June 18, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) is calling on the Government of Ghana to
immediately repeal the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves)
Regulations, 2022 (LI 2462) and issue a binding presidential policy that permanently
prohibits all forms of mining in Ghana’s forest reserves.

In a strongly worded petition addressed to the President and Parliament, GAAS condemned
the government’s recent move to amend only one clause of the LI — regulation 3(2) — instead of fulfilling its public commitment to revoke the entire legislative instrument.

“A forest reserve is not a mine-in-waiting,” said the GAAS in the statement. “Authorising
mining in these protected zones undermines the entire purpose of forest reserves, threatens
biodiversity, pollutes our water bodies, and violates Ghana’s international commitments on
climate and the environment.”

GAAS described LI 2462 as a legal, environmental and constitutional failure, pointing out that it allows mining in ecologically sensitive areas by giving unlawful discretionary powers to the Minister and the President — powers which the 1992 Constitution reserves for the Minerals Commission and Parliament.

The Academy also noted Ghana’s dismal record on mining enforcement and warned that
legitimising mining in forest reserves would only deepen environmental degradation and
worsen climate vulnerabilities. “Our forests are not just natural spaces — they are our last line of defence against climate change, water insecurity, and biodiversity loss,” the statement continued. “Preserving them is
not optional. It is a national duty.”

Key Demands from GAAS:
• Total repeal of LI 2462, not just the removal of Regulation 3(2)
• A firm and binding Presidential policy that prohibits all mining — exploration, prospecting, and extraction — in all forest reserves
• Immediate termination of all mining and prospecting activities currently taking place in forest reserves

GAAS emphasised that continued mining in forest reserves would be a breach of Ghana’s obligations under the Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity and other multilateral environmental treaties.”Let us not be the generation that traded away Ghana’s forests for short-term profits,” GAAS concluded. “Let us be the generation that stood firm and said: our forests are not for sale.”

For more information about GAAS, visit our website on https://gaas-gh.org

For media enquiries please email communications@gaas-gh.org orinfo@gaas-gh.org

<signed>
Emerita Prof. Isabella Akyinbah Quakyi
President of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences