on degraded forest lands. Each registered adult member has planted a minimum of one hundred trees while the children have directly planted or have had planted on their behalf a minimum of 50 trees. Thus, a minimum of 13,754,100 exotic (cidrela) and a variety of indigenous trees (odum, wawa, asanfona, etc) have so far been planted. Table 1 provides a summary of current membership by region and gender.

The way forward

For the short term, the project will consolidate the modest successes it has chalked so far, and intensify its education and sensitization activities in the five regions in order to attract more people to sign up. Groups and individuals who have already signed up and have planted trees will be encouraged and supported with the necessary incentive packages to double their acreage under trees. Also, they will be encouraged to form groups / cooperatives as a first step towards accessing institutionalized support / credit to enhance their activities.

In the medium to long-term, the project will shift focus to the Brong Ahafo and the three northern regions of Ghana. As usual, the starting point will be a series of visits to the regions to meet and educate / sensitize the people followed by the establishment of tree nurseries at strategic locations in the regions. It is in this light that the project seeks the collaboration and support (both financial and material) from like-minded individuals, public and corporate bodies as well as donor organizations. Come and join us in our effort to ‘re- green’ Ghana.

Staff

Carbon Credit Project-Ghana currently employs 82 persons, comprising 16 technical /managerial, 7 support/secretarial and 54 casual staff.
 
Project Advisory Board

Mr. Yaw Sarpong (CIMA UK), Chairman
Nana Otuo Acheampong (Kofiasehene)
Dr. D. E. K. Siaw (Forester)
Mr. Kojo Sam.  (Barrister-at-Law)
Prof. K. Acheampong (Consultant)  

Ex-officio member

Dr. Frank Kofi Frempong(CEO)

For more information, contact:

 Dr. Frank Kofi Frempong (CEO) 0244 608 012
 Prof. K. Acheampong (Consultant) 021779266