{"id":107505,"date":"2025-12-18T21:01:55","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T21:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=107505"},"modified":"2025-12-18T21:01:55","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T21:01:55","slug":"victory-for-ghanas-forests-civil-society-hails-revocation-of-controversial-l-i-2462","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=107505","title":{"rendered":"Victory for Ghana\u2019s forests: Civil society hails revocation of controversial L.I. 2462"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='booster-block booster-read-block'>\n                <div class=\"twp-read-time\">\n                \t<i class=\"booster-icon twp-clock\"><\/i> <span>Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 23 Second                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div><div>\n<p>A broad coalition of 17 civil society organisations (CSOs), including the Coalition Against Galamsey-Ghana, A Rocha Ghana, and the Christian Council of Ghana, has officially commended the Government and Parliament for the successful revocation of Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 2462.<\/p>\n<p>In a press statement released on Thursday, December 18, 2025, the groups described the repeal as one of the most significant legislative reversals in Ghana\u2019s recent environmental history, effectively closing a loophole that had placed the nation\u2019s forest reserves under unprecedented siege.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A Decisive Move for Environmental Integrity<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The revocation follows months of advocacy and a strategic legislative move by the acting Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah. <\/p>\n<p>On October 31, the minister laid a new Legislative Instrument before Parliament intended to annul L.I. 2462.<\/p>\n<p>Having completed the constitutionally required 21 sitting days without intervention, the revocation is now fully effective.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTogether, we have contributed our quota to give forests and future generations a chance,\u201d the coalition stated, extending particular appreciation to the media and the thousands of Ghanaians who signed petitions against the regulation<sup><\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Legacy of L.I. 2462: A System Under Siege<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The coalition highlighted the staggering risks that L.I. 2462 posed to Ghana\u2019s natural heritage since its introduction in 2022<sup><\/sup><sup><\/sup><sup><\/sup><sup><\/sup>:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Massive Exposure<\/strong>: Before 2022, only 2% of gazetted production forest areas were open to mining; under L.I. 2462, this exploded to 89%.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reserves Under Attack<\/strong>: Over 50 out of 288 forest reserves were reported to be \u201cseriously under siege\u201d from mining interests due to the regulation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Global Commitments<\/strong>: The regulation was noted for undermining Ghana\u2019s Forest Development Master Plan and weakening the country\u2019s alignment with international climate pacts like the Paris Agreement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Five Critical Recommendations for the Future<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While celebrating the victory, the coalition warned that Ghana\u2019s forests still face \u201cunprecedented pressure\u201d from illegal logging, poaching, and artisanal mining<sup><\/sup><sup><\/sup><sup><\/sup>. They have proposed five key actions for the government to secure a sustainable future:<\/p>\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Permanent Mining Prohibition<\/strong>: The coalition urged H.E. John Dramani Mahama to fulfil promises to review <strong>Act 703<\/strong>, explicitly prohibiting mining in all forest reserves.<\/li>\n<li><strong>National Forest Protection Strategy<\/strong>: A call for a new strategy developed in partnership with international bodies to grow back Ghana\u2019s lost cover.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Combating Encroachment<\/strong>: Urgent action is needed to address chronic artisanal mining and illegal logging that continue despite the revocation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u201cTree for Life\u201d Implementation<\/strong>: Ensuring the restoration program for forest reserves is well-coordinated and results-driven rather than \u201cserving as rhetoric\u201d.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Boosting Capacity<\/strong>: Upgrading the capacity of the Forestry Commission to handle modern threats and implementing their way-forward proposals published on December 15, 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The coalition concluded by reaffirming its commitment to holding leadership accountable to ensure that every future policy reflects the nation\u2019s \u201curgent environmental, social, and climate priorities\u201d<sup><\/sup>.<\/p>\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/PRESS-STATEMENT-LI2462-DEC-2025.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px\" aria-label=\"Embed of PRESS STATEMENT LI2462 DEC, 2025.\"><\/object>PRESS STATEMENT LI2462 DEC, 2025Download<\/div>\n<\/div>\n        <div class=\"booster-block booster-reactions-block\">\n            <div class=\"twp-reactions-icons\">\n                \n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-1\" post-id=\"107505\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/happy.svg\" alt=\"Happy\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Happy                    <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                        \n                                                <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-2\" post-id=\"107505\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/sad.svg\" alt=\"Sad\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Sad                    <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                                                                        <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-3\" post-id=\"107505\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/excited.svg\" alt=\"Excited\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Excited                    <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                                                                        <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-6\" post-id=\"107505\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/sleepy.svg\" alt=\"Sleepy\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Sleepy                    <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                        \n                                                <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-4\" post-id=\"107505\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/angry.svg\" alt=\"Angry\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">Angry<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                                                                        <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                        \n                    <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-5\" post-id=\"107505\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/surprise.svg\" alt=\"Surprise\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">Surprise<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                                                                        <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n\n    ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Atiwa-forest-150x150.webp\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Victory for Ghana's forests: Civil society hails revocation of controversial L.I. 2462\" title=\"Victory for Ghana's forests: Civil society hails revocation of controversial L.I. 2462\">A broad coalition of 17 civil society organisations (CSOs), including the Coalition Against Galamsey-Ghana, A Rocha Ghana, and the Christian Council of Ghana, has officially commended the Government and Parliament for the successful revocation of Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 2462.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4735,2004,1883,117,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forest","category-mining","category-national","category-news","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=107505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107505\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=107505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=107505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=107505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}