Plantation Establishment

Introduction

World demand for certified wood products is growing exponentially, making sustainable forestry an increasingly interesting investment opportunity. Commercial forest plantations have been successfully developed in Central and South America, yet Africa's huge potential has remained virtually undeveloped.

The government of Ghana has a presidential policy to provide incentives for investors to contribute to reforestation of so called degraded Forest Reserves which are managed by Ghana's Forestry Commission (FC).

Timber companies in Ghana who have logging rights (Timber Utilization Contracts) are obliged to plant trees in degraded areas to replace every tree logged. These legal requirements can be linked to the clear long term investment benefits of commercial forest plantations, provided that the plantations are established in a sustainable and sound manner.

FORM International has comprehensively researched Ghana's potential for sustainable forestry since 1999. Conditions are favourable: vast areas suitable for reforestation, a well developed wood processing industry (better than in South America!), a solid infrastructure (main roads, ports) and a very supportive Government.

Nevertheless, there are no substantial investment experiences in commercial forest plantations, although long term lease contracts are embedded in national legislation. The ailing reputation of the industry in Africa and the lack of proper large scale plantation management expertise and experience make investors defer to other continents.

FORM Ghana has started such substantial investments in 2007 in a thorough manner through the establishment of high-quality teak plantations and a commercial scale nursery located in Akumadan, Ashanti region.

FORM Ghana's experts now offer their expertise for forest plantation establishment to timber companies and other institutions who wish to establish forest plantations.

Through this service FORM Ghana assists the client in exploring site suitability for reforestation on sites suggested by the client and in together making the establishment of the plantation to a success.

Target group

This service is intended for forest plantation companies and reforestation project developers, from small to large size, who require assistance with the establishment of their plantations.

This service is tailored to clients who wish to establish plantations in degraded Forest Reserves throughout Ghana. However, this service can be adjusted to other countries and specific circumstances as well.

FORM's experience

FORM's expertise with reforestation and plantation establishment goes back to over a decade. Experiences were drawn mainly from West-Africa (Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Ghana).

With the experience FORM Ghana's experts have accumulated over the years and our high-quality teak plantations and commercial scale nursery FORM Ghana is fully equipped and capable of providing state-of-the-art, tailor made plantation establishment services at sharp rates.

In addition, with the production of plants in FORM Ghana's nursery at Akumadan, the client will be assured of the use of high-quality planting stock of the desired provenances.

Contents of the service

The objective of this service is the realisation of a forest plantation project in a degraded Forest Reserve.

This offered service will consist of the following:

Selection of a suitable site
Soil research
Sensitisation of the population
Establishment of a reforestation plan
Selection of species to be planted
Production of plants
Training of plantation personnel
Site preparation
Planting of the site
Regular control to verify the management is done correctly

These activities will take a period of 12 months, after which the plantation staff, led by company's own plantation manager, will be able to manage the newly established plantation independently.

Activities

The activities for the establishment of the plantation can be split up in three phases and several steps:

Preparation phase

Selection of several suitable lands for the pilot project

FORM will inventory the site selected by the client to establish which species can be grown and whether there are any specific reasons to avoid using the site. Based on this a go - no go decision on the project can quickly be taken.

Soil survey (by Soil Research Institute Ghana)

If the area seems suitable, a soil analysis will be performed to further specify which species can be expected to perform well on the site. This analysis may suggest certain fertiliser to be used.

Final selection of terrain for the project

Based on the information from the studies mentioned above, FORM and the client will discuss whether the possibilities of the terrain are convenient for the client.

Agreement with the Forestry Comission (FC) and/or landowners (by client)

FORM Ghana will assist the client, where necessary, in obtaining a land lease to the area indicated for planting. It should be noted that a land lease will take time.

Demarcation of the assigned area by Forest Services Division (FSD)

FORM Ghana will assist the client in the negotiations with the Forestry Commission, so the area will be duly demarcated.

Hiring of personnel, procurement of equipment and tools

FORM will assist the client with the selection of personnel and of the tools and equipment to be acquired. The equipment used for the plantation establishment can be supplied by FORM, but the client may whish to procure this. The tools for the maintenance of the plantation will always have to be procured by the client.

Training of personnel

FORM will train the personnel on the site in Akumadan so the personnel is fully equipped for the work.

Establishment phase

Construction of an access road, a fire belt and in-roads

Unless roads already exist FORM Ghana proposes to open up a road network to facilitate planting and later management operation. These roads are simple of construction, and serve only as access roads.

Reclamation

Reclamation of the terrain is done through the felling of unwanted shrubs and trees. Trees of a protected status will stay in place, but hindering vegetation such as teak coppice will be felled and killed so a good new plantation can be established.

Weeding

After the reclamation has been done the terrain is ploughed (as far as possible) and weeded. Weeds are suppressed by the careful application of round-up. This insures reduced maintenance costs after plantation establishment.

Delimitation of the plots and blocks

The terrain, once prepared, is divided in quadrants and hectare blocks for easy administration. The quadrants are surrounded by inroads.

Pegging

Prior to planting the positions of the trees are laid out. This is done at a pre-determined spacing. At the position where a tree will be planted a peg is placed.

Procurement of planting material

Plants produced at the FORM's Akumadan nursery will be prepared for transport.

Planting

Plants are distributed in the various quadrants of the plantation in preparation for planting. The work force is gathered and an explanation is given on the way the planting has to be done. The plants are distributed and planting done.

Maintenance phase

Refill ("Beating up")

After the completion of planting, the trees will be allowed to grow during the rest of the first rainy season. During the first dry season the trees that did not survive are inventoried and replaced during the second rainy season.

Second and third weeding

Soon after planting weeds start growing. As we do not wish to use herbicides which may also kill the trees, manual weeding is to be done. This should be done twice during the rains and a last time at the beginning of the dry season to reduce the risk of fire.

Planning / Time schedule

The whole planning depends on the start of the rainy season in the area of the site. Supposing the main rainy season starts by the end of April, the time schedule would look as follows:

Period	Description
January- February	Selection of sites
	Soil survey
	Final site selection
	Agreement with FC/landowner
	Demarcation by FSD
	Hiring personnel, equipment
February - March	Construction roads, fire belt
	Reclamation
	1st weeding
	Delimitation plots and blocks
	Pegging
April - May - June	Provision planting material from Akumadan nursery
	Planting
August	2nd weeding
September	Refill ("beating up")
November	3rd weeding

Benefits for the client

Forest plantation establishment through a proven, successful concept with the highest technical standards available.

Fast and thorough dealing with legal, social and bureaucratic aspects through the expertise and network of FORM Ghana.

Access to high-quality planting material of carefully selected provenances with known performance and required treatments.

Establishment cost reduction and improved efficiency through FORM Ghana's structured approach, based on experience, technical expertise and support from FORM Ghana's facilities and infrastructure.

The establishment of a sustainable, commercial plantation guided by FORM Ghana has very good perspectives to attract (foreign) investors, provided that commercial perspectives are positive, about which FORM's experts can give professional judgement.