Dr. Joseph R. Cobbinah with Insect Tolerant Selection of Iroko		Dr. Michael R. Wagner in the Midst of a Native Tropical Mixed Plantation

The Forestry Research Institute of Ghana - FORIG - is located outside of Kumasi, in Ghana, Africa. Ghana, once known as the Gold Coast is situated on the West African coast with Cote d' Ivoire (the Ivory Coast) on the west and Togo on the east. Ghana gained its independence from the British in 1957. For more information on Ghana, see Associated Links below.

FORIG is the center for forestry research in Ghana. The mission of the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana is to conduct high quality, user-focused research that generates scientific knowledge and appropriate technologies which enhance the sustainable development, conservation, and efficient utilization of Ghana's forest resources; and also to disseminate the information for the improvement of social, economic and environmental well-being of the people of Ghana.

FORIG's head office is in the semi-deciduous tropical forest belt in the south-central part of Ghana. FORIG has worked on a number of projects and is currently collaborating with Northern Arizona University in efforts to establish or restore tropical forests in West African rainforest. One specific project funded by the International Tropical Timber Organization is examining genetic resistance in Milicia spp., Iroko, to a gall forming insect. Cooperative efforts are also underway to evaluate how forest fragmentation affects wildlife, and also to determine the role of fruit bats in seed dispersal and regeneration of Iroko in the natural forest.

FORIG/NAU Collaborative Project Personnel

Michael R. Wagner, Regent's Professor, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University
Dr. Wagner is a Professor of Forest Pest Management in the School of Forestry. Dr. Wagner has co-authored three books including the most widely used textbook on forest entomology in the United States and the first book on forest entomology in West Africa with Dr. J.R. Cobbinah and S.N.K. Atuahene. His research interests have focused on the mechanisms of genetic resistance in forest trees to defoliating insects. His interest in the African tropical forest began in 1972 and his affiliation with FORIG began in 1988. Dr. Wagner is currently the co-principal investigator on the ITTO grant between NAU and FORIG which seeks to reestablish Iroko [Milicia excelsa] as a viable timber species in Ghana.

Joe Rexford Cobbinah, Ph.D., Forestry Research Institute of Ghana [FORIG]
Dr. Cobbinah is a Chief Research Officer and Director of the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana. For the past twenty years Dr. Cobbinah has been working on pest problems of the tropical timber species, especially those occurring in plantations. He has also worked extensively in the area of plant derived insecticide and is considered the West African authority on snail farming. Dr. Cobbinah is currently the Coordinator for an International Tropical Timber Organization-funded project on pest management and genetic conservation of Iroko in West Africa.

Paul Beier, Ph.D., School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University. Dr. Beier is Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Management at NAU. He has worked extensively in the United States on response of mammals and birds to management practices and landscape pattern. His involvement in research in Africa started in 1997, helping FORIG to investigate the role of the straw colored bat (Eidelon helvum) in dispersal of Iroko seeds. In cooperation with FORIG, the University of Science and Technology (Kumasi), and NCRC, Dr. Beier is currently documenting the response of birds to forest fragmentation in Ghana (Bird Diversity and Abundance in Forest Fragments of Ghana). He also serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for Ghana's Nature Conservation and Research Centre (NCRC).

Daniel Taylor, MSS. Candidate, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University. Daniel Taylor has worked in protected area management and wildlife conservation in North, Central, and South America. Dan currently works with Bat Conservation International and is conducting research with FORIG on the role of the fruit bat, Eidolon helvum, in iroko seed dispersal, survival, and germination (Fruit Bat Seed Dispersal).

Paul P. Bosu, Ph.D., Assistant Research Officer at FORIG. Paul has been working in natural enemies of Phytolyma lata and the potential biological control of this insect using augmented release of natural enemies.

Ghana Associated Links

• Ghana Environmental Management Literacy Project - Canada
• Ghana Country Profile

Email for further information.