Below is the full text of a statement issued by six environmental groups to commemorate World Environment Day 2010 which was marked on Saturday, June 5, 2010.
The 2010 World Environment Day is being celebrated under the theme “Biodiversity-Ecosystems Management and Green Economy” to draw attention to the importance of biodiversity to the survival of life. Despite the importance of biodiversity of plants and animals to the survival of life, there is a global concern about the destruction of biodiversity which had caused many plant and animal species to face extinction through human activity.
N. Ross (1996) stated that “99 per cent of all species that ever lived are now extinct. But I think we have an obligation, now, in our generation and in foreseeable generations to try to protect every species, try to maintain every species because virtually every species that is going extinct now is going extinct due to human activity not because of natural processes”.
Sherry Ayittey. Environment, Science and Technology Minister
Biodiversity which refers to life in all its forms and the natural processes that support and connect all life forms provides many natural services. The natural services provided by biodiversity include but not limited to the maintenance of ecosystems; breeding stocks , air and water purification; provision of food, fuel and shelter ;stabilization of the earth’s climate ; plant pollination; detoxification of waste products; nutrient storage and recycling; soil protection; cultural values; prevention of natural disasters ; source of many medicines ; recreation and tourism among others.
It is estimated that 30% of medicines are developed from plants and animals whilst 40 % of the world’s economy and 80% of the needs of the poor are derived from biological resources.
These are valuable services provided freely by nature and the destruction of biodiversity by human activity in most cases cannot be replaced.
Our organisations believe that biodiversity can generate significant economic resources for the nation and the decline in biological resources of Ghana should be a source of worry to all Ghanaians.
In Ghana, the decline of biological resources has been evident by the turn of the century. For instance, it has been estimated that the total forest cover of Ghana has reduced from 88,000 km2 in 1938 to between 15,800 km2 and 17,200 km2 at present. A study by the World Bank (2002) has revealed that Populations of wildlife species within the savannah have dwindled because of increased human and livestock populations, agricultural expansion, inappropriate farming practices, road construction, bush burning and deforestation. The reduction in forest cover has resulted in habitat loss, which is important for the maintenance and protection of biological diversity.
We wish to commend government for ratifying the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which ensures the conservation and protection of biological resources and native species and also developing the National Biodiversity Strategy (NBS) as well as formulation of policies and legislation to regulate the harvesting, utilization, development and preservation of the country’s natural resources endowment, strengthening institutions responsible for natural resources management, empowering all stakeholders in management, and promoting public education and awareness raising on sustainable utilization and conservation of natural resources. Some of the projects developed include; Ghana Environment Resources Management Project (GERMP), Natural Resource Management and Environmental Governance (NREG), Savanna Resources Management Project (SRMP) and the Northern Savanna Biodiversity Conservation Project in an attempt to halt the current decline in biological resources and promote better ecosystem management.
Despite these laudable efforts put in place by government to protect biodiversity, the Ghana government is engaged in policy contradiction when it granted mining leases to multinational mining companies to undertake surface mining operations in Forest Reserves that are rich in biodiversity.
For example a report titled “A Rapid Biological Assessment of the Ajenua Bepo and Mamang River Forest Reserves, Ghana”, which is a collaborative research of Conservation International, Center for Applied Biodiversity Science (CABS) and Newmont Ghana Gold Limited identified 29 species of conservation concern in the Ajenua Bepo forest reserve, 25 of which were plant species and ten new species to science. Despite the fact that the Ajenua Bepo Forest reserve contains 10 species new to science and 29 species of conservation concern, government has granted a mining lease for Newmont Akyem project to undertake surface mining operations in this forest reserve with rich biodiversity.
We are unhappy that government is violating national laws and international conventions that it had signed relating to biodiversity conservation and demand that government should as a matter of urgency revoke the mining rights granted to all mining companies in the country to mine in forest reserves. For example, as we speak now, government has granted mining rights to Newmont Ghana Gold Limited and SAVACEM respectively to mine gold in the Ajenua Bepo Forest Reserve and Limestone in the Yokumbra Forest Reserve near Buipe respectively.
We further call on government to stop granting exploration rights to companies in the country within protected areas. For example, government has also granted mining exploration right to mining companies to explore for gold in the protected corridor between the Mole National Park and Nazinga Park in Burkina Faso.
Mining in forest reserves contravenes certain provisions in the National Land Policy developed by the Ministry of Lands and Forestry in 1999. Section 4.5(a) of the National Land Policy states that, “To ensure the conservation of environmental quality, no land with primary forest cover will be cleared for the purpose of establishing a forest or tree crop plantation or mining activity”. The National Land Policy of 1999 states further in Section 4.4(b) that,
“All lands declared as forest reserves , strict nature reserves , national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and similar land categories constitute Ghana’s permanent forest reserves and wildlife estates , and are ‘fully protected’ for ecosystem maintenance , biodiversity conservation and sustainable timber production”.
We wish to question the ability of mining companies to rehabilitate mined reserves according to best practices suitable to tropical forests.
Finally, we wish to call on government to halt attempts to de‐gazette portions of Globally Significant Biodiversity Areas (GSBA) in the Western Region in particular and other areas of the country for logging.
ISSUED BY:
CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ANALYSIS (CEIA),
CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEREST LAW (CEPIL)
GENDER AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING ADVOCATES (GEMA),
YOUTH FOR ACTION GHANA (YAG)
WACAM
CENTRE FOR LABOUR RIGHTS AND COMMUNITY SERVICE (CLARCS)