If John Dramani Mahama, the front-runner of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), wins the next presidential election on December 7, he has promised to put an end to mining in forest reserves.
The former president feels that encouragement should not be given to those who destroy forest reserves in order to get gold.
Mr. Mahama emphasized that Ghana’s forests needed to be preserved when addressing chiefs and elders in the Central Region.
He promised that the extraction of gold from forest reserves at the price of preservation would not be allowed by his government.
“All mining in forest reserves is going to end. There were several of those trees when our forefathers lived here. In the forest reserves, there are some trees that are 700 years old. Never did our forefathers cut them. For us, our forefathers left them.
“What will we leave for our children when we cut them down? Savannah, environmental destruction, and desertification. Therefore, we need to protect the forest. Gaining as much gold as possible is appealing, to be sure, but it would be like cutting your nose to spite your face.
