ATEWA FOREST

In the first and second series of STOP EXPLOITING AFRICA, I succeeded in showing you some of the ongoing exploitation of Ghana and even mentioned names of some Chinese nationals behind it. From illegal logging of rosewood to illegal mining (Galamsey).

In this series I will put forward how an essential part of the country known as Atewa Forest is in the pipelines of being exploited. Located in the Eastern Region of Ghana, the Atewa Forest is a reserved forest to preserve the rich vegetation of Ghana.

Illegal logging of plants have been banned from this forest and all other destructive activities which causes harm to vegetation. It is internationally recognised as one of the highest priority ecosystems in West Africa for its high species diversity, high levels of endemism and great hydrological importance. The Atewa Forest was gazetted as a National Forest Reserve in 1926, then subsequently a Special Biological Protection Area in 1994. It is ranked amongst Ghana’s 30 Globally Significant Biodiversity Areas (GSBAs) in 1999. It is also recognised as an important Bird Area.

The forest shelters giant trees, and has over 1100 species of plants including 56 that are threatened with extinction. Butterfly density is also very high in this forest with over 700 species of butterflies. Amphibians are represented by 40 species, a third of which are threatened. I can go on and on.

The government of Ghana is currently investing in the bauxite industry and Atewa Forest has been named as a key and major source of ore for this project. Thus, the government is planning to let some Chinese Companies mine the bauxite deposits found in the hilltops of Atewa Forest. This is spread over a wide area and if they are not stopped now, the whole forest would have to be removed or destroyed to make way for the bauxite mining. Environmental conscious organizations and individuals have protested against this move but it has fallen on deaf ears of the government. On 20^th June 2019, these environmental conscious persons took a step forward by organizing a huge demonstration in the capital city Accra, and they matched to the parliament house to present a petition which was received by the majority leader. My fear as an Environmental conscious person is that, this would not resign the decision of the government to give this forest to these Chinese Companies to mine the bauxite in the forest and destroy it. I therefore charge each and every EcoGeneration Ambassador and mentor to put their voice in this. This could be done in collaboration with the United Nation to help save the Atewa Forest from exploitation. I believe that external pressure from Environmental Conscious Organizations like Tunza EcoGeneration and United Nation can help save Atewa Forest. If these Chinese Companies never expressed their interest to mine bauxite in this forest, then perhaps I would not have written this report.

So I keep and will keep saying that “Stop Exploiting Africa” because the dangers that would come with it would be faced by each and every one of us.

I look forward to seeing each and every one of you signing the petition which has been signed by not less than 20,000 environmental conscious persons at www.change.org

And I again charge EcoGeneration and its associates to do something to help save Atewa Forest.

Thank you.

Image credits to www.change.org and www.arocha.org