Director of Mining at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ing. Michael Sandow Ali, has dismissed claims that the recently passed Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations, 2022 (L.I. 2462) which allows mining in forest reserves, has opened up Ghana’s forest reserves and given credence to mineral exploration by mining firms in forest reserves.
According to Ing. Sandow Ali, the forest reserves have been opened up to several mining firms since 1945 with the Ghana Bauxite Company for instance, mining bauxite in the Afao forest reserve.
Further asserting that the L.I. 2462 was simply a review of existing guidelines on mining practices in the country’s forest reserves.
Speaking to norvanreports on the sidelines of a forum held by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) on the transition of critical minerals in the context of the country’s green transition goals, Ing. Sandow Ali quipped, “The forest reserves have been opened to mining firms since 1945, in the 1990s close to 30 companies were doing exploration in the forest reserves with 17 of them having found minerals of economic importance and by which the year 2000, five of them had done feasibility studies and needed mining leases from the government having already spent millions of dollars.
“At the time, there was nothing to help guide or regulate the mining activities of these firms and so the EPA, Minerals Commission, the Ghana Chamber of Mines, and some other stakeholders had to study from Australia, South Africa, and Brazil on how mining was done in their forest reserves and it was based on the study from these countries that guidelines were created for mining firms to mine in Ghana’s forest reserves.”
Speaking further to norvanreports, Ing. Sandow Ali averred the guidelines were reviewed or upgraded into the now embattled L.I. 2462 due to the possibility of mining firms disregarding the guidelines in the future.
“We realized that someday, a mining company might say they are not obliged to follow the guidelines on mining in forest reserves and that was why in consultation with the Attorney General and various state institutions and mining companies, we reviewed the guidelines into a law,” he posited.
According to Ing. Sandow Ali, a repeal of the law will result in anarchy in the forest reserves.
“If the law is repealed, then there is going to be anarchy in the forest reserves, because what are we going to use to regulate the mining firms?” he quizzed.
Ing. Sandow Ali is of the view that, rather than repealing the entirety of the L.I. 2462, some portions of the law particularly the 3b of the L.I. should rather be revised or repealed.
“I know most CSOs have an issue with the 3b of the regulations of the L.I. which states that in the interest of the nation, the president can declassify the forest reserves for mining, and so if that is the main problem, then we can repeal that portion,” he remarked.
Mining in Ghana’s forest reserves has become controversial, with some saying the government’s actions have opened the door to unlimited mining.
In 2022, the government passed the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations, 2022 (L.I. 2462), which allows mining in all forest reserves in Ghana. This law, according to critics was passed without consultation with environmental groups, who say it allows institutionalized mining in forest reserves.
Following the numerous backlash from environmental groups, labour unions, CSOs, and the public, the government in October 2024, presented a Legislative Instrument (L.I.) to Parliament to revoke L.I. 2462, which would ban mining in forest reserves.
Known as the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) (Revocation) Instrument, 2024, the new L.I. will revoke the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations, 2022 (L.I. 2462), and make any form of mining in forest reserves illegal.
norvanreports
