Jimirah Forest in the Nkawie Forestry District of the Ashanti Region is under siege by illegal miners.
Since the beginning of the year, Forestry Commission officers have been prevented from accessing the area by armed thugs providing security for the illegal miners.
It took military protection to get officials of the commission to visit the forest to check the extent of damage done by the miners.
Nkawie District Manager of the Forestry Commission, Abraham Essel, reveals an attempt made in January this year to drive out the illegal miners was unsuccessful.
“We tried to mobilise and come flash then out, but we realised they were conducting the operations under the protection of thugs who were wielding offensive weapons, and we could not access this place,” he said.
A team of military officers were dispatched to the area, Thursday dawn, for an operation.
Unfortunately, the perpetrators of the crime had fled the area with most of the equipment by the time the military got to the location.
Excavators and other machines found at the site had been demobilized at the time the military got there.
Tracing the tracks of the excavators, eight of them were parked within the Adobewora community.
Acting Executive Director of the Forestry Commission, Lydia Opoku and Ashanti Regional Manager of the Commission, Clement Omari, supported the operations.
Plantation destruction
Huge tracts of forest cover have been destroyed by the activities of the illegal miners.
Most of the vegetative cover is destroyed and land dug out haphazardly in the search for gold.
An established plantation of the Tepa Sawmill, a private company, is among the areas affected by the illegal mining activity.
Mr. Essel indicated, “they established the plantation so many years ago, a Cinderella Plantation and the plantation is matured for harvesting.”
He added, “the Forestry Commission Headquarters granted us an authorisation to value the trees for the company to fell, but we couldn’t access the place because of the illegal miners.”
Though the Forestry Commission has not been able to take stock of the damage done to the plantation, they value the affected trees at millions of cedis.
At the time of the visit, some of the trees in the plantation were harvested by the owners, but the majority were destroyed.
The River Punpuni that flows through the forest is destroyed by the miners.
The river which served the needs of the farmers is now silted due to activities of the illegal miners.
To Mr. Essel, the “whole ecosystem has lost its resilience and health. The activities of the illegal miners are greatly impacting on the sustainable forest practices we do.”
Military Operations
In February, the military came to the support of the Forestry Commission at the request of the commission.
Intermittently, the military has supported the commission in its operations at the Forest Reserve.
In two separate operations assisted by the military, nine excavators were confiscated by the joint teams.
Unfortunately, an arrest is yet to be made in any of the operations.
To claw back the forest reserve, the Commission in the Nkawie District is calling for the military to be stationed in the area.
Mr. Essel said, “It has gone beyond the Forestry Commission, it has become a security matter because as a Forest officer you come to the field you don’t have a catapult to protect yourself and these illegal miners are protected by a heavily built and weapon wielding thugs.
“Looking at the gravity of the situation, we will advise or suggest that we will have some permanent residence of the military within this enclave so that at any point in time, there will be their presence on the ground,” he insisted.
Regional Manager for the Commission, Clement Omari, who joined the team to the forest, has supported the calls for a military base.
Calls for Community Support
According to the Forestry Commission, protection of the forest is a shared responsibility of citizens of the country.
They believe persons in the fringe communities of the forests, traditional authority and security agencies will have to play a part in the protection of the Forest Reserve.
Nkawie District Manager of the Forestry Commission, Abraham Essel insisted, “we are very surprised that at this time round the communities don’t seem to support our course because the excavators when they move them ate parked in the communities, the excavators come into the communities at night and the community members can help us.”
The calls have received the support of the Acting Executive Director of the Commission, Lydia Opoku.