A forest protection NGO, Forest Watch Ghana, has raised alarm over mining activities in the Tano Offin forest reserves in the Ashanti Region, which it says could increase the rate of forest degradation.

Investigations conducted by the NGO revealed that mining activities were having a debilitating effect on water bodies in the forest reserve.

Speaking to Class News, Coordinator of Forest Watch Ghana, Samuel Mawutor Mensah, described the phenomenon as worrying.

“If we allow this mining to go on, it will follow that same pattern. They will give a lot of promises that they will restore the place when they finish but there is no evidence of any such restoration which has happened ever in Ghana,” he stated.

“Essentially what they are going to do is that they are going to dig up the mountain; the mountain will be reduced to a valley, and after that everything will be gone and this is why we think it’s a bad idea and we are going to lose so much.

“That area we are talking about is a globally significant biodiversity area. We have not even been able to address the issue of galamsey, it is destroying forests, it is destroying water bodies, and even destroying cocoa farms. Cocoa is also suffering from the threat of galamsey. Our point is: if we haven’t been able to solve these smaller problems, why are we then allowing a very significant biodiversity area [to suffer same fate]?” Mr Mawutor bemoaned.