The Forestry Commission (FC) has hosted Mr. Michael Curcio, West Africa Program Specialist of the United States Forest Service (USFS), as part of a Program Support and Monitoring Mission to Ghana from January 19 to 23, 2026.
The visit forms part of ongoing collaboration between the USFS and FC to strengthen natural resource law enforcement and combat illegal timber trafficking in Ghana and the wider West African sub-region.
The visit to Ghana was undertaken under a partnership between the USFS and FC supported by the United States Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).
It aimed at reviewing ongoing activities under the Anti-Timber Trafficking Project, assessing implementation progress, identifying key challenges, and providing programmatic support to partners and consultants engaged in addressing transboundary timber trafficking.
The Chief Executive (C.E) of Forestry Commission, Dr. Hugh Brown, expressed appreciation to the USFS for the visit and the continued collaboration. He highlighted that the meeting reaffirmed their strong partnership and provided an opportunity to discuss pressing issues affecting the sustainable management of forest resources.
Mr. Curcio indicated that the USFS has received additional funding towards the end of 2025, which is expected to support Anti-Timber Trafficking activities in Ghana and across West Africa through the end of 2026. Adding that potential future areas of cooperation, include international disaster response related to wildfires and flooding, addressing the nexus between illegal mining, environmental degradation, security and trafficking, as well as exploring commercial partnerships focused on value-added processing of Ghana-certified timber.
The meeting served as a platform to outline key areas of planned collaboration for 2026 such as the extension of the USFS partnership to:
Develop automated wood identification capacity for Ghana; Train law enforcement officers in wood identification and the use of timber compliance reference guides;
Digitisation of the timber compliance guides to support near real-time detection of potentially illegal timber shipments.
Establish training for prosecutors handling timber trafficking cases.
The visit further included engagements with the Timber Industry Development Division (TIDD) of FC which allowed the USFS delegation to gain first-hand appreciation of on-the-ground activities, assess implementation challenges, and better understand institutional roles within Ghana’s forestry governance framework.
The Forestry Commission reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening collaboration with the USFS and other international partners to enhance forest governance, promote legal and sustainable timber trade, and address emerging threats to Ghana’s forest resources.
Also present at the meeting were members of the Executive Management Team (EMT) of the FC namely: Dr. Richard Gyimah (Executive Director, TIDD), Dr. Gideon Kofi Sarfo-Adu (Ag. Executive Director, Forest Services Division), Mr. Dennis Osei-Hwere, Esq (Director, Legal), Mr. Ophilious Lambog (Grading & Inspection Manager and the lead representative of TIDD on Ghana’s Anti-Timber Trafficking Program).
By Benjamin Aidoo
