Ghana hosts 4th World Teak Conference

General News on Friday, July 26, 2019

Source: GNA

2019-07-26

The Forestry Commission has been chosen to host the Fourth World Teak Conference to discuss issues of teak production and marketing in emerging economies.

This is the first time that the conference is taking place in an African country, the previous three having taken place in countries of Asia and Latin America.

The conference will also focus on the current state of knowledge and future challenges for the sustainable development of the global teak sector in a changing world.

In this sense, the Forestry Commission has inaugurated a 13-member Local Organizing Committee for the Conference to be held in Ghana from 24 to 27 August 2020.

The event is organized jointly by the International Teak Information Network, in collaboration with the Forestry Commission, the International Tropical Timber Organization (Japan) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations .

At the inauguration of the committee, Mr. Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, Director General of the Forestry Commission, urged the committee to define a detailed strategy to make the conference a success.

He is committed to providing ongoing support and resources to the committee, comprised of members from academia, the private sector and the government, to carry out this task.

Beyond Asia, Ghana has the largest area of ​​teak in the world.

Mr. John Allotey, Deputy Director General of the Forestry Commission and Chair of the Committee, pledged that members would be ready to project the image of Ghana on the world stage.

He expressed the gratitude of the members to the Director General for the confidence they had been given in working on the committee.

The Fourth World Teak Conference (WTC) focuses on the theme "Global Teak Market: Challenges and Opportunities for Emerging Markets and Developing Economies".

In Ghana, teak constitutes about 70% of all forest plantation species.

Topics covered include teak plantations, adding value, marketing and improving rural livelihoods, tree improvement, genetics, silviculture and stand management.