Forestry Policies

Ghana has the best forest policies in West Africa with regard to sustainable resource management. At the turn of the last century, long term plans for the management of Forest Reserves were already in place and even today there are elaborate management systems on the ground.

Samartex has received SGS certification indicating that the Company has complied fully with Ghanaian logging standards and certifying that Samartex complies with Chain of Custody standards in its lumber and plywood production. No other company in West Africa has achieved this high standard.

Samartex makes extensive use of information technology like Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) for all planning decisions to reduce negative impacts of logging for the concession areas.

Beside this Forest Reserve Management, which covers areas where commercial timber extraction is allowed, there is an Off-Reserve Strategy for areas that would otherwise see extensive destruction through “slash & burn” activities.