The project developed a strategy that entailed reaching out to illegal loggers as well as others, including the forest communities and those parties responsible for regulation and trade. They did this by presenting strong and relevant incentives for engagement, based on empirical information about the current situation and forecast for the country’s environmental resources in the future, and also by offering them the opportunity to help co-develop alternative solutions to these challenges.

Note: while the project was mainly focused on the illegal loggers, and the possibility of developing alternative livelihoods for them, its secondary target audience was the Forestry Commission, which is responsible for managing Ghana’s forestry resources.  Over the years, the Commission has also 

faced numerous challenges from murder of forest guards and accusations of corruption to poor communications with resource managers and forest communities. 

A strategic approach was developed based on information generated, a felt need and a strong sense of trust. The discussions confirmed the need for alternatives livelihoods to illegal chainsaw milling and the concept of support for artisanal milling emerged.