{"id":138538,"date":"2023-07-28T14:41:18","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T13:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iucn.nl\/?p=138538"},"modified":"2023-09-14T10:55:36","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T09:55:36","slug":"the-impact-of-bauxite-mining-in-ghanas-atewa-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iucn.nl\/en\/story\/the-impact-of-bauxite-mining-in-ghanas-atewa-forest\/","title":{"rendered":"The impact of bauxite mining in Ghana\u2019s Atewa Forest"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Atewa Forest in Ghana is home to a wide variety of species. 53 communities living on the edge of the forest depend on it for their livelihoods, and the forest is an important source of water for over five million people. At the same time, biodiversity and water quality and availability are under pressure and despite Atewa\u2019s legal status as a forest reserve, there are still plans for large-scale bauxite mining in the area.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Header photo: Atewa forest \u00a9 IUCN NL<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The Atewa Forest Reserve in eastern Ghana covers 263 km2 and represents a unique tropical highland rainforest. It is classified as Globally Significant Biodiversity Area, an Important Bird Area (IBA) and a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA), and as such it is internationally recognized as one of the highest priority ecosystems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The Atewa Forest is home to a wide variety of plants and animals, some of which are found only in this area. The forest contains more than 860 species of plants and more than 570 species of butterflies. It is also home to several threatened and near-threatened species, among which the white-naped Mangabey, one of the 25 most threatened species of monkey worldwide.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The Ayensu, Birim and Densu rivers originate from the Atewa Forest. The Densu river alone supplies water to at least 5 million Ghanaians, including 1 million residents of the capital Accra. The Ayensu river mainly supplies water to the central region of the country and the Birim river has an important role in the eastern region for irrigational purposes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The forest also supports livelihoods of 53 communities living on the edge of the forest, as the reserve provides drinking and irrigation water and a unique micro-climate for local agriculture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Biodiversity and livelihoods under pressure<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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In the Atewa Forest Reserve, biodiversity and the water provisioning are under pressure. This is due to weak governance, inadequate law enforcement and lack of participation of local communities in the management of the reserve. Despite its legal status as a forest reserve, the forest is being degraded by illegal activities such as logging, hunting, farming and gold mining. Moreover, there are plans for large-scale bauxite mining in the area. Bauxite is the primary ore of aluminum.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Emmanuel Tabi grew up in the Atewa Forest landscape and is now the coordinator of the Concerned Citizens of Atewa Landscape, a community-based organization with about 500 members from Atewa\u2019s 53 communities. \u2018We have realized that we need to do more to protect the forest so that it can continue to provide us the important ecosystem services. About 80 percent of the people from the communities living around Atewa are working in agriculture. If the forest disappears, the rainfall pattern in the region will change and that will have a severe impact on the livelihoods of many people. Furthermore, 200 streams take their source from the Atewa Forest. They pass through the communities and people rely on these streams. When they dry up or become polluted as a result of the mining, many lives and livelihoods will be at stake,\u2019 Tabi explains.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u2018The forests also provide many medicinal plants, for example mahogany\u2019, Tabi continues. \u2018And it has an important spiritual value for us. We believe trees have spirits, and rivers have spirits. There, for example, are two rivers called Sarworben and Wankobri which we believe protect our people. We have to protect the trees and rivers to protect ourselves, both in spiritual as well as in more practical ways. Concerned Citizens of Atewa Landscape is educating people in the Atewa communities about that.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Bauxite mining<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Although education at the community level is still the organizations main focus, in recent years there has been a shift towards advocacy against bauxite mining. In 2017, the Republic of Ghana signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese state-owned Sinohydro Corp Limited to develop a bauxite industry in Ghana with Atewa Forest as one of the sources of raw materials. Ever since, civil society organizations have been fighting for the protection of the Atewa Forest<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Bauxite is a sedimentary rock that forms the world\u2019s main source of aluminum. Aluminum is considered essential for the energy transition as it powers many low-carbon technologies such as wind turbines and batteries. It is also essential for solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies[1]<\/sup><\/a>Source: https:\/\/blogs.worldbank.org\/energy\/cost-competitive-low-carbon-aluminum-key-energy-transition<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>