GoldBod, Ghana Armed Forces and Forestry Commission Sign Deal to Reclaim Tano-Nimri Forest Reserve From Illegal Mining
In what officials are describing as a first-of-its-kind coordinated state intervention, the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has signed an agreement with the Ghana Armed Forces and the Forestry Commission to reclaim and restore degraded lands within the Tano-Nimri Forest Reserve, an area devastated by years of illegal mining.
The partnership, announced on June 17, brings together three institutions with distinct but complementary mandates: GoldBod will fund and supervise the project; the military’s Engineer Regiment will handle civil engineering works including back-filling, grading and site stabilisation; and the Forestry Commission will lead afforestation and long-term ecological restoration over a ten-year horizon.
A Strategic Pilot With Measurable Targets
The pilot phase focuses on Compartment 161 of the reserve — approximately 50 hectares out of an estimated 200 hectares of degraded land. The civil engineering component is budgeted at roughly GH₱27.9 million, while the afforestation and vegetation restoration programme will cost an additional GH₱7.2 million over a decade, with GH₱2.2 million allocated for the first phase running from 2026 to 2027.
The total pilot investment stands at approximately GH₱36.35 million, with the agreement set to take effect on July 1, 2026. If successful, officials intend to replicate the model across other degraded forest reserves nationwide.
Closing the Loophole on Fake Reclamation
GoldBod CEO Sammy Gyamfi acknowledged that reclamation contracts have historically served as cover for continued illegal mining. “Illegal mining under the guise of reclamation has been a known challenge, where perpetrators secure reclamation contracts but continue mining when media attention fades,” he said.
To close that loophole, the partnership deliberately selects partners with demonstrated integrity and structures roles so that civil engineering and ecological restoration are carried out under transparent state oversight. The arrangement is framed as both an environmental initiative and a corporate social responsibility effort aligned with global ESG standards.
Deputy Minister: Prevention Is Not Enough
Deputy Minister for Defence Ernest Brogya Genfi argued that a purely preventive approach to illegal mining is insufficient. “When you over-emphasise the preventive, you only prevent further degradation,” he said. “The lands already destroyed still exist and demand immediate action.”
Forestry Commission CEO Hugh Charles Agyeman-Brown added that the military’s engineering capacity and large cadre of trained engineers are critical to converting restoration plans into physical outcomes on the ground, overcoming previous operational barriers around permissions and approvals that had slowed earlier efforts.
A National Blueprint in the Making
The Tano-Nimri initiative is being positioned as more than a localised clean-up. Officials describe it as a national reclamation model — one that blends engineering discipline, environmental science and institutional accountability. If the pilot delivers measurable results, the government plans to extend the approach to other forest reserves scarred by galamsey operations across the country.
Image Source: GHANA BUSINESS NEWS
