The European Union (EU) and Ghana have joined efforts to fight illegal timber exports from the West African country. The agreement will stop illegally logged timber from entering the EU Market, and reflects European consumers increasing sensitivity to global deforestation.

Around 60 percent of logging across Ghana has been illegal in recent years causing rampant deforestation. The agreement is the first of a series the EU is planning with various African countries, among them Cameroon, Gabon and Liberia.

In the deal Ghana has undertaken to ensure that all timber exported from the country is fully certified as clean, and Europe on its part will ban any timber that is not verified and licensed.

Timber, Ghana's fourth export earner -after gold, tourism and cocoa- rakes in around 400 million dollars per year. The rate of forest depletion forced the country to take action and is now recording success regulating logging through a revenue sharing system, from which communities benefit with five percent of the proceeds.

And Canadian firm Clark Sustainable Resources Development Ltd (CSRD) is investing $100 million in Ghana's under water timber processing, a move that could make the country an industry leader.

Harvesting of the submerged trees will facilitate safer transport on the Lake, develop surrounding infrastructure and create over 400 jobs. The project will also boost Ghana’s efforts to promote eco-tourism which has been delayed by the risk of boat accidents caused by the large number of submerged stumps in the lake.

Parliament gave concession of 350,000 hectares of Lake Volta to CSRD, with government retaining a 20 percent interest in the net value of the concession.