Context
Biomass represents 39% of the energy consumption in Ghana. Approximately 30 million cubic meters of firewood and charcoal per year are consumed in Ghana. This corresponds to 85% of the wood extracted. Meanwhile, the demand in the cities for charcoal is rising, which has a higher calorific value as firewood. It is expected that population growth, especially in the cities, and economic development will increase the demand for charcoal by 2050 to 2.8 million tons. Thus, the high demand of wood for cooking and charcoal production is a key driver for forest degradation. The ownership and use rights for the natural forest areas are often unclear and uncontrolled and illegal logging for charcoal production is now threatening valuable and rare tree species.
Objective
Through the sustainable production and efficient use of energy wood, forests in selected regions in Ghana will be preserved and restored, thus contributing to the implementation of the national climate policy and to the improvement of the framework conditions for sustainable forest management and energy supply.
Approach
The project, commissioned by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), supports the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and other partner institutions in Ghana in restoring forest landscapes together with small entrepreneurs and organised producer groups from several communities. The project envisages measures in six fields of action: (1) Reforestation of 300 ha of degraded land for sustainable energy wood production; (2) Rehabilitation of 700 ha of degraded natural forest; (3) Introduction of energy-efficient technologies for charcoal production and use e.g. through efficient charcoal kilns and cooking stoves; (4) development of recommendations on how to integrate sustainable wood energy production, rehabilitation of natural forests and efficient use of energy wood into ongoing processes of change/revision of energy and climate-relevant strategies; (5) implementation of two feasibility studies in West African countries regarding the application of the approach developed in Ghana and feeding project experience into regional exchange platforms; (6) policy advice on feeding project results into the national REDD+ and NDC process;
Results
In cooperation with its partners, the project should contribute to the following achievements:
(1) 300 ha of degraded areas have been afforested with fast-growing local tree species and are being used sustainably for the supply of energy wood.
(2) 700 ha of degraded natural forest have been rehabilitated with suitable local tree species and are managed sustainably.
(3) In four selected municipalities, charcoal producers and charcoal users are implementing additional measures recommended by the project to improve the energy-efficient use of energy wood.
(4) The experiences will be fed into the implementation of national climate policy and contribute to improving the political and institutional framework conditions for sustainable wood energy and the restoration of forest landscapes.
(5) The results are disseminated at regional and international level.
(6) The measures support the positioning of Ghana in the international REDD+ negotiations and the Bonn Challenge as well as the achievement of the NDCs of Ghana.