A Rocha wants Ghana removed as Co-Chair of Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership

Conservation-oriented organisation, A Rocha, wants the government removed from its position as Co-Chair of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP).

At COP27, world leaders launched the FCLP, and the Ghana government was given the position of Co-Chair alongside the US government.

According to A Rocha, Ghana accepting the position of FCLP Co-chair meant that the President and his government were ready to lead the world in sustainable forest management, but they have done the opposite.

Although Ghana’s Co-Chair position ends in November, A Rocha wants Ghana stripped of the position with immediate effect.

A Rocha, in a letter to the US Embassy dated October 9, noted “We want to put on record our conviction that the Ghana government is no longer fit to Co-Chair the FCLP and should be removed from this position with immediate effect. Below are our reasons, backed up by evidence: In early 2023, questions were being asked in Parliament about the state of Ghana’s forests. The government responded that the ecological integrity of the Forest Reserves was intact, a statement that was clearly untrue and civil society was quick to call them out.

“In May 2023, the government presented a clearer picture of the state of Ghana’s Forest Reserves and Globally Significant Biodiversity Areas (GSBAs) showing they were far from intact. Three reserves – the Oda River, Apamprama, and Subin Shelterbelt – were classified as active galamsey (illegal small-scale mining) sites requiring military support to flush the miners out.

“Apamprama was already 49% destroyed. A further 23 Forest Reserves were classified as medium difficulty with non-violent miners less difficult to control.”

“In the months that followed, the government did very little to address this destruction and now appears to have given up. It is widely thought the kingpins of galamsey are within the government itself.”

At around the same time, A Rocha Ghana said it detected a number of gold mining leases granted in Ghana’s Forest Reserves and GSBAs. That was strange because between 1992 and 2016, only five companies had been granted leases in Forest Reserves.

“All of a sudden, between 2022 and 2023, ten mining companies had full leases to mine gold in large portions of 11 Forest Reserves. Then a new legislative instrument came to light: the “Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations L.I.2462” had been quietly passed in November 2022.

“A Rocha Ghana realised that LI2462, rather than protecting the forests and GSBAs, was actually making it easy for mining companies to access concessions within them.”

“One of the most disturbing changes between the new L.I. and the preceding 2018 ‘Environmental Guidelines for Mining in Production Forest Reserves in Ghana’ is the scale of the mining area that can be permitted. While the guidelines allowed mining on a maximum of 2% of the production areas of Forest Reserves, the new L.I. does not have any restrictions on scale, resulting in some concessions covering 100% of the Forest Reserve.

“The other glaring change is GSBAs – previously fully protected – are now open for mining if the President says it is in the national interest. The numbers uncovered to date are 24 Forest Reserves – 7 that contain GSBAs – affected by leases granted or applications awaiting validation,” it stated.

Following this, A Rocha said The Fourth Estate (a media house) researched the companies granted mining leases or awaiting validation in Forest Reserves and GSBAs since L.I.2462 was passed and discovered that several company beneficiaries are people with key positions in government or with close links to them.

“The spread of unfettered galamsey across Ghana’s Forest Reserves, the new L.I.2462, and the resulting surge in mining leases and applications in Forest Reserves and GSBAs with their clear links to government, conflict deeply with the government’s position of FCLP Co-Chair. A government that quietly passes legislation to enable mining in Forest Reserves and GSBAs cannot be the Co-Chair of a partnership that is supposed to lead the world on forest protection and climate action. It is not tenable,” it added.

A Rocha said the above showed that Ghana’s actions went against forest protection. “It displays contempt for the Glasgow Leaders Declaration and for its position as FCLP Co-Chair,” it added.