Ghana is beginning to log drowned forests from Lake Volta as a source of high-value tropical logs. Ebony, teak, mahogany and nearly 100 other species have been found on the lake bottom, where they have stood since the construction in 1964 of the Akosombo hydroelectric dam. The venture is expected to earn $100 million per year for many years, and create 1400 jobs.

A Canadian management company, Clark Sustainable Resource Developments, has a contract to log part of Lake Volta, and is taking a sustainable development approach which will create jobs and build infrastructure in Ghana.

Underwater logging is not new, with operations in the US, Canada, Brazil, Malaysia, Cameroon and Ivory Coast, among others.   When the Adirondack Mountains of New York were first logged, hemlocks were felled into lakes and stripped of their bark, used to tan leather. The logs were allowed to sink because they had little value. In the 1960’s, long after logging in the Adirondack Park had stopped, enterprising loggers grappled the now-valuable hemlock logs from the lake bottom. In Malaysia, several large underwater logging operations have removed timber from hydroelectric project lakes. In Canada, the Cheslatta Carrier Nation has been logging Nechako Reservoir of its vast stands of pine, spruce, fir, cedar and hemlock. The value of the forest has been estimated at $2 billion.  Collectively, the worlds drowned forests may be worth $40 billion.

Trees drowned after dam development often remain standing. When cut, they can shoot up to the surface if they are still buoyant. Trees underwater do not decay, because the fungi that decompose wood require oxygen. 

Picture: Tree standing in Lake Volta. Photo courtesy of Clark Sustainable Resource Developments.

Ghana’s ‘miracle’: Logging underwater forests for exotic timber – Yahoo! News UK