Ghana needs to vigorously pursue the policy of exploring log importation for local processing and value addition for re-export if the country is to sustainably manage its forests.This is the view of Samuel Kwabena Nketiah, Programmes Director of Tropenbos International Ghana, an organization committed to bridging the gap between forest policy, management and science.The country’s new oil economy is driving an expansion in infrastructure development – demand for wood is therefore increasing at a fast rate to satisfy the housing and construction industry.According to Mr. Nketia, the state of the country’s forest cannot sustainably support the adequate supply of lumber to the domestic market, hence the need for alternative sources.Ghana, at the turn of the century, had 8.2million hectors of forest reserves. The policy in forest reservation at the time was to reserve a small portion to create a good micro-climate to support cocoa production and other agricultural activities.“The reduction in forest, alarming though it may seem, was more or less intentional”, noted Mr. Nketia. “But with time government realized that was not the best of policies; that is allowing the areas outside the reserves to be converted fully to agriculture”.Now, the government’s policy looks at the possibility of managing areas outside the permanent reserves on sustainable basis, including the promotion of agro-forestry, tree planting, urban planting.Mr. Nketia expects the government to pay adequate attention to plantation development by supporting interested persons to access land and finance for the promotion of tree planting. He added that the “Domestic Lumber Traders Association and the Ghana Timber Millers Organization are also keen on the importation of logs”.Climate scientists at the Colombia-based International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, CIAT, have predicted that the expected increasing temperatures will lead to massive declines in cocoa production in Ghana and other cocoa-growing areas in West Africa by 2030.Their report also revealed that an expected annual temperature rise of more than two degrees Celsius by 2050 will leave the cocoa-producing areas too hot for chocolate.According to Mr. Nketia, there are indications that Ghana’s forest coverage is increasing but all is not well because of large forest degradation. He observed the dwindling fortunes of cocoa production in some Northern parts of the country “because the microclimate there does not support cocoa growing, so if we are not careful with the way we manage our forest resources, as we lose our forest, the environment gets drier and drier and cocoa will no longer be able to survive”.