Ghana to log Volta Lake

Ghana is set to harvest US$3bn of timber submerged in the Volta Lake.

Volta Lake was created with the construction of the Akosombo dam in 1964 and vast areas of forest were flooded.

Under an agreement between Clarke Sustainable Resources Developments and Triton Logging, the latter will supply its underwater logging technology to the project.

An underwater stock survey and inventory of commercial tree species in the lake and an environmental and social impact assessment study will be conducted before commercial operations begin.

The project plans to establish Ghana as a world leader in underwater timber harvesting. It will also develop technologically-advanced processing and value-added capacity in the country.

An additional benefit will be safer transport on the lake as the submerged trees have caused several fatal boat accidents.