The government has launched a statewide land reclamation program aimed at restoring degraded forest reserves, abandoned mine pits, and contaminated landscapes through large-scale tree planting campaigns.
This is a component of increased attempts to rebuild areas damaged by illicit mining.
In the most recent action, RM Ecorestore Ghana Limited was given around 800 acres of mined-out land along the Subri River at Nkroful in the Western Region by Minister of Lands and Natural Resources Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah yesterday for reclamation and replanting projects.
A comparable amount of reclaimed mined-out land at Manso Adubia in the Ashanti Region was taken over by the government last month and converted into a productive zone.
Through an effort led by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Zijin Golden Ridge Limited (Zijin Ghana), a major mining corporation based in Akyem, is sponsoring the project as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Millions of cedis that would have been taken from the Consolidated Fund are saved for the nation because to this strategy.
However, the program is a component of the government’s larger plan to replenish vegetation in regions that have been ravaged by years of illicit mining, or galamsey.
Thousands of teak and acacia seedlings will be planted throughout the reclaimed ground as part of the project in an effort to gradually return the land to productive use and restore the ecological health of the area.
According to the government, the goal of the project was not just to recover degraded lands but also to provide long-term plantation development and employment possibilities for locals in communities impacted by mining.
The Nkroful project is in line with a similar initiative that is already taking place at Nyankumase in the Ashanti Region’s Amansie South District, where massive tree planting operations have started on former mining sites.
As part of a long-term rehabilitation initiative intended to enhance soil quality and restore the area’s environmental balance, Nyankumase has already reclaimed significant areas of damaged ground by planting acacia and teak seedlings.
The company conducting the program, RM Ecorestore Ghana Limited, is collaborating with the government to recover land that has been mined out in various regions of the nation.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources told reporters last Tuesday that the government is still dedicated to preventing future damage to the nation’s lands, forests, and water bodies following a brief ceremony to start the reclamation efforts at Nkroful.
According to Mr. Buah, environmental rehabilitation has become a top national priority due to the growing damage caused by illicit mining, necessitating immediate and ongoing action.
He declared that the Mahama Administration was committed to repairing the harm inflicted by years of careless mining, particularly in rural communities and forest reserves.
Mr. Buah explained that the government’s environmental sustainability policy was centred on programs like Blue Water Guards and Tree for Life.
According to him, the actions were meant to support responsible land use practices in mining-prone areas, rehabilitate contaminated water bodies, and foster reforestation.
The Lands and Natural Resources Minister emphasised that the hazardous environmental and health dangers that these sites posed to neighbouring populations made the reclaiming of abandoned mining pits vital.
According to Mr. Buah, many of the degraded areas might be transformed into fruitful agricultural areas, forest plantations, and other development-oriented initiatives that would benefit the locals if they were restored.
President Mahama has continuously emphasised environmental restoration as one of the main tenets of his administration’s development goal since taking office again in 2025.
According to Mr. Buah, the President is still extremely concerned about the swift devastation of forest reserves and the pollution of large rivers brought on by illicit mining operations in recent years.
He insisted that the current reclamation initiatives were a component of larger strategies being implemented to combat galamsey while making sure impacted areas were not irreversibly ruined.
As the government stepped up efforts to rehabilitate the environment, the Minister of Lands, who is also the Member of Parliament for Ellembelle, promised that more damaged lands throughout the nation will soon be reclaimed under similar programs.
Source: newsthemegh.com