By Panafrican.email
Ghana has begun a major land-reclamation effort in the Tano Nimri Forest Reserve, bringing together the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), the Ghana Armed Forces and the Forestry Commission to restore land heavily damaged by illegal mining.
The first phase targets 50 hectares within Compartment 161 of the Tano Nimri Forest Reserve, an area in Ghana’s Western Region that has suffered extensive degradation from illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.
The initiative represents an important shift in Ghana’s response to illegal mining. Rather than concentrating exclusively on arrests, equipment seizures and enforcement operations, the programme places equal emphasis on repairing landscapes that have already been damaged.
From gold extraction to environmental restoration
The reclamation programme was established through agreements between GoldBod, the Ghana Armed Forces and the Forestry Commission.
According to the Ghana News Agency, GoldBod signed a memorandum with the Ghana Army Engineers Regiment and the Forestry Commission in June 2026 to begin the restoration programme. The initial project covers 50 hectares. (Ghana News Agency)
The Forestry Commission subsequently confirmed that the first phase covers 50 hectares and involves land reclamation, site stabilisation, afforestation and ecosystem restoration. The project has an estimated overall cost of approximately GH¢35 million. (Fiscal Commission)
GoldBod is financing the intervention.
The Ghana Army Engineers Regiment is responsible for the engineering component, including:
- filling abandoned mining pits;
- grading damaged terrain;
- reshaping the landscape;
- compacting soil;
- stabilising the reclaimed areas.
The Forestry Commission will oversee the ecological restoration and afforestation component.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed that the military engineering unit was contracted to carry out the civil-engineering aspects of the reclamation. (Ministry of Defence Ghana)
A forest reserve transformed by illegal mining
The scale of damage illustrates the environmental cost associated with uncontrolled gold extraction.
Forestry Commission officials have said that approximately 8,700 hectares of Ghana’s forest reserves had been degraded by illegal mining by the end of 2024, with the figure expected to rise after accounting for destruction recorded during 2025. (Ghana News Agency)
The Tano Nimri Forest Reserve was selected because of the extensive destruction caused by mining activities.
Reports from the project partners indicate that more than 200 hectares of the affected forest area have been degraded, making the initial 50-hectare restoration phase only a portion of the wider rehabilitation requirement. (Graphic Online)
That distinction is important.
The 50 hectares currently being restored should not be interpreted as meaning that the entire damaged section of Tano Nimri has been rehabilitated. It is the first phase of a larger restoration programme.
Why use military engineers?
The decision to involve the Ghana Armed Forces has attracted attention because reclamation work is normally associated with specialist environmental and civil-engineering contractors.
GoldBod CEO Sammy Gyamfi said the military was selected partly because previous reclamation contracts had faced concerns that private contractors could themselves become involved in illegal mining.
The Ghana Army Engineers Regiment therefore brings an engineering capability to the project while the Forestry Commission provides the ecological expertise. (Ghana News Agency)
The Ministry of Defence has said the military personnel involved are expected to follow established engineering and environmental standards. (Ministry of Defence Ghana)
The cost of repairing Ghana’s mining legacy
The financial structure of the programme is significant.
GoldBod has committed approximately GH¢27.9 million for the civil-engineering component. A further GH¢7.2 million has been allocated for afforestation and maintenance over a ten-year period, bringing the overall project cost to roughly GH¢35 million. (Ministry of Defence Ghana)
This places GoldBod, Ghana’s state gold-trading institution, directly into environmental restoration.
That is noteworthy because Ghana’s contemporary mining policy is increasingly attempting to connect the economic benefits of mineral extraction with responsibility for the environmental consequences of mining.
GoldBod’s changing role
GoldBod was established as Ghana’s central institution for the country’s gold-trading system, but its activities are increasingly extending into responsible-mining and environmental initiatives.
GoldBod has described the Tano Nimri project as part of its National Reclamation and Environmental Restoration Programme. (GoldBod)
The institution has also indicated that the Tano Nimri project is intended to serve as a model for similar reclamation efforts elsewhere in Ghana.
In October, GoldBod reported that reclamation of the initial 50 hectares had commenced and that an additional 100 hectares of devastated forest land is planned for reclamation in 2027. (GoldBod)
If implemented, that would bring the programme’s planned restoration beyond the initial pilot area.
Restoration is not the same as prevention
The Tano Nimri project also highlights one of Ghana’s biggest challenges in dealing with illegal mining.
Restoring damaged land does not necessarily prevent the same area from being mined again.
For reclamation to have a lasting effect, environmental restoration must be accompanied by enforcement capable of preventing renewed illegal mining, protecting restored vegetation and maintaining the integrity of forest reserves.
This is why the Tano Nimri project is best understood as one component of a broader strategy rather than a standalone solution to Ghana’s galamsey crisis.
Reported facts versus claims
Established facts reported by Ghanaian public institutions: GoldBod, the Ghana Armed Forces and the Forestry Commission have entered into a reclamation partnership; the first phase covers 50 hectares; military engineers are conducting the civil-engineering work; and the Forestry Commission is responsible for ecological restoration and afforestation. (Ghana News Agency)
Reported estimates: Forestry Commission officials have estimated that thousands of hectares of Ghana’s forest reserves have been degraded by illegal mining. These figures are institutional assessments rather than an independently audited national environmental inventory. (Ghana News Agency)
Analysis: The project represents a potentially important change in Ghana’s mining-environment relationship because it puts restoration directly into the operating responsibilities of state institutions connected to the gold sector.
What remains to be demonstrated: The ultimate success of the programme will depend on whether reclaimed land remains protected, vegetation is successfully re-established and the restored forest ecosystem recovers over time.
A test for Ghana’s mining future
The Tano Nimri project comes at a time when Ghana is trying to extract greater economic value from its mineral resources while also confronting the environmental consequences of mining.
Gold remains one of Ghana’s most important sources of foreign exchange. But the environmental damage associated with illegal mining has increasingly become a national issue involving forests, farmland and water resources.
The reclamation of Tano Nimri therefore carries significance beyond the 50 hectares currently under restoration.
It raises a broader question for Ghana and other African mineral-producing countries:
Can mineral wealth be converted into national development while ensuring that the landscapes left behind are restored rather than abandoned?
Tano Nimri provides Ghana with an opportunity to demonstrate that environmental restoration can become an integral part of mineral governance—not merely a response after the damage has been done.
For now, the first 50 hectares are the test.
If the project succeeds, the model could be expanded to other degraded forest reserves and mining landscapes across Ghana.
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