LET US PRESERVE THE ATEWA RANGE RAIN FOREST!

For Ghanaian environmentalists concerned about the future of the Atewa Range rain forest, these are very trying times indeed. That important rain forest is under severe threat – as it is being steadily degraded by illegal loggers and the area sees a resurgence of small scale surface gold mining. I was lucky to get my hands on a document produced by Conservation International, which gives me some hope that if the Atewa Range rain forest can be secured, a whole new “green economy” could be developed there, which will improve the quality of life of the rural dwellers in that area, dramatically.

A team from Conservation International conducted a rapid biological assessment of the Atewa Range forest reserve between the 6th and the 24th of June, 2006. According to bulletin 47 of the Bulletin of Biological Assessment (BBI), in which the results of the survey were published, the Conservation International team’s work confirmed the vital role the Atewa Range rain forest plays, in the preservation of Ghana’s biodiversity.

I will enumerate some of the findings of the BBI report below – and hope that it will help illustrate the vital need for us to preserve the biodiversity of the Atewa range rain forest, at a time of global climate change. Many members of my family have been environmental activists since the early 1900’s from the British colonial era – long before it became fashionable. We have farmed in Akim Abuakwa Juaso, a fringe forest community in the foothills of the Atewa Range, since 1921.

Being familiar with the rich biodiversity of the area, I was not surprised in the least, by the contents of the BBI’s report. I was pleased to learn, for example, that in 1999 the Government of Ghana was sufficiently aware of the significance of the area, to declare it a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area (GSBA). That same document also stated, amongst other things, that: “Based on avian diversity it was designated a globally significant Important Bird Area (IBA) by Birdlife International in 2001.”

Unfortunately, the situation in that part of the Atewa Range rain forest, which Akim Abuakwa Juaso borders, has now reached a point where those of us who actually care enough about our nation’s natural heritage (and are prepared to even risk our lives to protect the Atewa Range rain forest if need be), have to put niceties aside – and speak out boldly against those who are failing to act to halt the degradation of that important biodiversity hotspot.

I have often been saddened by the seeming lack of commitment (in terms of actually acting to ensure the protection of the Atewa Range rain forest by instituting practical measures on the ground – as opposed to merely seeking publicity and paying lip service to conservation just to win Brownie points) on the part of the traditional authorities of Akim Abuakwa: who seem powerless to stop the activities of the criminal syndicates that are degrading that important rain forest. The progressive ones amongst the area’s traditional leadership must not allow themselves to be paralyzed by the straightjacket that the calcified mindsets of the ultra-conservative philistines in their midst represents.

No Ghanaian who cares about this country’s natural heritage, can fail to appreciate the fact that at a time of global climate change, and with a fast-growing population that is currently a little over some 22 millions, we ought to be farsighted enough, to act quickly to protect an area that contains the headwaters of the three major river systems on which many Ghanaians depend for their drinking water supply. It was the foresight of the Gold Coast government that secured our rain forests – on which our increasingly urbanized society has depended since we gained our independence.

We ought to follow the example of the British colonial regime, which, even when our population was less than four million, had the foresight to act to protect this important source of our nation’s drinking water supply. According to the BBI: “As far back as 1926, when it was designated a forest reserve by the Government of Ghana, Atewa was recognized as critically important in maintaining important watersheds upon which many Ghanaians (and Ghanaian biodiversity) depend.” With an ever-increasing population, and at a time when weather patterns are changing and there is less overall precipitation, the Atewa Range rain forest’s role is even more crucial for our collective well-being.

So concerned was I, that I had to dash to Akim Abuakwa Juaso a few days ago, when I was informed that a small-scale mining company, Solar Mining, had extended the area previously mined by Kibi Goldfields in Samang, to Akim Abuakwa Juaso – where it had apparently been buying up farmland to mine gold: and more or less operating under an arrangement that gave one the impression it was leveraging the permit of Kibi Goldfields as legal cover. My heart sunk when I saw the damage to the natural environment in an area of the village where a variety of crops once grew in abundance. It also turns out that the company is apparently allowed to mine a fifty-kilometer stretch in the Atewa Range rain forest – if what I am told by a source is true (and I have no reason to doubt my source).

It is all so pointless, especially as the area has such huge potential, as a world-class eco-tourism destination. Yet, when one sometimes hears some of the educated elite of Akim Abuakwa, one wonders if their ignorance is such that they are even completely unaware of the danger global climate change poses to our nation’s fragile ecology. Some of those philistines go on and on about mining bauxite – in a rain forest that contains billions of dollars of yet-to-be-discovered medicinal plants: and which could provide sustainable income for generations of Ghanaians. Talk by surface gold miners of ecological restoration after their operations, is just that – talk. Rain forests take thousands of years to come into being – not a few years.

It is their fixation with the idiotic integrated aluminum industry idea, which makes those highly-educated imbeciles tolerate the degradation of this important biodiversity hotspot. Yet, Ghana will never be able to compete with the efficient aluminum producers who have the competitive advantage of a cheap energy source – such as Alcoa’s spanking new aluminum smelter in Iceland: which uses cheap energy from the underground hot springs for which Iceland is so famous. That source of energy costs Alcoa as little as the price that VALCO used to get its electricity for, from the Akosombo hydro-power plant in 1965! Why risk our long-term survival as a people for such a transient benefit?

Promoting sustainable development ideas, such as the development of community-based eco-tourism, will secure the future of those poor rural people who depend on the Atewa Range rain forest for their survival. There are many who believe that it was sound thinking on the part of the Ghana tourist Board (GTB), which is the implementing body for the government’s tourism policy, to elect to focus on community-based eco-tourism (CBE), to grow Ghana’s tourism industry. Forest communities such as Adjeikrom, Tafi Atome, and Boabeng Fiema, which have become thriving community-based eco-tourism destinations, now view the preservation of their rain forests as vital to their continued prosperity.

Many of Ghana’s environmentalists also applaud the use of community-based eco-tourism by a number of conservation organisations, such as: the Nature Conservation and Research Centre (NCRC); the Ghana Wildlife Society (GWS); and Conservation International (CI); as a tool for conservation. Perhaps many of those individuals will find comfort in the words of the page from the BBI that I have been quoting from in this piece – which also states that: “Atewa has previously been recognized as the single most important site for butterflies (Larsen 2006).”

That section of the document also goes on to say in the very next paragraph: “The 1999 West African Priority Setting Workshop organized by Conservation International identified Atewa as an area of Very High priority for biodiversity conservation (Backer et all, 2001). ” Is that not music to the ears of butterfly-lovers worldwide – and would some of them not be happy to travel to Ghana to see this gem of Mother Nature?

Perhaps volunteer placement organisations in Ghana, such as the industry leader and pioneer, Student and Youth Travel Organisation (SYTO), could add visits by their foreign volunteers to observe the Akim Abuakwa Juaso operations of surface gold miners, and follow that with a tour of the large and pristine private forest reserve of the P.E. Thompson family, in their volunteer orientation programme.

The last bullet point in that section of the BBI that I have been quoting thus far, says: “Conservation International and partners have been designating Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA), which are sites of global significance for biodiversity conservation that are large enough or sufficiently interconnected to support viable populations of species and irreplaceable and are defined by the presence of threatened species (Eken et al 2004). While KBA’s have yet to be formally designated in Ghana, Atewa will undoubtedly qualify as a KBA when they are determined.” Is that not marvelous news for the world’s nature lovers, dear reader?

Surely, as a people, we cannot allow the greed for money, and shortsightedness of a few individuals, to destroy such a vital part of our nation’s natural heritage – which could provide sustenance for this and future generations of Ghanaians till the very end of time? We must all act to ensure that those who are determined to enrich themselves at the expense of society, and in a manner that endangers our very survival as a people, are not allowed to succeed in their aim. Ideally, it would help if the leases of small scale miners such as Solar Mining could be bought out – by leveraging the international carbon offset market. Perhaps organisations like the Rain Forest Alliance and Conservation International could think in that direction.

Solar Mining, which is owned by some very intelligent and dynamic gentlemen, could even profit from the green economy itself. It now owns the Osino site of Daewoo, the road construction company. The buildings there could be easily converted into chalets and with the appropriate landscaping and addition of a restaurant and conference centre, could be developed into a world-class eco-facility for tourists visiting the many tourist attractions in that naturally well-endowed area of the Eastern Region.

Above all, the traditional authorities in Akim Abuakwa must sit up – and act to stop the wanton destruction of the Atewa Range rain forest. They cannot continue telling the world that they are keen environmentalists – when they give some of us the impression that they have been forced to close their eyes (by the ultra-conservatives in their midst), to the activities of illegal loggers and to the operations of surface gold mining companies in the area.

If the dedicated conservationists amongst them continue to allow themselves to be boxed- in by their ultra-conservative peers, and look on helplessly as the gang-rape of the Atewa Range rain forest continues, they will rapidly lose their reputation as environmentalists – as word of the uncontrolled activities of illegal loggers and small-scale gold miners in the Atewa Range spreads online on the internet. If they fail to act before it is too late, they risk being condemned by posterity as dreadful hypocrites – who let down humankind terribly, when they had the opportunity to make a difference: but allowed such a treasure-trove of nature to disappear because of their negligence. A word to the wise…

Post Script: Readers wishing to sign a petition to save the Atewa Range rain forest can click (or alternatively copy and paste unto their URL) unto: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/protect-ghanas-atewa-forest