Our forest reserves under threat: Let’s protect them - Lands and Natural Resources Minister to citizens

Large tracts of forest reserve in the country have come under serious attack by illegal miners.

So far, an estimated area of over 5,000 hectares, equivalent to 7,500 standard football pitches, has already been devastated.

In all, 44 of the 288 forest reserves in the country are gone.

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, disclosed this in Parliament last Wednesday.

He mentioned some areas most affected by the illegal mining activities as Bekwai and Nkawie in the Ashanti Region; Tarkwa and Daboase in the Western Region, and Bibiani, Enchi and Juaboso in the Western North Region.

“Over nine out of the 44 forest reserves have completely been taken over by these illegal mining thugs with impunity, and the Forestry Commission no longer has access to these reserves,” Mr Buah said. 

Solution

The minister outlined short and medium-to-long-term measures to address the situation.

“In the short term, we want to clear all water bodies from illegal mining activities through the use of river guards under our Blue Water initiative.

“We will also engage stakeholders at all levels to, among other things, strengthen our regulatory and law enforcement regime and get the buy-in of stakeholders on measures being pursued,” he added.

For the short-term measure, the minister said he had inaugurated a working committee of experts to undertake a review of the mining sector and licensing regime and recommend immediate radical reforms to sanitise illegal mining activities within forest reserves and water bodies.

“The committee is expected to submit its report to me by the end of this month.

We are also collaborating with the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, and actively discussing the modalities for revoking LI 2462 to establish a more responsible legal framework for small-scale mining, particularly in ecologically sensitive areas,” Mr Buah added.

Collaboration

The minister said the fight against illegal mining was not a battle for one individual but a collective struggle that demanded unified efforts to achieve meaningful and lasting results.

He said the country had a total land area of approximately 23.8 million hectares. Out of that, about 3.6 million hectares — 15 per cent of total land area were designated as either forest reserves (2.3 million hectares) or wildlife protected areas (1.3 million hectares), all managed by the Forestry Commission.

They include 288 forest reserves and 21 protected areas scattered across the country.

Despite the numerous benefits derived from the forest and the increasing knowledge about the importance of forests to the ecosystem and well-being, the country’s forests continue to be under threat of deforestation and forest degradation.

“Ghana is currently faced with unprecedented threats to our forest resources and water bodies due largely to illegal small-scale mining (galamsey).

“This situation has assumed crisis proportions with dire national security and public health consequences that require immediate attention,” he said.

Sophisticated weapons

The minister said that some of the galamseyers used sophisticated weapons, thus, making it difficult for forestry guards and rapid response teams to control them.

He said the most impacted bodies are the three water basin systems in Ghana — Volta, South-Western, and the Coastal Basin systems, adding that the South-Western basin system was the most affected.

The rivers that form the South-Western Basin are Ankobra, Pra (Offin, Birim & Oda), Tano and Bia.

As indicated by the Ghana Water Company, the normal turbidity levels of water under treatment should not exceed 500 NTU. 

“However, the current turbidity levels of these water systems are between 5,000-12,000 NTU,” he said.

Consequently, Mr Buah said that the Ghana Water Company was compelled to shut down some treatment plants in Tarkwa due to over-pollution from galamsey.

“Mr Speaker, the pollution does not end with turbidity, as these water bodies are also contaminated with toxic chemicals such as cyanide, mercury and hydrocarbons, used recklessly by illegal miners.

“This is utterly unacceptable! We cannot afford to reach a point where access to clean, potable water becomes a daily struggle for our citizens,” he said.