Gold Board commits funds to restore mining-damaged forest
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GoldBod, the Ghana Gold Board, is investing GH¢35 million (approximately $2.7 million USD) to reclaim and reforest the Tano Nimri Forest Reserve in Ghana’s Western Region.
The project will begin with 50 hectares of restoration, eventually expanding to cover around 200 hectares of land damaged by illegal gold mining, known as “galamsey”, between 2021 and 2024. GoldBod is partnering with the Ghana Armed Forces and the Forestry Commission to carry out the work.
Military engineers are currently finishing earthworks, including filling old mining pits and leveling the land, before handing the site over to the Forestry Commission for planting trees and restoring the ecosystem. The reclamation project is part of GoldBod’s broader environmental program, and the organisation intends to expand the initiative.
Professor Ishmael Quaicoe of the United Nations University expects another 100 hectares of degraded forest land to be restored next year, using the Tano Nimri project as a model for future efforts.
