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Cabinet has revoked Executive Instrument (E.I.) 144 as amended by E.I. 234, effectively ensuring that the Achimota Forest retains its original status as a Forest Reserve to provide an ecological safety zone for Accra and its environs.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, who announced this at the Government Accountability Series at the Presidency yesterday, described the decision taken on June 24, 2026, as historic and a major victory for environmental protection.
"I am happy to announce a historic Cabinet decision taken on the 24th of June 2026 to revoke Executive Instrument E.I. 144 as amended by E.I. 234, effectively ensuring that the Achimota Forest retains its original status as a Forest Reserve and providing ecological safety zone for Accra and its environs," Mr Buah said.
E.I. 144 had removed approximately 361.5 acres from the reserve’s protected area, thereby availing that area for other purposes, including physical development.
The revocation, however, overturns that prospect altogether, reversing the potential to exploit the forest reserve for alternative uses.
The minister was presenting an update on the progress made by the ministry and its agencies during the first half of 2026.
Mr Buah said the ministry had intensified enforcement operations within forest reserves across the country, resulting in the arrest of 258 suspects, the demobilisation of six excavators, and the seizure of 1,225 pumping machines and 765 changfan machines.
He added that 212 motorbikes were seized, 430 structures destroyed and 40 gold detectors seized during the operations.
"Since December 2025, we have not had any red zones," he declared.
On the Tree for Life Restoration Initiative, the flagship programme launched by President John Dramani Mahama, the minister said about 31 million seedlings were planted in 2025, with success rates ranging between 50 per cent and 78 per cent recorded in the northern savannah zone, and 65 per cent to 85 per cent recorded in the high forest zone.
He said the initiative had resulted in the restoration of approximately 23,600 hectares of degraded landscape.
"Building on this success, the ministry is maintaining the planting target of 30 million seedlings this year, which commenced on June 5 until the end of the rainy season," Mr Buah said.
He added that the Forestry Commission had engaged and deployed 2,719 Youth Forest Champions, who are actively involved in nursery operations, seedling production, site preparation, tree planting, plantation maintenance, wildfire prevention and protection of forest reserves.
He announced that Ghana had become the first country in Africa and second in the world to qualify for the issuance of Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) licences, with over 600 licences issued to about 22 destinations in the European Union since August 2025.
Mr Buah said 411 licences were issued at the end of the second quarter of 2026, adding that the licences had enhanced Ghana's credibility in the international timber trade.
He said the ministry, in collaboration with the Forestry Commission, was developing a Legislative Instrument to give effect to the Wildlife Resources Management Act, 2023 (Act 1115).
Mr Buah said the Legislative Instrument, when approved, would provide legal backing and operational guidelines for Community Resources Management Areas (CREMAs), which had now become a model for engaging communities and landowners in sustainable forest management.
In partnership with the private sector, 1,535 acres of degraded land had been reclaimed and restored in the Ashanti Region, the minister disclosed.
"We've got commitments from the private sector to undertake more reclamation, and we're targeting 1,500 acres to be reclaimed by the end of the year," he said.
He added that the government was working to reclaim 960 acres in selected degraded areas across the country.
Mr Buah said the ministry, through the Forestry Commission, was improving ecotourism facilities within national parks and resource reserves to maximise revenue from forest and wildlife resources.
The focus this year, he said, would be on the completion of the 120-seater capacity picnic area and a 10-unit chalet at the Shai Hills Resource Reserve, as well as a 20-room tourist accommodation and restaurant at the Mole National Park.
The minister described the fight against illegal mining as "a defining environmental battle of our generation".
"Our rivers are not for sale.
Our forests are not expendable.
Our mineral wealth is a sacred national inheritance that we have a duty to protect," he said.
"Let me be clear, the era of impunity is over.
Government will continue to pursue every individual, every financier, and every criminal syndicate that profits from the destruction of our environment.
The law will be applied without fear or favour," Mr Buah said.
He called on traditional leaders, religious leaders, miners, security officers, media houses, communities and citizens to stand on the side of the nation.
"History will judge our generation by how we responded to this defining challenge.
Let it be said that we chose courage over complacency, unity over division, and patriotism over personal gain," he said.
He added that "The battle against illegal mining is difficult, but the Ghanaian spirit is stronger.
We will not retreat. We will not relent.
We will not surrender.
Together, we shall reclaim our rivers, restore our forests, protect our natural wealth and secure a greener, stronger and more prosperous Ghana for generations yet unborn".
