44 of Ghana’s Forest Reserves under attack by heavily armed illegal miners – Lands Minister

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has revealed that 44 of Ghana’s forest reserves are under serious attack by illegal mining activities widely known as galamsey.

Adding that over 9 of these 44 forest reserves have been completely taken over by these illegal miners.

“Mr Speaker, it will interest you to know that out of the 288 forest reserves that I have mentioned, a whopping 44 of these forest reserves are under serious attack by illegal miners. An estimated area of about 5000 hectors has been devastated.” He made this revelation when addressing Parliament on Thursday, February 20, 2025.

According to him, the illegal miners are heavily armed so lack of sophisticated weapons make it difficult for forest guard and rapid response teams to control them.

“Mr. Speaker, the approach adopted by illegal mining is quite alarming and frightening. They are heavily armed with sophisticated weapons and very violent, with a large number of excavators, making it extremely difficult for a forest guard and rapid response team to control them since they have no such sophisticated weapons to counter them. Over 9 of these 44 forest reserves have been completely taken over by these illegal mining tasks with impunity and the Forestry Commission no longer has access to these Forest reserves.” He lamented.

“Mr. Speaker, Ghana boasts a total land area of approximately 23.8 million hectares. Of this about 6.3 million hectares which is 15% of our total land area are designated as either Forest Reserves or Wild Land Protection areas managed by the Forestry Commission. Mr. Speaker, despite the numerous benefits we derive from the forest and increased knowledge on the importance of forest on our well-being, Ghana’s forests continue to face serious threats of deforestation and degradation due to well-known factors.”

“Ghana is currently faced with an unprecedented threat to our forest resources and water bodies, due largely to illegal small-scale mining activities. This situation has assumed crisis proportions with dire national security and public health consequences that require immediate attention.”

Source: Elvisanokyenews.com