The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has said 44 forest reserves out of 288 in the country have been degraded, while over 5,252 hectares have been lost to illegal mining (galamsey).

He explained that river turbidity levels exceeded 5,000 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU), far beyond the permissible 500 NTU, while toxic chemicals such as mercury and cyanide further endangered ecosystems and communities.

Mr Buah revealed this in a speech delivered on his behalf at the closing ceremony of the 4th Annual Transformational Dialogue on Small-scale Mining, organised by the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in Fiapre, Bono Region, last Thursday.

The two-day dialogue was held under the theme: “Eliminating Illegal Mining in Ghana. The Will and the Bill.”

Data alarming, arrests

The minister said the government alone could not eradicate galamsey. “It requires the collective will of communities, industries, stakeholders, traditional leaders and environmental advocates,” he said.

Mr Buah said the data was alarming. Updating the gathering on the fight against galamsey, he revealed 150 excavators, five bulldozers and weapons had been confiscated, while 71 persons had been arrested.

Mr Buah said that due to enforcement, seven of nine previously inaccessible forest reserves had been cleared.

He said despite past interventions, illegal mining persisted, fuelled by weak political will, inconsistent enforcement and complicity at various levels of governance.

Mr Buah said other factors were security gaps, inadequate geological data, delay in prosecutions, foreign infiltration, greed and complicity among some politicians, traditional leaders and citizens.

Other issues, he mentioned, were the use of armed gangs by illegal miners to intimidate and resist enforcement and the unregulated equipment importation, such as excavators and other machinery.

Systemic change

Mr Buah said eradicating illegal mining demanded more than just laws, explaining that it required political will, collective action and systemic change.

He said the current government was resolute in its mission to eradicate the destructive practice and called for  collective action to eliminate the menace.

Mr Buah called for the strengthening of legal frameworks to ensure robust enforcement within the community, economic alternatives, and transparent governance to uphold ethical standards across the sector.

He said the government had adopted some strategies to facilitate a robust mining sector.

Mr Buah mentioned a licensing regime reform, where new licences would be issued at the district level with the involvement of traditional authorities and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Revoke licences

He said the government had revoked all post-December 2024 licences due to irregularities and replaced the Community Mining Scheme with a Cooperative Mining Scheme.

Mr Buah said excavators were now geo-tagged and monitored 24/7; and non-compliance triggers remote immobilisation.

He said all excavators imported into the country would be registered and tracked while those already in existence would be registered.

Mr Buah said the government had enhanced a more robust joint task force, made up of the military, police, and the Forestry Commission, to flush out illegal miners.

He urged the public to report illegal activities to eliminate illegal mining and build a sector that thrives on sustainability, equity and national pride.

Dialogue

The dialogue, he said, had not only highlighted the socio-economic contributions of ASM but had also confronted pressing issues such as environmental degradation and regulatory enforcement.

He explained that the ASM sector contributed significantly to the economy, accounting for a third of Ghana’s gold production, employing about three million people, and bolstering rural economies while supporting millions of livelihoods.

“Yet, its potential is undermined by the scourge of galamsey, which ravages our environment, pollutes water bodies and threatens public health,” Mr Buah said.

He said the scourge of galamsey threatened to eclipse the benefits, posing severe environmental, public health, and economic risks.

Sergeant Amoah Moses was identified by officers from the Ejisu District Police headquarters led by DSP Patrick Okai Kodjoe, the District Commander assisted by ASP Hannah Amoafo and the District Crime Officer with the Ashanti Regional Crime Scene Management Team led by DSP Francis Nimoh.

It followed a complaint by one Caleb Adu Agyemang, the Assemblyman of Kubease Electoral Area that a male adult believed to be in his 30s was on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, found dead at the Forest Reserve.

In his account, the deceased dressed in a green long-sleeve shirt over a khaki trousers and a black boot, was lying unconscious in a supine position in a pool of blood with a gunshot wound on the right leg below the knee.

A single-barrel gun and a machete were also found beside him.

He was rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival by a medical officer.

The body has since been deposited at the same hospital’s morgue for preservation and autopsy.

Police investigators indicate that efforts are underway to  unravel the mystery behind the death of the young policeman.

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According to him, agents of the Fulani herdsmen have been cautioned to evacuate the forest with immediate effect.

“We’ve cautioned some agents of the Fulani herdsmen to vacate the forest immediately,” he said.

Mr Eshun mentioned that the Commission is working hard to send away all the herdsmen despite the evacuation of most of them.

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“Report gathered shows that most of them have evacuated the place due to the recent rains in the northern part of Ghana but we believe some are still staying in the forest,” he noted.

 “We are looking for their hideout to send them away,” he added.

Speaking on Dwaso Nsem on Adom FM on the Beyi W’ano segment, he stated that the Commission will bring on board other approaches to curtail the activities of the herdsmen.

“Also, we are looking at implementing more preventive approaches going forward, thus, when we get to know the route they will use when the harmattan starts so that we can construct a bridge to guard the place very well,” Mr Eshun stated.

Adding to it, he said “so we are still working to drive away the cows from our forest”.

The exercise is part of activities to commemorate the group’s annual in tourism congress.

This year’s Congress is under the theme, “Beyond the return: Beyond the pandemic, A new woman”.

It seeks,among other things to revitalize the club to champion and empower women in Ghana’s tourism and draw attention to position women at the center of tourism development.

The group planted over hundred species of Teak,Magnolia and Mimosa species of trees along the boundaries of the park.

The club used the opportunity to tour the ecotourism park which hosts a canopy walkway and has some of the rare tree species including Garcinia Kola, known locally as Twepea, reputed for its health benefits.

President of the Tourism ladies club, Emma Rachel Akua Oduro encouraged tree planting exercise among Ghanaians. For her, it is the surest way to sustain the county’s natural environment.

Other tropical tree species found at the centre include Okure, mostly used for dugout canoes and Alpha and Omega trees used for the local sponge (sapowie).

The 280-metre long walkway is suspended 40 feet off the ground with five bridges.

It has six platforms where tourists can make stopovers to explore and soak in the breath-taking fauna and flora.

It is the second forest reserve in Ghana to host a canopy walkway after the Kakum National Park in the Central region.

The facilty manager of the Bunso Ecopark who served as a tour guide to the club, Mr. Asare Frimpong revealed that very soon they would launch Zip line to cushion the thrills and adventures in the site, explaining, that the zip line would be the second commercial zip line in West Africa after Obo.