A Rocha Ghana, an environmental conservation group, has stated its intention to initiate a legal action against the government regrading illegal mining activities in forest reserves in the country, citinewsroom.com has reported.

The organisation said that the action will be executed with some Civil Society Organisations.

This was announced during an emergency press briefing at the A Rocha head office in Accra.

The group, which incudes Kasa Ghana, Eco-Conscious Citizens, Tropenbos, Nature and Development Foundation, Civic Response, and Media Coalition Against Galamsey, is highly concerned about the destructive effects of mining in these protected areas, the report added.

They added that, the passage of LI 2462 in 2022, which allows mining in Ghana’s forest reserves, has brought extensive destruction in protected areas and threatens the livelihoods of many Ghanaians.

Daryl Bossu, the Deputy National Director of A Rocha Ghana, said that their main goal is to get an injunction to stop mining and prospecting in forest reserves in order to protect the environment.

He added that the lawsuit is to contest the Legality of Ghana’s LI.

“The Minerals Commission is still accepting applications to mine in forest reserves as recently as August 2024. Our case challenges the legality of the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations, that LI 2462 which we believe was laid in Parliament without the mandatory physical impact analysis in violation of the Public Financial Management Act.

“This failure to follow due process renders the regulation null and void,” he stated, the report said.

RAD/AE


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