{"id":90383,"date":"2025-08-19T14:22:42","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T14:22:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=90383"},"modified":"2025-08-19T14:22:42","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T14:22:42","slug":"nature-abuse-threatens-human-lives-cardinal-turkson-slams-galamseyers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=90383","title":{"rendered":"Nature abuse threatens human lives \u2013 Cardinal Turkson slams \u2018galamseyers\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>3 Minute, 14 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
\n

Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, a prominent figure at the Vatican, has delivered a searing critique of illegal mining, locally known as \u201cgalamsey\u201d, asserting that the destruction of nature is a direct threat to human life. <\/p>\n

His remarks, rooted in a profound theological and ecological perspective, highlight the unsustainable and self-destructive nature of the practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur bodies were made, according to the scriptures, out of the material of the earth,\u201d Cardinal Turkson, the Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and Social Sciences at the Vatican, stated in an interview with JoyNews\u2019 Emefa Akosua Adeti.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are so interconnected that that should already drive us to, if not respect, at least protect [nature]\u2026 The ideal thing would have been to respect this relationship and try to treat everything that exists in creation with some respect and dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n

He condemned illegal miners for their brutal disregard of this sacred connection.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get rid of the vegetation, [causing] degradation; you get rid of the topsoil that\u2019s for agriculture only to get to this [precious metal],\u201d he said. \u201cYou get precious metal, but in the process, destroy what feeds you and what nourishes you. So it\u2019s an activity which is not sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cardinal\u2019s words resonate deeply with a crisis that has ravaged Ghana\u2019s landscapes. <\/p>\n

The environmental and social fallout from galamsey is extensive, impacting the nation\u2019s most vital resources.<\/p>\n

In his conclusion, Cardinal Turkson echoes the theological truth that humanity\u2019s existence is dependent on the well-being of the earth. <\/p>\n

\u201cGod did not create Adam and Eve before he created the Garden of Eden\u2026 He created this way before he created human beings because there is the need for the wherewithal to support human existence,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

He pointed out that if Ghana is to have a sustainable future, it must find a way to extract its mineral wealth without destroying the very environment that sustains its people. <\/p>\n

The choice, he suggests, is not just economic, but existential.<\/p>\n

The human and environmental cost of Galamsey<\/strong><\/p>\n