Ghana Records 8,900 Hectares of Forest Loss to Illegal Mining

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has disclosed that about 8,900 hectares of forest reserves have been completely degraded by illegal mining and other destructive activities, with 258 suspects arrested and 200 excavators seized in operations up to July 2026.

The figures were made public during a strategic working visit and policy dialogue between the Ministry and the IMANI Centre for Policy and Education in Accra.

IMANI had requested the engagement to examine the Ministry’s inherited baseline, performance, operational challenges, reforms and major policy initiatives.

Minister Kofi Buah told the meeting that Ghana has 288 forest reserves, but a number of them have suffered severe degradation.

He said the 8,900 hectares destroyed is equivalent to roughly 12,500 football fields.

Nine reserves were identified among the most severely affected, with some areas becoming so difficult to control that Forestry Commission personnel struggled to enter because of the number of illegal miners, violence and the presence of weapons.

The Minister noted that earlier estimates had understated the extent of destruction because they relied on older data, and that the updated assessment shows a substantially larger affected area.

Showing images of damaged reserves, he remarked, “What you are looking at is not an earthquake. It is a forest reserve.”

He added that restoring the devastated forest landscape would require enormous financial resources.

According to a Ministry presentation titled “Illegal Mining in Forest Reserves,” enforcement activity as of July 2026 included the arrest of 258 suspects.

In addition to the 200 excavators seized, 34 were immobilised. Security agencies also seized 1,469 pumping machines and immobilised 1,259, seized 950 changfan machines and immobilised 774, seized 48 tricycles and immobilised 96, and seized 285 motorbikes and immobilised 32.

A total of 801 structures were immobilised, and 82 gold detectors were seized. The figures mean that 234 excavators, 2,728 pumping machines, 1,724 changfan machines and 461 motorbikes and tricycles have either been seized or immobilised in forest reserve operations.

The Minister separately disclosed that more than 4,000 excavators are currently being held at the ports pending compliance with a new documentation and clearance system.

Under the new regime, importers are required to establish who is importing the equipment, the intended end user and where the excavator will operate before it is cleared.

The Minerals Commission has established a presence at the port as part of the system.

The Minister said approved equipment could subsequently be fitted with tracking technology and geofenced to its declared operational area, with the objective of eventually bringing every excavator operating in Ghana within a traceable system.

Commercial importers who bring in excavators for resale have also been asked to establish legitimate orders and prospective end users.

The policy, he explained, is intended to stop illegal mining equipment before it reaches mining sites rather than waiting for security agencies to chase excavators after environmental damage has already occurred.

Despite the enforcement numbers, Kofi Buah acknowledged a significant weakness in the anti-galamsey campaign.

“The challenge we are having is not the arrest. It is the prosecution,” he said.

The Ministry’s July figures do not provide a breakdown of how many suspects have been charged, prosecuted, convicted, acquitted or still have cases pending.

The Minister said the Ministry is working with the Attorney General’s Department to address the challenge, noting that this creates a major accountability test for the campaign.

The Minister also drew attention to the supply chain behind illegal mining, saying many of the 1,724 changfan machines seized or immobilised are fabricated locally, with workshops manufacturing the machines before they are transported to mining sites and water bodies.

That, he said, shifts attention beyond miners found at the rivers to the broader network supplying the illegal operations.

On water pollution, he identified it as one of the most serious consequences of illegal mining, pointing to the seizure or immobilisation of 2,728 pumping machines.

Government has recruited and trained approximately 2,000 Blue Water Guards as community-based intelligence sources and first responders around affected water bodies.

The Minister acknowledged that the programme has experienced disciplinary challenges, including allegations that some guards had accepted bribes, but maintained that the initiative is generally producing useful results.

The Ministry also announced plans to reduce the maximum initial duration of large-scale mining leases from 30 years to 20 years, strengthen community participation in licensing, and tighten rules governing mineral concessions.

Click to read more: https://opemsuo.com/author/hajara-fuseini/