The Ghana Institute of Foresters has called for the immediate repeal of Legislative Instrument L.I. 2462, which invariably opens the Forest Reserves to mining leases for up to 24 years.
It also called for the withdrawal of all permits and leases issued to companies to mine in forest reserves.
This was contained in a communiqué at the end of the 26th Annual General Meeting of the Institute. It said all further awards of mineral concessions must cease until broader discussion and measures for long-term sustainable forest management have been put in place to achieve a win-win solution for the benefit of current and future generations.
The 26th Annual General Meeting of the Ghana Institute of Foresters focused on Sustaining the Ecological Integrity of Ghana’s Forests: Rescuing Our Forests. Issues addressed included laws, policies, and regulations governing the Forests and Natural Resources of the country and the challenges of sustaining the ecological integrity of the nation’s forests, particularly in the wake of the Environmental Protection Regulation, L.I. 2462.
A communiqué signed by its National President, Prof. Samuel Oppong, said prior to the passage of L.I. 2462, Ghana’s legal framework for mining permitted limited mining in forest reserves, not more than 2% of timber production reserves.
However, in just one year since the passage of L.I. 2462, 22% of forest area has been given out in mining leases, including two of the three Globally Significant Biodiversity Areas.
There are currently 14 new applications for mining leases, which are under various stages of consideration for permits to mine in the country’s Forest Reserves.
This is a worrying situation for the Institute. The communiqué said the country risks losing not only the livelihoods of local communities but also biodiversity and the ecological services that sustain life, including clean water, air, and healthy soil.
The meeting also noted that cocoa production, which is the mainstay of Ghana’s economy, is threatened by mining on arable lands, including cocoa farms, due to pollution of soils from heavy metals released from mining activities, and Ghana risks facing a ban on our cocoa exports to the EU if the effects of illegal mining on the country’s environment are not checked.
It said every effort should be made to reclaim all mined-out areas in forest reserves. Government should urgently assign the military to assist the Forestry Commission in fighting this menace of illegal mining.
Further, measures should be taken to withdraw, with immediate effect, all military officers and men who compromised their positions upon deployment to provide security at the various mining sites.
Government, as a matter of priority, should provide adequate logistics to fight illegal mining in forest reserves.
The Institute calls for an Executive ban on all mining activities in forest reserves, including halting the issuance of forest entry permits, gold prospecting licences, and leases, until broader consultation with all stakeholders has been done on the sustainable management of the country’s forests in the long-term vis-à-vis mineral deposits in forest lands.