In a decisive move aimed at reversing environmental damage linked to illegal mining, the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has signed an agreement with the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and the Forestry Commission (FC) to reclaim and restore degraded lands within the Tano-Nimri Forest Reserve.
The signing, which brought together senior officials from the three state institutions, marks the beginning of a carefully structured national reclamation model—one that combines engineering capacity, disciplined enforcement standards, and long-term ecological restoration, while sending a clear message that the restoration of forest ecosystems will not be business-as-usual, and will not be used as cover for further illegality.
Opening the programme, Mr. Sammy Gyamfi, Esq., Chief Executive Officer of GoldBod, underlined the urgency of addressing the devastation left behind by irresponsible and illegal mining activities across the country, particularly in forest reserves. He reminded stakeholders that the GoldBod was established by Act 1140 in 2025, and that its mandate is to undertake and regulate gold trading in Ghana for the maximization of national benefits. Beyond economic regulation, he emphasized that the Act also places responsibilities on the Board regarding sustainability initiatives, especially in area of support towards land reclamation, among other functions.
“We are barely one year old,” Mr. Gyamfi stated, explaining that the Board has been preparing to deliver on a legal obligation. He said the first major reclamation projects the GoldBod will undertake are anchored in the realities of the gold supply chain, where the Board’s purchasing activities and the support it provides for reserve accumulation come from both large-scale and artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) sectors. Yet, he noted, those benefits have been undermined by illegal and destructive practices by some actors in these sectors, leaving large parts of Ghana devastated.
According to the CEO, GoldBod has therefore initiated a national programme for the reclamation and restoration of degraded mining lands, and has engaged the GAF Engineer Regiment through the Ministry of Defence to execute the civil engineering works. In describing the planned activities, he emphasized land preparation tasks including backfilling, grading, reshaping, compaction, and site stabilization; steps intended to correct the physical scars of mining and prepare the land for ecological recovery.
Mr. Gyamfi said the Board chose Tano-Nimri Forest Reserve as the starting point after joint inspections with key stakeholders, including the CEO of the FC and the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources. He described the sight of destroyed vegetation as deeply troubling, stressing that while reclamation may have been used as a loophole by some operators in the past, this initiative is designed to close that gap.
He explained that illegal mining under the guise of “reclamation” has been a known challenge, where perpetrators secure reclamation contracts but continue mining when media attention fades. The GoldBod, he said, resolved this risk by deliberately selecting partners with integrity and discipline, and by structuring roles so that civil engineering and ecological restoration are carried out under appropriate state oversight.
A major strength of the deal, Mr. Gyamfi said, is that it involves two state agencies performing complementary responsibilities: the GAF Engineer Regiment for the engineering components, and the Forestry Commission for the afforestation and vegetation restoration component.
He clarified that the GoldBod will provide funding and supervision, while ensuring the work is conducted correctly and transparently in line with the custodial authority of the FC over the reserve. The CEO confirmed that the agreement will take effect on 1 July 2026, after which the Ministry of Defence will deliver detailed work plans and initial payments will enable mobilization for execution of the works.
On the scope and cost, Mr. Gyamfi revealed that the reclamation focus for this first phase is compartment 161 within Tano-Nimri, covering 50 hectares, out of an estimated 200 hectares of degraded area in the compartment. He stated that the civil engineering component will cost roughly 27.9 million Cedis. The afforestation and authorization component to be handled by the Forestry Commission, he said, will cost about 7.2 million Cedis over ten years, with the first phase, within 2026 and possibly part of 2027, targeting around 2.2 million Ghana cedis.
In over-all, the pilot phase involves an estimated investment of roughly 36.35 million Cedis. Mr. Gyamfi presented the project as an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiative and a corporate social responsibility effort, while making clear it is also a lawful and strategic pilot designed to be replicated in other devastated forest areas nationwide.
Taking the floor, the Deputy Minister for Defence, Ernest Brogya Genfi, framed the partnership as a necessary combination of preventive and restorative approaches in the fight against illegal mining. He stressed that enforcement alone prevents further damage, but restoration is required when the damage has already happened. “When you over-emphasize on the preventive, you only prevent further degradation,” he said, adding that the lands already destroyed still exist and demand immediate action. He expressed confidence that the GAF would apply professional standards, follow required protocols, and ensure discipline in execution, pointing out that standards and sanctions are part of how legality is upheld in government work.
Mr. Genfi assured the GoldBod that the Armed Forces personnel are aware of enforcement expectations and that work carried out under code and regulation will be delivered responsibly. He also characterized the agreement as a pilot that must demonstrate feasibility and results before scaling up, an approach meant to expand restoration outcomes beyond a single compartment or reserve.
For his part, the CFEO of the FC, Mr. Hugh Charles Agyeman-Brown, described the partnership as a timely and encouraging response to a long-standing forestry recovery challenge. He recalled that early this year, the Commission wrote to multiple institutions seeking support for reclamation and restoration efforts, noting that GoldBod was the first to respond and did not stop at discussion. He said the Board invited the Commission to inspect the site physically, leading to the agreement now being signed within a short timeframe, about two and a half months from first contact.
Mr. Agyeman-Brown emphasized that the FC has confidence that the involvement of the military will solve operational barriers that have previously stalled reclamation efforts, particularly where permissions and approvals did not always translate into real restoration. He pointed out that the military’s engineering expertise and large cadre of trained engineers are critical in converting plans into physical outcomes on the ground. He also contextualized the magnitude of the crisis in degraded forest reserves, citing the Commission’s assessment that illegal mining has left thousands of hectares affected, and warning that the extent of damage continues to be evaluated and may be larger when all years and impacts are considered.
He further argued that reclaiming and stopping excavation are not enough without restoring the ecological integrity of damaged landscapes. For the FC, restoration means rehabilitating mined land in ways that allow forests to return to their intended function within the ecosystem. He praised the pilot as a demonstration of action, not merely talk, adding that future engagements should yield tangible progress and expanded restoration partnerships.
As the signing concluded, the agreement between the GoldBod, the GAF, and the FC stood as a coordinated state effort that goes beyond statements and attempts at superficial reclamation. It is built on clear roles, defined responsibilities, disciplined execution, ecological restoration oversight, and a funding framework intended to deliver physical and environmental results within compartment 161 of Tano-Nimri. More than anything, the partnership signals that when illegal mining destroys forest reserves, the response must restore what was lost, and must be structured in a way that prevents new cycles of exploitation under the cover of rehabilitation.