Ghana’s Lands and Natural Resources Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has urged students and young professionals to take a leading role in tackling illegal mining, warning that nearly 9,000 hectares of forest cover have already been destroyed.
The area lost is equivalent to about 12,500 football fields, with serious consequences for the country’s rivers, water supply and wider environmental security.
Speaking at a seminar organised by students from the Geological Engineering Department at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Mr Armah-Kofi Buah said the response to illegal mining could not be left solely to government and law enforcement agencies.
“Today, I can tell you that this issue of illegal mining must be our collective responsibility,” he told the students, urging the younger generation to take ownership of efforts to protect Ghana’s environment.
Of Ghana’s 288 forest reserves, about 50 have been severely affected by illegal mining, the minister said.
“Just think about one football field and look at 12,500 football fields completely gone. This is forest that is giving us air, water,” he added.
Mr Armah-Kofi Buah warned that the damage posed a particular threat to water sources, with almost 60% of Ghana’s water supply connected to forest reserves.
He also highlighted pollution affecting major rivers, including the Pra, Offin, Birim and Ankobra, especially in the Western and Western North regions.
“Turbidity levels in some affected water bodies range between 5,000 and 12,000, compared with the acceptable range of zero to 500, making the treatment of water for safe consumption increasingly difficult. This is seriously a crisis,” he said.
Proposed changes to mining laws
The minister said the government was reviewing Ghana’s mining policy and preparing a new Mining Act aimed at promoting responsible extraction and increasing local participation.
Under the proposed reforms, reconnaissance licences would be abolished. Exploration licences would also face tighter conditions and time limits, with companies initially allowed two years to explore and the possibility of extending that period to five years if they met the required conditions.
The changes are intended to stop individuals and companies from controlling large areas of land for years without carrying out meaningful exploration.
“After five years, if you can’t find the gold, let’s leave the land back to the community to do farming,” Mr Armah-Kofi Buah said.
The proposed legislation would also make Community Development Agreements compulsory for mining leases. Mining companies would have to work with host communities from the beginning of their operations to develop skills, create jobs and address local development priorities.
“Don’t come and tell us after 20 years that, ‘Oh, I don’t have any of you employed here because you don’t meet the qualification. No. Let’s have a plan from day one,” he said.
Companies would be expected to help train local people, including geologists and engineers, for employment in the sector.
Although he recognised mining’s importance to Ghana’s economy, Mr Armah-Kofi Buah said extraction must not come at the expense of the environment.
“We can do mining, but mining must be done in a sustainable, environmentally cautious and responsible manner. And that is the charge for all of us,” he said.
He also said the government was prioritising local content and capacity development so Ghanaian graduates, particularly engineers and geologists, could secure meaningful opportunities in the mining industry.
