A coalition of twenty-three Civil Society Organizations, CSOs and institutions have raised serious concerns about constitutional breaches in the recently passed “Environmental Protection Regulations, 2022 (L.I.2462)” law which provides some level of mining in Forest Reserves.
According to the coalition, there is inconsistency in L.I.2462 with various national policies and commitments, including the Forest and Wildlife Policy, Land Policy, National Climate Change Policy, and Ghana’s Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement
They argue that the Environmental Protection Act, 1994 (Act 490), under which the regulation was enacted, does not grant the Minister the necessary authority to regulate the specific activities outlined in the regulation.
They have therefore petitioned the President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo and the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin to with immediate effect revoke the law.
The group’s petition, dated November 20, 2023, was presented by Mustapha Siedu.
According to the petition, the controversial regulation, passed on June 23, 2022, grants statutory procedures for mining activities within forest reserves.
“The CSOs contend that such activities pose a severe threat to the environment, contradicting the 1992 Constitution’s mandate to protect and safeguard the national environment,” the petition observed.
“L.I. 2462 has opened the floodgates for institutionalized mining in our forest reserves without restriction. Since its passage a year ago, 16 mining leases have been issued to mine forest reserves including three Globally Significant Biodiversity Areas (GSBAs)’ they added raising serious concerns about Ghana’s commitment to Climate Change mitigation.
In some of these areas, as much as 90% of the forest reserve has either been given out or under consideration for approval. All these have happened within barely a year after the passage of L.I.
All the forest reserves that are currently being managed by the Forestry Commission and logged by timber companies are subject to the grant.
The CSOs argued that the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA’s involvement encroaches upon the mandates of the Minerals Commission and Forestry Commission, violating the constitutional directives regarding the management of natural resources.
The coalition includes
– 1. NATURE AND DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION
– 2. A ROCHA GHANA
– 3. OCCUPY GHANA
– 4. MEDIA COALITION AGAINST GALAMSEY
– 5. WACAM
– 6. OXFAM GHANA
– 7. GHANA YOUTH ENVIRONMENT MOVEMENT
– 8. ECO-CONSCIOUS CITIZENS
– 9. HEN MPOANO
– 10. GHANA ENVIRONMENT ADVOCACY GROUP
– 11. NORTHCODE
– 12. YOUTH ALLIANCE FOR GREEN GHANA
– 13. CONCERNED CITIZENS OF ATEWA LANDSCAPE
– 14. FACILITATING LEARNING OF WOMEN IN EMERGING REGIONS (FLOWER)
– 15. YOUTH VOLUNTEERS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
– 16. TROPENBOS GHANA
– 17. KUMASI WOOD CLUSTER
– 18. CIVIC RESPONSE
– 19. CENTRE FOR AGROFORESTRY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (CABuD)
– 20. DOMESTIC LUMBER TRADE ASSOCIATION (DOLTA)
– 21. NEW GENERATION CONCERN
– 22. RIGHTS AND ADVOCACY INITIATIVES NETWORK (RAIN)
– 23. GHANA INSTITUTE OF FORESTERS (GIF)
In their concluding remarks, the CSOs emphasise that L.I.2462 is a fundamentally flawed law with the potential to reverse hard-won gains in forest management and climate change mitigation.
They therefore call upon the president to heed their petition and annul the regulation for the greater environmental good.
To the Rt. Hon. Speaker, the CSOs said it is evident that L.I. 2462 is a bad law and has the potential to reverse the gains on forest management and the fight against climate change.
It respectfully requests, the Rt. Hon. Speaker to cause the revocation of L.I 2462 to safeguard our forest reserves.
