Vice President Bawumia greeting one of the top chiefs at the forum
A regional consultative dialogue on small scale mining and deforestation has been held at the University for Development Studies (UDS) in Tamale in the Northern Region under the theme: “Sustainable Scale Mining and Forest Conservation for National Development.”
Addressing participants at the event, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said Ghana is endowed with a lot of minerals, forests and wildlife resources which have been exploited over the years for development.
“The substantial part of government’s revenue comes from these resources particularly mining,” he said, stressing that the government is always trying to find ways to maximise its earning from the exploitation of minerals and forest resources in order to be able to provide the needed infrastructure.
According to him, the exploitation of these natural resources also has negative impact on the natural environment because of the unsustainable practices that are deployed.
He mentioned illegal mining which leads to pollution of water bodies, wood harvesting and bush burning among others as one of such unsustainable practices.
He indicated that the Northern part of Ghana is situated within a fertile ecological zone but the natural resources are being exploited without the state reaping the needed benefits.
“The North is particularly challenged with forest degradation as a result of over exploitation of trees, especially rosewood for export and charcoal production. These continue to be major challenges with rampant annual fire burning which has consequences on climate change and impact on livelihood and the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.”
Dr. Bawumia said the country has beautiful rivers and streams but there is nothing much to celebrate about now because of the unacceptable way of mining and indiscriminate logging.
He urged stakeholders to help find lasting solutions to ensure that the public undertake responsible and sustainable ways of exploitation of the natural resources in order to preserve what is left for the future generation.
“Sustainability is key in our quest to exploit our forest and wildlife resources to ensure that we are able to meet our present needs without compromising the future generation,” he added.
The Vice President said a national consensus on sustainable methods of using minerals and forest resources without the usual partisanship is in order.
The Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor, said the first consultative dialogue was focused on small scale mining but government has decided to add deforestation in northern Ghana because of the fast depleting forest cover of the Savannah ecological zone.
According to him, the government is in the process of creating alternative employment livelihood for illegal miners affected by the ongoing operation to clean-up the mining sector.
Mr. Jinapor said the illegal felling of rosewood has been a major concern for government over the years and for that matter the government issued a ban on the felling of rosewood in March 2019.
The minister indicated that since July 2, 2021, there has been a ban placed on the export of rosewood.
FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale