Illegal gold mining is intensifying inside Ghana Atewa Forest Reserve threatening one of the country’s most important biodiversity hotspots and potentially putting the drinking water supply of up to five million people at risk, conservation groups have warned.
The 26,300 hectare Atewa Forest Reserve in eastern Ghana is home to hundreds of bird and butterfly species and more than 80 threatened and endangered species. Conservation organisation A Rocha Ghana says illegal miners have increasingly entered the reserve, overwhelming the limited number of Forestry Commission personnel responsible for protecting it.
According to A Rocha Ghana, miners are clearing vegetation, digging pits and establishing temporary camps across the forest. Abandoned mining equipment and heavily disturbed areas have been found around the reserve, while streams that were previously clear have become muddy and polluted with sediment.
Daryl Bosu, deputy national director of operations at A Rocha Ghana, said miners have also been cutting trees along waterways. He raised concerns that water could be contaminated by substances including mercury, cyanide and arsenic, which are commonly associated with illegal gold-mining activities.
The forest is particularly significant for biodiversity. A Rocha Ghana records 239 bird species and 711 butterfly species in Atewa. The reserve is also the only known habitat of the critically endangered Afia Birago’s puddle frog and the Atewa slippery frog.
A 2022 assessment by BirdLife International and the Ghana Wildlife Society identified Atewa as a major biodiversity hotspot, estimating that about 20% of Ghana’s threatened species occur within the reserve. Other species associated with the forest include the dotted border butterfly, the white naped mangabey and Shelley’s eagle owl.
Despite the scale of the environmental damage, many of the miners currently operating in Atewa are using relatively basic equipment, including pickaxes, shovels and portable diesel powered pumps locally known as “one-leg” machines. A Rocha Ghana says miners frequently enter the forest at night, when the Forestry Commission has fewer personnel available.
The organisation also reported growing tensions between miners and forest guards. Bosu said a district manager had reported an incident in which two forest guards were taken hostage before being rescued by police. He also said miners entering the reserve include both Ghanaians and people from neighbouring countries.
A Rocha Ghana and other conservation groups called on the Ghanaian government on September 14 to provide additional resources to the Forestry Commission and law enforcement agencies to tackle illegal mining in Atewa and other forest reserves. They also renewed calls for Atewa to be designated as a national park, which would strengthen its legal protection.
Bosu further expressed concern that some arrested miners receive bail and return to illegal mining while their cases remain unresolved. He cited at least one case that had remained pending for five years.
The Forestry Commission and the National Anti illegal Mining Operations Secretariat, or NAIMOS, did not respond to questions from Mongabay. However in a September 15 statement reported by local media, NAIMOS spokesperson Paa Kwesi Schandorf acknowledged the concerns raised by A Rocha Ghana and said they would receive urgent attention.
NAIMOS said it had already conducted reconnaissance operations inside the reserve and was working with security and state agencies to take action based on verified intelligence and further operational assessments.
The escalating mining activity has placed Atewa’s forests, wildlife and waterways under growing pressure. For conservation groups, protecting the reserve is also closely linked to safeguarding the water resources on which communities across eastern Ghana depend.