Illegal mining operations are actively damaging Ghana’s Atewa Forest Reserve, leading to the stripping of forest cover and the excavation of pits. These activities have resulted in muddy and polluted streams, impacting the drinking water supply for an estimated five million Ghanaians. Conservation group A Rocha Ghana has documented the degradation and notes that many rivers and streams previously running clear have turned brown with sediment.
Miners have cut down trees along water courses, raising concerns about contamination from mercury, cyanide, and arsenic, chemicals commonly used in illegal mining. Forestry Commission guards are reportedly overwhelmed by the scale of the mining incursions, described as an “unprecedented attack” on the forest.
Source: Mongabay