LATEST NEWS

Discussing how we can better address the risks of #wildfire through satellite early warning and proactive management.

Growing #trees is a journey. Thank you Hugh Brown, Head of Plantations Division @fcghana2020 for walking with us🙏🏾

#AlwaysGrowing #alwayslearning #plantation🇬🇭

A great evening at the British High Commission in Accra. Thank you to @HCThompson001 and the @UKinGhana team. British businesses working together to deliver clean, green growth in Ghana.

#SDGs 🇬🇭 #reforestation #TradebeyondAid

Nature’s own fertiliser🍂🍂🍂
Teak leaves are perfect mulching material and soil-builder, organically fertilising the #soil through decomposition.
The leaf litter acts as a natural blanket of mulch, regulating soil moisture and temperature.
Healthy soils = healthy plants + trees

Keeping fire-rides and green breaks maintained during the dry Harmattan season. Educating employees and the community on fire prevention, control, and suppression. Our ground patrols, combined with satellite early warning detection, help mitigate #wildfire risks. #SDG13🇬🇭#SDG15🇬🇭

From seed to saw, the process of delivering sustainable timber to market cannot be done without people. Mere in the U.K. and Ghana would like to wish all our customers, employees, partners and supporters a very happy Christmas and all the best for 2022🎉
#AlwaysGrowing #FLEGT🇬🇭🇬🇧

There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach when it comes to restoration of degraded former forestland.
By concentrating on #SoilHealth for productivity and profitability, we are ensuring the land will provide and be truly sustainable for generations.
#SDG15 🇬🇭🌳#ZeroDeforestation

Mark, on behalf of the team at Mere, has proudly accepted the offer of an Honorary College Fellowship from @MyerscoughColl in recognition of outstanding achievements and work in #Forestry.
Sharing knowledge of our unique experience of tropical plantation establishment @UKinGhana

More people are starting to question where their #timber comes from, and rightly so. The best way is to buy direct from transparent growers.
Taking a long-term view on resources, ensuring timber is harvested responsibly and forests are well-managed. #coppicing #sustainable #SDGs

Actions, not words, will count post @COP26

Improving soil health that has been degraded for decades, creating and maintaining firebreaks, incorporating buffer zones for #biodiversity, sustainably growing #timber on a coppice basis whilst locking up carbon #TogetherForOurPlanet

Creating quality employment, opportunities, whilst enhancing #sustainable livelihoods in rural communities through forest plantation development.

Direct trading and investment that is driving growth in the rural economy whilst growing a carbon sink.
#SDGs🇬🇭#COP26 #YouthWorkWeek

The building material nature intended. Renewable, recyclable and regenerating, wood is the perfect alternative to replace carbon intensive materials.

Management and maintenance means we can keep our forests providing and sequestering carbon for longer.

#SDGs🇬🇭 #COP26 @UKinGhana

From seed selection, through germination and growing, to final product. Owning the process from seed nursery to #timber enables whole tree usage and zero timber waste.
Through our #coppicing programme our plantations will continue to provide for generations. @UKinGhana🇬🇭🇬🇧@COP26

Maintaining continuous cover forestry through rotational #Teak coppicing, protecting remnant species and managing a healthy ground cover for #soilhealth
Buffer zones serve a dual purpose contributing to carbon sequestration and are wildlife corridors.
#SDGs #COP26 @UKinGhana🇬🇧🇬🇭

Every piece of #wood tells a story, but you need to hold it to feel its weight - 'Tough as #Teak' doesn't cut it! Andy at AJS sawmill commented, "It's gorgeous wood, the tungsten carbide blades cut very well. The sapwood is harder than some hardwoods!"
#zerowaste #Sustainable🇬🇭🇬🇧

More containers of #Teak are arriving in Sealand today!

Through #sustainable and #commercial timber growing in rural Ghana, jobs and opportunities for training are created. Our benefit sharing agreement has meant clean water to communities and improved lives.

>#timber #SDGs🇬🇧🇬🇭

Our first containers of #Teak have started arriving at AJS Saw Mills in the U.K. for processing.
Tropical timber grown sustainably with our uniquely guaranteed traceability from seed to saw.

#BenefitShare #FLEGT #TradeBeyondAid #SDGs
#AfricaClimateWeek @UKinGhana 🇬🇧🇬🇭

Possessing an array of knowledge beyond the classroom, Alice and Pokua may have basic/no formal education but they understand nature. Their indigenous #forestry and leadership skills are second to none and invaluable to our #growing team.
#WomenInForestry #opportunities #SDGs🇬🇭

Working together for a #tradebeyondaid Ghana. Creating rural employment, skills and knowledge sharing, food and water security. A benefit sharing agreement with the community to #LeaveNoOneBehind through contract growing of #timber crops to replace carbon-intensive materials.🇬🇧🇬🇭

A billion shades of green and noisy with the sound of nature.
Contract growing trees for #timber allows us to breathe life back into degraded former forestlands; addressing drivers of deforestation, ensuring sustainable growth, and allowing older forests to recover @UKinGhana🇬🇧🇬🇭

Adopting a holistic approach to plantation management through continuous cover forestry. We regard the whole ecosystem as the production capital of the forest including soil, carbon, water, vegetation, wildlife, as well as sustained timber yield from coppicing.
#resilience #SDG15

Quite simply, capturing carbon.
🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳
Managing soils, vegetation, and tree health through a resilient reforestation programme; replacing carbon- intensive materials with natures' preferred option.
#NatureBasedSolutions #AlwaysGrowing #CleanAir #HealthySoils #SDG15🇬🇭

Meeting with @RYofiGrant @gipcghana celebrating over a decade of sustainable plantation developments in rural Ghana.
Making a +impact on forest-fringe livelihoods and the environment, through job creation, growth and #FLEGT and #REDD education.
#GrownInGhana #GrowWithGhana.🇬🇧🇬🇭

Great to attend the closing reception of the #ClimateConversations exhibition last night @BuildingCentre. The @TTF_FLEGT team made superb hosts!
Seeing the displays up close brought home the importance of the #timber industry to the future. The building material nature intended.

#Wildfires fuel climate change and #climatechange fuels wildfires, but most fires are human caused.
Risks can be successfully mitigated through better management, education, land-use planning, debris removal, maintained firebreaks/rides and resilient planting.
#BetterWithForests

Mulching of #organic matter greatly improves #soil structure, which in turn promotes percolation and the filtration of nutrients into the subsoil layer.
The movement of organic #carbon from the topsoil to the subsoil occurs, where it is more permanently stored.
#SLM #SDG15🇬🇭

Our managed plantations with maintained fire-rides are wildlife corridors for #nature.
Through good forest governance, and forest education, we are protecting old growth trees from illegal logging and wildfire, whilst growing millions of new trees.
#WorldNatureConversationDay🦋🇬🇭

Very impressive growth rates in our newly established compartments, planted in late 2020.
#Teak, being a pioneer species, needs reduced competition for light in early years. Regular weeding and maintenance is carried out to ensure successful stand development. #NetZeroWeek2021

Healthy, growing trees are the ultimate carbon capture and storage machines. Fixing carbon through year-round growth in the Ghanaian climate, perfect for #Teak.
We encourage understory vegetation that plays a vital role in regulating soil carbon and nitrogen.
#NetZeroWeek2021🇬🇭🇬🇧

Healthy young trees planted out in November 2020. The @MajorEquipment Cyclone mowers are the perfect machines for management, and maintaining plantation margins for biodiversity. Nutrients are being returned to the topsoil and combustible material is mulched.
Working with nature.

Truly #sustainable timber grown on degraded former forest land. Legal wood #trade helps fight deforestation and climate change while improving livelihoods.
Delivering real environmental benefits and financial returns.
#AlwaysGrowing #coppice #TrustedTimber #BenefitShare #FLEGT🇬🇭

Forestry operations create a wide range of opportunities.
Providing much needed #youth employment and skills training that are inclusive. Growing a team who care about creating a resilient, sustainable environment. #forests #future #timber #benefitshare #SDGs #tradebeyondaid🇬🇭

Establishing a nitrogen-fixing cover crop between young trees is a good strategy to minimise #soil erosion. Understory vegetation and grasses add to the #carbon enrichment and soil fertility, maintaining the nutrient supply crucial for sustaining productivity.
#greengrowth #SDGs

We take a multifaceted approach to our commercial forestry operations. By investing in sustainable land management of degraded former forestland we are breathing life back into soils, communities and habitats. #Regeneration through #reforestation now and for future #generations🇬🇭

Good #forestry and #farming practices stand the test of time. Ensuring yields are #sustainable and maximised, benefits of sustainable land management are intertwined with the #environment, human needs and #commerciality.
Thinking in life cycles, as opposed to election cycles.

Through constant and careful stand #management, we are able to extract significant amounts of high-quality #timber with low-impact. We regard #ecosystem services as the production capital of the forest by adopting a continuous cover #forestry approach.
#resilience #AlwaysGrowing

#Coppicing can be traced back to Neolithic times (ca.4500 BC). Late Stone Age man knew how to manage a sustainable source of #timber.
With good #silviculture practices, coppiced stands can produce immense volumes over time. Rapidly growing trees can efficiently sequester #carbon.

As part of our commitment to biodiversity, 6,000 #indigenous Terminalia superba seedlings have been germinated.
Their flowers attract pollinators like #bees and flies. The bark is used in #traditional medicine as a treatment for wounds, malaria, ovarian problems and bronchitis.

Reforestation of degraded #forest land is an important part of tackling climate change and, if done right, it can support biodiversity and human wellbeing too. #Plantations can be part of the solution.
Sharing our landscape with nature, #ForNature.
#SDGs🇬🇭#BiodiversityDay2021

Permanent sample plots provide long-term datasets for growth and yield monitoring, mean tree sizes, stand volume, carbon sequestration figures and growth projections. The extrapolated data is used for #timber supply analysis and influences sustainable forest management decisions.

A benefit of managed #plantations is safeguarding remaining old growth trees. Our security team and employees protect these majestic trees that form a crucial part of the landscape for biodiversity and climate change.
Happy #ThickTruckTuesday🇬🇭

We only consider a #tree planted once it has done at least a full 12 months in the ground and is thriving.
#Management and #maintenance need to be ongoing to ensure best tree survival rates following planting out from the nursery.

Knowledge and #skillsharing maximises productivity, efficiency and profitability through developing industry competent staff.
The benefits of mentoring are myriad. Providing decent opportunities for #ForestryJobs and contributing to #RuralEmployment.
#plantations #SDGs🇬🇭

Our #climatechange action began >10yrs ago planting and growing a sustainable timber business. Dialogue with communities, chiefs, and scientists began >15yrs ago. Despite challenges, we continue to deliver a sustainable business creating real world solutions to #SDGs #BeyondAid🇬🇭

Many of our female employees are skilled in pruning Teak to grow stronger, better formed, and healthier.

Light penetration enables tree and vegetation growth, thus enriching the soil and providing an understory for habitats.
#RuralJobs #benefitshare #GrowWithGhana🇬🇭

#Satellite data for #forestry is useful when coupled with knowledge on the ground e.g. #tree height, MAI, species, density and maturity, vegetation, soil quality, fire damage, encroachment.
With deciduous stands, leaf flush, leaf tinting and leaf fall are also important factors.

Commercially growing teak interwoven with tracts of natural vegetation enhances #biodiversity.

Within our #plantation, riparian strips are earmarked for water and biodiversity protection as well as designated conservation areas.

Contract growing timber #sustainably.

Low-tech forestry, combined with holistic land management practices, will yield multiple benefits.

Healthy forests support a wide range of services for ecosystems and livelihoods. By #coexisting with nature we appreciate what healthy soils and trees provide.

#WorldEarthDay2021

Formative #pruning from an early age is important to help develop tree form, removing double leaders and malformed stems.

Subsequent pruning is undertaken to improve value and marketability, removing defects to produce high-quality knot-free #timber of even grain and texture.

Low impact thinning minimises soil disturbance, and through good coppice management we maintain a healthy #growing environment.

Sustainably managing lands means providing for the present and for future generations in a changing climate.

#SDGs #BSA #SoilHealth #resilience #FLEGT

This majestic Ceiba pentandra, with spiky bole, is one of many different tree species that form an important part of our #plantation landscape.

Ensuring existing and new trees can continue to #grow and benefit the #community and #nature for generations.

#morethantimber #REDD🇬🇭

Kudos to Eric and his team, helping those in need with food and essentials. By helping Eric grow his business, he in turn is giving where it’s needed and where it counts. #LeaveNoOneBehind

“Together for a fairer, healthier world”. #WHD2021

#inspiration #community #SDGs🇬🇭

Plantation diversity can be enhanced by creating understory environmental conditions comparable to natural forest. Improving soil conditions of degraded forestland through increased organic matter and litter production 🍃🍂🌿

#SoilHealth #vegetation #ecosystem #SDG15🇬🇭

Read the latest @itto_sfm TTM report:
"Firm demand for Ghana billets"
https://www.itto.int/files/user/mis/MIS_16-31_Mar2021.pdf

#Sustainably and specifically grown #timber for the export market.

#BenefitShare🇬🇭#FLEGT-VPA #TIDD

Planting season is fast approaching again. Thanks to our intensive nursery management and automated irrigation our plants will soon be ready for the field.

Working to natures rhythm. #AlwaysGrowing 🌱🌳

The successful cycle of #thinning and #coppicing ensures a sustainable supply of #timber for generations.

Preventing soil erosion and minimising disturbance is important in maintaining a healthy #growing environment.

#vegetation #habitats #SDG15 #SLM #timber #AlwaysGrowing🇬🇭

Our pruning teams following best practice. Proper pruning with the right tools is essential in developing trees with strong structure and desirable form. Improving tree health and stand quality.

#silviculture #Teak #GreenJobs #education #benefitshare🇬🇭#alwaysgrowing #FLEGT

Sustainably grown, legally sourced tropical hardwoods have an important part to play in the world advancing toward a circular economy.

The natural alternative to concrete, steel and plastics.

Combining #nature and #nurture.

#Teak #SRC #carbon #resilience #SDGs #FLEGT

Sustainably managed plantations produce goods and services for sustainable development, improving the livelihoods of rural communities.

Using correct land management practices ensures the land can look after us now and for future generations.

#SoilHealth #Timber #IntlForestDay

We are growing a valued, highly skilled team to ensure our machinery is serviced and running smoothly 365.

Training individuals to be technically skilled mechanics and forestry operators, among other professions.

#employment #skills #SDGs #youth #apprenticeships

Using the last of the dry season to put in new roads and maintain existing network. Critical to operations all year round.

Access roads and firebreaks form an important part of our maintenance and monitoring programme at Afram.

#sustainable #forest #management #infrastructure

Replenishing thinned stands of timber through sustainable rotational coppicing. Allowing light to transmit through the canopy, enabling growth of understory species and maintaining a healthy habitat environment.

#SoilHealth #vegetation #biodiversity #SDGs🇬🇭

Increasing #community awareness to important environmental issues like soil erosion, soil fertility, flooding, runoff, carbon absorption as well as forest fires.

#sustainable #vegetation #landmanagement #FLEGT #education #SDGs🇬🇭

Keeping a healthy supply of beat-up stock in the nursery, ready to replace any failed or struggling new planting.

Successful establishment is not just about planting. Tree #planting figures need to accurately match tree #growing figures.

#Reforestation should deliver benefits that strike a balance between wood products, carbon capture, human wellbeing and nature. Understanding the drivers of deforestation is vital to successful #restoration.

#SoilHealth #biodiversity #SDGs #community #education #ClimateChange

Ensuring fire-rides and access roads are maintained during the dry season. At this time of year, dry Harmattan weather and high temperatures support intense wildfires. As wildfires are primarily human-caused, fire #prevention, #education and #training are of extreme importance.

Working together to halt illegal logging, our security guards patrol the forest 24/7. They report or arrest illegal operators as officers of the forest and are good neighbours.

Legal, #sustainable timber needs to be the only #timber allowed to market.

#LegalTimber #SRA #FLEGT

Delighted to welcome Frederick Dadzie to our #growing team.

Frederick is a highly competent, versatile mechanical engineer. Qualified and equipped with relevant experience to develop our #apprenticeship training and further implement health and safety procedures.

#skillsforlife

Proud to have funded the operational and maintenance repairs to broken boreholes and hand-pumps that serve the Boayaase Community🇬🇭.

Access to safe, drinking water is critical to human #health and #development.

#SDGs #LeaveNoOneBehind #TIDD #BSA #SRA

With demand for timber expected to quadruple over the next 3️⃣ decades, the commodity will play a vital role in the international marketplace.

Generating margin in the most #productive and #sustainable way.

#employment #longterm #SDGs #BSA #SRC #trade #hardwood #teak #FLEGTVPA🇬🇭