FOREST SERVICES DIVISION (FSD)

FUNCTIONS

  • Protects, manages and develops forest resources in the national interest for the benefits of owners.
  • Establishing planning systems for the protection, harvesting and development of the forest reserves in a sustainable manner;
  • Provides management and technical services with regards to matters of protection, management and development of the forest resources.
  • Promotes public awareness, understanding and support for the forest resources conversation;
  • Regulate the harvesting of the forest resources;
  • Facilitate the development plantation.

OFFICES:

  • FSD operate 16 Regional offices that conform to the political and administrative regional boundaries. The forest regions are classified into High Forest Zones, (NSZ).
  • The HFZ consists of 36 forest district while the NSZ comprises of 12 forest districts. The forest districts cut across the political and administrative boundaries. The regional offices are headed by Regional Forest Managers.

FOREST RESERVES:

There are 266 gazetted forest reserves, 204 of which occupy 1.6 million hectares (Ha) in the end of December 2017 in the savanna zone, covering 0.6 ha. Forest reserves are divided into production, protection, conversion and research area in keeping with Ghana’s policy towards environmental conversation.

FOREST PLANTATIONS:

In the area of plantation development, the Division has established a total area of 192, 654 ha, as at the end of December 2017, main under the auspices of the National Forest Plantation Development Programme (NFPDP), which aims at establishing 625,000 ha, of forest plantation by 2040 (25,000 per annum) through public and private sector participation.

The strategy also seeks to establish 100,000 ha of enrichment planting within degraded forest reserves; support the incorporation of trees- on – farm within the 3.75 million ha of agricultural land-scape and undertake maintenance/ rehabilitation of an estimated 235,000 ha, of existing forest plantations.

GLOBALLY SIGNIFICANT BIOLOGICAL AREAS (GSBA)

Thirty (30) forest reserves covering a total area of 1,034.52km in the HFZ have been designated as Globally Significant Biological Areas (GSBA).