Illegal mines threaten biodiversity and drinking water in Ghana’s Atewa Forest

Illegal miners are streaming daily into Ghana's Atewa Forest Reserve, overwhelming a small Forestry Commission guard force and stripping forest cover with basic pickaxes, shovels, and portable diesel pumps locally known as changfan. Conservation group A Rocha Ghana says previously clear rivers have turned brown with sediment, and fears contamination from mercury, cyanide, and arsenic threatens drinking water for up to five million people.

The reserve holds 239 bird species and 711 butterfly species, including endangered species like the dotted border butterfly, and is the only known home to two critically endangered frog species. A Rocha's Daryl Bosu says forest guards have been taken hostage by increasingly aggressive miners, some from neighboring countries, and that arrested miners often make bail and return to mining while cases drag on for years.

A national anti-illegal-mining agency, NAIMOS, acknowledged the concerns are valid in a Sept. 15 statement and said it has conducted reconnaissance and is coordinating with security agencies for further action, guided by verified intelligence.

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