President John Mahama has revealed that illegal mining had penetrated 48 of Ghana's 288 forest reserves, with the worst-affected sites so overrun by armed miners that forest guards could not even set foot in them.
Speaking at the Mining in Motion conference in Accra on Monday, October 19, Mahama broke down the scale of the problem in blunt terms.
"We have 288 forest reserves, and of these forest reserves, 48 of them had been penetrated by illegal miners," he said.
Of those 48 compromised reserves, nine had deteriorated to the point where they were officially classified as red zones, areas enforcement officers simply could not access because of the firepower miners had brought in.
"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." - President Mahama
That level of occupation meant the state had effectively lost control over nine forest reserves to armed groups operating outside the law, a situation that had persisted until recent enforcement action turned things around.
All Nine Red Zones Now Cleared
Mahama delivered what he framed as good news on that front. "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," he told the conference.
The President used the moment to commend the security personnel and other officials involved in reclaiming the reserves, crediting their work for making reclamation efforts possible at sites that had been effectively off-limits to the state for an extended period.
The disclosure comes as government continues pushing mining sector reforms meant to balance investor interests with environmental protection and local community benefits across Ghana's natural resource sectors.
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