State security forces have successfully cleared illegal miners from nine heavily guarded “red zones” inside Ghana’s forest reserves, opening the doors for extensive environmental restoration, President John Dramani Mahama announced on Monday.
Speaking at the Mining in Motion conference in Accra, the President provided an update on the country’s ongoing battle against illegal small-scale mining (galamsey), revealing the scale to which illegal operations had invaded protected state lands.
“We have 288 forest reserves, and of these forest reserves, 48 of them had been penetrated by illegal miners,” President Mahama stated.
The President highlighted that heavily armed syndicates had effectively taken over several of these locations, making standard forest protection efforts impossible.
“And of the 48, 9 were declared red zones, which means the forest guards could not enter those reserves because the illegal miners were fully armed,” he explained.
Following targeted security operations to neutralize these armed strongholds, government forces succeeded in driving out the illegal operators. President Mahama confirmed that land recovery and preparation teams are now being deployed to restore the degraded habitats.
“I am happy to note that of those 9 red zones, we have cleared all of them of illegal miners, and are currently preparing those forest reserves for reclamation,” President Mahama noted.
Expressing appreciation to the anti-galamsey task forces and field personnel, President Mahama praised their efforts in reclaiming control over state assets and reiterated the government’s commitment to rehabilitating damaged ecosystems across the country.
