10/02/2005 – In a groundbreaking
achievement for forest conservation in West
Africa, WWF and Friends of the Earth have
signed an agreement with Samartex Timber and
Plywood Co. Ltd. that will help ensure the
responsible management of primary forests
and valuable wildlife habitat under Samartex
management in the western region of Ghana.
Samartex – a vertically-integrated company
with timber harvesting and sawmill operations
– will implement programs to verify environmental
and social performance across its operations
by seeking credible forest certification on
all of the 159,000 ha. of reserves under its
management.
“Increasingly, discriminating consumers are
demanding forest products that have been produced
according to the most rigorous environmental
and social practices,” said Abraham Baffoe
of Friends of the Earth. “With support from
WWF and Friends of the Earth, Samartex intends
to provide this market with legally and responsibly
produced wood products and assume a leadership
role among companies in Ghana and elsewhere
in Africa.”
This agreement makes Samartex the inaugural
participant of the Ghana Forest & Trade
Network, a part of WWF’s Global Forest &
Trade Network (GFTN), and the first producer
in Ghana to commit to pursue credible certification.
The Ghana Forest & Trade Network – which
aims to provide technical support to build
the capacity of producers to supply legal
and sustainable wood and ultimately reach
certification - is managed by Friends of the
Earth in partnership with WWF. The Ghana Forest
& Trade Network was established with,
and receives support from, the UK Department
for International Development (DFID) and US
Agency for International Development (USAID).
Companies participating in the WWF GFTN commit
to achieve increasingly rigorous levels of
responsible forestry and production practices,
culminating in the achievement of independently-verified,
credible forest certification.
The addition of Samartex to the GFTN completes
a supply chain of GFTN-participating companies
that brings forest products from the forest
floor to the retail shelf. Samartex provides
Sapele, Iroko, Idigbo and Utile, among other
species, to Timbmet Silverman, which in turn
supplies products to Travis Perkins. Timbmet
and Travis Perkins - both members of the UK
Forest & Trade Network of the GFTN – encouraged
Samartex to participate in the GFTN as a means
of satisfying their commitments to procure
forest products from increasingly responsible
sources.
"Our responsible purchasing policies
require that our suppliers provide us with
forest products guaranteed to have originated
in environmentally well-managed forests,"
said Mike Packer, Group Environmental Manager
for Timbmet Silverman. "Producers like
Samartex that are committed to supplying legal
and certified well-managed timber and participate
in WWF's Global Forest & Trade Network
provide an off-the-shelf solution to our immediate
sourcing needs. Timbmet will continue to actively
implement its responsible purchasing policy
and in so doing stimulate the supply of timber
from legal and FSC-certified sources."
With support from the Ghana Forest &
Trade Network, Samartex will implement a moratorium
on logging in primary forests; develop plans
for providing benefits to the communities
that own Samartex-managed concessions; and
achieve certification to the standards of
the Forest Stewardship Council in 2007. This
progress will contribute towards sustainable
management of the forests in the western region
of Ghana and protect species such as forest
elephants, chimpanzees, red colobus monkeys,
and bongos that depend on Samartex-managed
forests for their habitat.
“Samartex believes that sustainable forest
management is an integral element of effective
forest conservation,” said Kurt Dirtz, Managing
Director for Samartex. “By working with WWF
and Friends of the Earth we intend to help
conserve healthy forests, while providing
benefits to local communities and valuable
products to our customers.”
While Samartex is the first official participant
in the Ghana Forest & Trade Network, a
number of other companies have applied to
join. Applicant companies unable to prove
that they hold legally allocated, long term
licenses to harvest timber are not allowed
to join the organization. Participants in
the Ghana Forest & Trade Network receive
assistance in achieving certification for
their forestry and processing operations,
and support with establishing trading links
with GFTN-participating buyers.
Notes to editors:
Samartex is one of the leading forest product
companies in Ghana with average annual sales
of about 17 million euro and a product range
that includes sliced and rotary veneer, sawn
timber, boules, mouldings, and plywood. The
company operates a nationally recognized apprentice
training scheme as well as health and safety
workshops for its 2,500 employees.
The Ghana Forest & Trade Network, managed
by Friends of the Earth in partnership with
WWF, is a part of WWF’s Global Forest &
Trade Network or GFTN. The GFTN is WWF’s initiative
to eliminate illegal logging and improve the
management of valuable and threatened forests.
