{"id":107501,"date":"2025-12-18T20:50:50","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T20:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=107501"},"modified":"2025-12-18T20:50:50","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T20:50:50","slug":"govt-bans-mining-in-forest-reserves-violators-face-up-to-25-years-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=107501","title":{"rendered":"Gov\u2019t bans mining in forest reserves; violators face up to 25 years in prison"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 38 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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In a historic victory for environmental conservation, the controversial Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 2462 has been officially consigned to history. <\/p>\n

Following months of national outcry and relentless advocacy from civil society, the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Revocation Instrument, 2025, matured into law on Wednesday, December 10, 2025.<\/p>\n

The maturation of this law effectively strips the President of the power to authorise industrial mining within the nation\u2019s protected forest belts. <\/p>\n

More significantly, it shifts the legal landscape from regulated entry to total prohibition, triggering some of the harshest criminal penalties in Ghana\u2019s legal code.<\/p>\n

L.I. 2462 had long been described by environmental activists as a death warrant for Ghana\u2019s green lungs. <\/p>\n

By granting the Executive the discretion to allow mining in reserves under certain conditions, critics argued it created a legal loophole that opened up forest reserves to industrial mining in a way that undermines forest protection.<\/p>\n

The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, laid the Revocation Instrument in Parliament as a cornerstone of the government\u2019s renewed efforts towards the fight against illegal mining, also known as galamsey.\u201d<\/p>\n

With its maturation, any entity\u2014be it small-scale or a large-scale industrial firm\u2014currently operating within these reserves is now in immediate violation of national law.<\/p>\n

The most critical consequence of this revocation is the immediate application of the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995), to any activity within forest zones. <\/p>\n

Without the legal cover of L.I. 2462, mining in a forest reserve is now treated as a high-degree criminal offence.<\/p>\n

Under the current legal framework, the jail term for illegal mining has been drastically sharpened to deter offenders:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Offense Type<\/strong><\/td>\nNew Statutory Jail Term<\/strong><\/td>\nFinancial Penalty<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Mining in Restricted Areas (Forests)<\/strong><\/td>\n15 to 25 Years\u2019 Imprisonment<\/strong><\/td>\n10,000 to 15,000 penalty units<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Foreigners Involved in Illegal Mining<\/strong><\/td>\n20 to 25 Years\u2019 Imprisonment<\/strong><\/td>\n100,000 to 300,000 penalty units<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Aiding and Abetting Mining in Reserves<\/strong><\/td>\n15 to 25 Years\u2019 Imprisonment<\/strong><\/td>\nSame as principal offender<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n
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\u201cThe law no longer recognises \u2018authorised\u2019 mining in these zones. Any individual found with a shovel or an excavator in a forest reserve now risks spending a quarter of a century behind bars,\u201d a legal expert from the Ministry noted following the maturation.<\/p>\n

A Victory for Civil Society<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

For years, many environmental and civil-society groups argued that the previous regulations faced fierce criticism from environmental activists and the public for their role in exacerbating the damaging effects of illegal mining.<\/p>\n

The move to revoke the instrument is seen as a direct response to the fierce criticism from groups like the Media Coalition Against Galamsey and the Ghana Environmental Trust.<\/p>\n

The revocation is expected to:<\/p>\n