Ghana has outlawed mining in forest reserves, reversing a 2022 policy that allowed controlled extraction, as authorities move to curb deforestation, protect water sources and cocoa farms, and address mounting public anger over environmental damage.
Ghana has banned mining in forest reserves as part of tougher environmental protections aimed at safeguarding water bodies and halting deforestation, the environment ministry said.
The West African nation, Africa’s top gold producer, has been grappling with a surge in poorly regulated small-scale mining that has damaged cocoa farms, polluted rivers and degraded forests, fuelling public protests and raising sustainability concerns for the mining sector.
Under the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations introduced in 2022, controlled mining had been permitted in protected forests. The government has now repealed those rules, with the decision taking effect this week after a 21-day constitutional period, according to a statement issued late Wednesday.
The repeal will give the world’s second-largest cocoa producer stronger legal tools to protect forests, water sources and farmland, the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology said.
“Healthy forests bring rainfall, protect our farms, and give life to our communities. Clean rivers secure our drinking water and our future,” Acting Environment Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah said.
Environmental groups welcomed the move as a major shift in policy. Daryl Mensah-Bonsu of advocacy group Da Rocha Ghana said the repeal restores protections after nearly 90 percent of forest reserves were previously opened to mining.
“The repeal alone will not be the panacea,” he said. “But it gives Ghana an opportunity to tackle encroachment from logging and farming and to put in place a national forest development programme to restore and grow our forests for present and future generations.”
