By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
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.
Ghana boasts a total land area of approximately 23.8 million hectares. Of this, about 3.6 million hectares—15% of our total land area—are designated as either Forest Reserves (2.3 million hectares) or Wildlife Protected Areas (1.3 million hectares), managed by the Forestry Commission. These include 288 Forest Reserves and 21 Protected Areas scattered across the country.
Interestingly, out of the 288 Forest Reserves, a whopping 44 of these reserves are under serious attack by illegal miners, and an estimated area of over 5,000 hectares has been devastated (about 7,500 standard football pitches).
This is mostly occurring in the Ashanti (Bekwai, Nkawie), Western (Tarkwa & Daboase) and Western North (Bibiani, Enchi & Juaboso) Regions.
According to data from the lands ministry, over 9 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. This situation is dire and must be condemned by all citizens of Ghana.
The impact of illegal mining on our water bodies is critical and equally alarming. Among the three water basin systems in Ghana (Volta, South-Western, and the Coastal Basin systems), the South-Western Basin System is most impacted. The rivers that form the South-Western Basin are Ankobra, Pra (Offin, Birim & Oda), Tano, and Bia.
According to the Ghana Water Company, the normal turbidity levels for water under treatment should not exceed 500 NTU. However, the current turbidity levels of these water systems are between 5,000 – 12,000 NTU.
The Ghana Water Company has had to shut down some treatment plants in Tarkwa at a point due to over-pollution from galamsey.
To this end, the Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Mr. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has made a heartfelt appeal to all Ghanaians, especially the minority Members of Parliament (MPs), to join the John Dramani Mahama administration in this fight against the devastating scourge of illegal mining, commonly known as Galamsey.
According to him, the grim reality of the state of Ghana’s forest reserves and water bodies the current administration has inherited is a legacy of environmental degradation that must be confronted head-on as part of His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama’s Reset Ghana agenda.
Lands and Natural Resources Minister maintains that though the outlook is undoubtedly bleak, the Mahama-led government is resolute in its commitment to reversing the crisis.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 Armah-Kofi Buah, explained that in line with the government’s Reset agenda, some short and medium to long-term measures are being embarked upon to address the situation.
The following are some of the proposed measures the Lands and Natural Resources Minister said it is adopting to tackle the galamsey menace:
1) To clear all water bodies from illegal mining activities through the use of River Guards under our Blue Water Initiative. Details of this initiative will be provided during the launch of this initiative in the coming weeks.
2) Another short-term measure, is that a Working Committee of Experts has been inaugurated on Wednesday, 12th February 2025, to undertake a review of the mining sector and licensing regime and recommend immediate radical reforms to sanitize 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.
3) Again, the ministry’s short to medium-term approach is to roll out the Government’s Tree For Life Reforestation Initiative. This ambitious initiative aims to restore degraded landscapes by transforming areas ravaged by illegal mining and other drivers of deforestation into ecologically functional landscapes. It will promote sustainable forest management, conservation, and reforestation to combat biodiversity loss, water pollution, climate change, and environmental degradation—threats that now pose an existential risk to our nation.
4) We recognise that many young people turn to illegal mining due to a lack of sustainable employment opportunities. As part of our long-term strategy, we are exploring avenues to create alternative, sustainable livelihoods to reduce dependency on galamsey.
5) Engagement of 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 – Traditional authorities, MMDCEs, civil society groups, security agencies, state regulators, Judiciary, my colleague Members of Parliament and all well-meaning Ghanaians.
6) The lands ministry is 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.
This is the reason Mr. Armah-Kofi Buah, said he is seeking the commitment of MPs and the commitment of leadership and all political actors to join him and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and other collaborating Ministries to fight this war.
According to the Lands Minister, the fight against galamsey cannot be business as usual. saying “Let us unite to support the measures outlined today. We owe it to ourselves, our children, and future generations to safeguard our environment and secure a sustainable future for our beloved nation. The time to act is now. Together, we can and must prevail.”
