A timber merchant has challenged the Crop Research Institute (CRI) to come out with tree species that could mature early to feed and sustain the timber industry.
Mr Maxwell Oti-Yeboah, Managing Director of Oti Yeboah Complex Limited (OYCL), a timber company at Abesim, near Sunyani which exports timber product, expressed concern that the rapid depletion of the forest products and called for immediate intervention to restore them.
He told the Ghana News Agency that government and the private sector could collaborate and engage farmers and unemployed youth to cultivate the seedlings at a fee.
Mr Oti-Yeboah pointed out that government importing timber board from Cameroun was not the best.
He said Cameroun could not supply Ghana with the required quantity.
Mr Oti-Yeboah said though it took at least more than 40 years for some trees to mature, countries like Brazil had been able to identify timber species that mature as early as 10 years.
He added that countries like Gabon and Liberia had also adopted short term measures to sustain their timber industry.
Mr Oti-Yeboah explained that because of the scarcity of timber, his company had refocus attention on only the supply and exportation of plywood.
He noted that Ghana's demand for sawn timber was very high and therefore the company had to import processed and dried veneer from other African countries to enable it stay in business.
The timber merchant pointed out that though the Forest Commission had instituted tree planting intervention but because of the lack of adequate funding the projects were not doing well.
Mr Oti-Yeboah noted that Ghana's rainfall pattern was favourable while fertile lands were also available for plantation.
He said illegal chainsaw operations were the bane to the country timber industry and called on the government to take stiff measures to help bring the situation under control.
Other than that, Mr Oti-Yeboah cautioned gradually the timber industry would not be able to supply the domestic market with the required sawn timber for infrastructural development.
He expressed worry that most of the small timber firms had left business because they lack the natural resource material to go into production.
Mr Oti-Yeboah said as a result timber products had become scarce in the region with roadside retailers selling the commodity at exorbitant prices.