Story by Prince Owusu Senior
Forest-fringe communities are calling for greater transparency and accountability in the management and distribution of funds under Social Responsibility Agreements (SRAs).
They say they are often not given adequate information on the amounts paid by timber contractors.
The call was made at a training workshop organised by Civic Response Ghana for community SRA committees in Accra.
Speaking at the workshop, Head of Programmes at Civic Response Ghana, Albert Katako, said since the training programme began in 2017, several communities have reported positive changes.
He said, “the timber companies are now fulfilling their rights. However, I must acknowledge the role of the Forestry Commission in this because the process they are using now requires timber companies to pay their SRAs up front, even before they start logging. So whether they like it or not, they have to do it because SRA enforcement has become a critical part of the forest sector law, especially for timber companies. If you don’t fulfil your SRA obligations, you cannot trade in timber, locally or internationally”.
Mr. Katako added that, “moving on, we are exporting what we call flag licence to the EU countries and SRA is one of the requirements. Now we want to monitor how things are going on with this new development, look at compliance with enforcement, how the Forestry Commission is actually dealing with illegalities that are found and how the perpetrators are punished. It is not only for perpetrators but also the staff of the Forestry Commission who are accomplices to some of these things”.
A representative of the Jomoro community and participant in the training, Hayford Dodoo, identified lack of transparency in the management and distribution of SRA funds as a major challenge.
He said, “you will be there in the community and your cheque will come in. Whatever amount is stated on it, we just take it. As to whether that was the actual amount which was brought by the timber contractor or not, we don’t know and you don’t see it. And when you go to the bank for the statement, they will tell you that you are not a beneficiary to the SRA central committee so they will not be able to share it. Because of that, most of us realized that we are being cheated”.
Social Responsibility Agreements (SRAs) are intended to ensure that forest-fringe communities within a five-kilometre radius of logging areas benefit from five per cent of the stumpage fees paid by timber companies.
The funds generated are often considered insufficient for direct distribution, they are largely used to finance community development projects.
Against this backdrop, Civic Response Ghana is organising a series of training sessions to empower forest-fringe communities to understand and assert their rights, as well as the responsibilities of stakeholders in the forestry sector.
The training, being held in batches, is expected to equip nearly one thousand SRA committee members from 150 forest-fringe communities across Ghana with the knowledge and skills to identify rights violations, seek redress and demand compliance with SRA obligations by timber companies.
Community monitors are also being trained to use their mobile phones to document and report suspected illegal activities in forest areas.
The training programme, which began in July, is expected to be completed in October this year.
