7 Forest reserves reclaimed from illegal miners

Seven out of the nine forest reserves that were taken over by illegal miners have been reclaimed.

At least 60 excavators used by the illegal miners were confiscated in the course of the operations and swoops in the affected forest reserves.

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, who disclosed this, said a crack team of security personnel, made up of the military and police, with support from the Rapid Response Team of the Forestry Commission, reclaimed the seven forest reserves after sustained operations over the past month.

“We will continue to work hard with the security agencies to ensure that the remaining two forest reserves are taken back from these illegal miners,” he stressed.  
At a press briefing held in Accra yesterday, the minister stressed that forest reserves remained “a no-go area” for all forms of mining activities.

The press briefing was jointly addressed by Mr Buah and the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), Dr Ibrahim Murtala Moammed, with support from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), Prof. Nana Ama Browne Klutse.

On February 20 this year, the Lands and Natural Resources Minister told Parliament that 44 of the country’s 288 forest reserves were under heavy attack by illegal miners.

The minister said the situation had reached an alarming level as nine of the forest reserves had been taken over by illegal miners.

Many stakeholders, including environmental activists, have called for ruthless measures to clamp down on the activities of the illegal miners.

Progress made

On efforts being made to protect the forest reserves, Mr Buah said the security agencies had taken the battle to the galamsey operators and succeeded in weeding most of them out of the restricted areas.

“We are making progress in taking back our forest reserves, and with the support of all stakeholders, we will safeguard our forest reserves,” he said.

The LNR Minister further said the government had already started the process to revoke the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations, L.I. 2462, which gives the President the authority to approve mining activities in protected forest reserves.

Regulating excavators

Mr Buah added that as part of measures to ensure that illegal mining was controlled, restrictions would be put on the importation, use and monitoring of excavators.

He said it was worrying that while efforts were being made to fight illegal mining, more excavators were still being imported into the country.

For instance, he said in 2024 alone, about $6.2 billion worth of excavators were brought into the country, ranking it as the third imported item.

He said there would be stronger collaboration between the Lands Ministry and other related ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) such as the Transport Ministry and the Driver and

Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) to regulate the importation of excavators.

Mr Buah also said the government would impose a complete ban on the fabricating and importation of floating devices used for mining in water bodies.

Community mining

He added that all community mining schemes set up by the previous government had been disbanded because the schemes were not serving the real interest of mining communities.

The minister explained that the community mining schemes would now be replaced with Cooperative Mining Schemes, which were more centred on the participation of local community members.

"In the new system, there will be training regimes for local people to own and mine for their benefit," he said.

He said a committee set up to review the operations of the country’s small-scale mining sector had recommended that Community Mining Cooperatives should be introduced to benefit local communities.