The government has fully revoked Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 2462, which granted the President the authority to permit mining activities in forest reserves.
The revocation follows the coming into force of the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Revocation Instrument, 2025, which matured into law on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, after being laid in Parliament by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah.
The decision forms part of the government’s renewed efforts to combat illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
L.I. 2462 had faced strong opposition from environmental activists and civil society organisations, who argued that the regulation worsened environmental degradation by opening up forest reserves to mining and weakening existing forest protection safeguards.
The revocation is expected to strengthen environmental governance and protect Ghana’s forest reserves from further degradation.
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