Save
the Atiwa (or Atewa) Rainforest Reserve.
'Our
forests shall be sold off to mining companies and will then be turned into open
pits without heed for the priceless natural resources we depend on' stated Daryl
Bosu of A Rocha Ghana, a Ghanaian environmental NGO.
The Atiwa Forest Reserve in south-eastern Ghana is one of West Africa’s
greatest natural treasures. Its varied ecosystems contain exceptional
biodiversity – lush jungle with magnificent tall trees, eight-meter high tree
ferns, grasslands, marshes and river landscapes that are home to a rich variety
of animal and plant species and a refuge for some of Africa’s rarest animals
and plants. Many of these species cannot be found elsewhere in Africa, except here
in the tropical rainforest of Atiwa Forest Reserve.
Atiwa has been
recognized as a protected area since 1926 due to its outstanding variety of
life forms and most recently, BirdLife International 2001 classified the
rainforest as an Important Bird Area (IBA). Due
to many of the plant species occurring only in this part of Ghana, or in few
other localities, part of Atiwa was declared as a specially protected GSBA
(Globally Significant Biodiversity Area) following a national botanic survey of
forest reserves by Ghana Forestry Department in the 1990s. Atiwa Forest Reserve
has for instance, at least 323 species of trees.
In a research expedition in 2006 to survey the forest,
scientists discovered two rare and endangered species of primate in the
reserve: Ursine or Geoffroy's Pied Colobus (also known as Black and White or
White-thighed Colobus) one of the most endangered African primate species and
the Olive (or Green) Colobus species. Habitat destruction and poaching of these
two Colobus monkeys for meat and skins is threatening their survival. They also
found the critically endangered frog species, the Togo Slippery Frog, which
only inhabits streams in moist tropical forests and is restricted to some parts
of Togo and Ghana.
As well, 17 rare butterfly species were discovered
in the Atiwa Forest, including the amazing Giant African Swallow-tail, which
has the widest butterfly wingspan in the world and the Atewa Dotted Border,
which is restricted to Atewa and is one of the rarest butterflies in Africa and
is considered to be critically endangered.
The Atiwa Forest Reserve also contains many birds
that are rare elsewhere in Ghana including the Afep Pigeon, Olive Long-tailed
Cuckoo, African Broadbill, Common Bristlebill, Blue-headed Crested-flycatcher,
Spotted Honeyguide and Least Honeyguide. The Atiwa rainforest also supplies five million people with drinking water. And forest dwellers rely on it for food, medicine, building materials, tools and clothing. The forest cover also serves the country and its inhabitants by providing protection against floods and drought.
But this unique rainforest treasure is
now under threat. This is because the Atiwa
Forest is also rich in minerals, with sizeable bauxite deposits that the
government wants to develop and mine. A total of 260 square
kilometres of Atiwa have been declared a forest reserve, but unlike national
parks, such protected areas are not safe from mining and timber exploitation.
In recent years, several multinational mining companies have obtained
prospecting licenses in Atiwa. “Yet the negotiations are not open and
transparent,” says Daryl Bosu , fearing that the government will one day
disclose the go ahead for mining and the Ghanaian people will have no say in
this important matter. There is still time for action though. A Rocha Ghana has joined forces with several groups opposed to mining in the Coalition of NGOs Against Mining in Atewa (CONAMA). The coalition is calling on Ghana’s government to protect the entire Atiwa Rainforest Reserve against all forms of exploitation and declare it a national park.
It is vitally important to protect the irreplaceable Atiwa Forest and its natural wealth for Ghana and the world: for its 40 mammal species, including the critically endangered Ursine Colobus, more than 150 species of birds, over 40 species of amphibians, the greatest diversity of butterflies in West Africa and a number of plant species that exist nowhere else in Ghana.
The protection of the Atiwa Forest is
also vital to the people of Ghana. The reserve is managed by the
Forestry Commission of Ghana in collaboration with other stakeholders, mainly the
Okyeman Environment Foundation, which has restricted people from farming in the
area and instead is trying to encourage eco-tourism. However, the reserve is already
under pressure from rampant illegal logging and hunting for bushmeat. It is
also vulnerable to mining exploration activities, since the reserve contains
gold deposits as well as the low-grade bauxite. While
mining will provide short-term income for a few people, it will for evermore degrade
or destroy the ecosystem.
But no mining licenses have been awarded at the
moment and so concerned people in Ghana and elsewhere have time to strongly implore
the government not to allow Atiwa Forest Reserve to be plundered and ruined by
mining and timber companies. “A
decision has not yet been made...We therefore need the international community
to support our petition calling on President John Dramani Mahama and the
government to protect the Atiwa rainforest against all forms of exploitation
and to establish a national park.” said Daryl Bosu of A Rocha Ghana.
The varied tropical
terrain of Atiwa Forest with its wealth of wild animal and plant species, many
of them rare and threatened deserve urgent assistance from all those who care
about the rainforests and ecologically sustainable ways of life. Protected this
forest and its wildlife will go on giving forever, environmentally, socially
and economically to the communities dependent on it. Clearing its vital
habitats through mining and logging will quickly destroy it. What’s needed is
now is effort by people to make the powers that
be appreciate its great significance and its real worth to the society and the
world.
Environmental activists in Ghana urgently need support to
save the Atiwa rainforest and consequently
protect and preserve Ghana’s unique fauna and flora. Please
write to the Ghana government and
urge others to do so as well, to help make the Atiwa
rainforest a national park and conserve it for the benefit of present and
future generations. Please act to keep this unspoilt wilderness intact. This
incredibly precious wild place must be saved. - To take action to help save Atiwa Forest - Please sign the Ghanaian environmentalists’ petition to the Ghanaian government to save this special natural place and create a national park to conserve the forest: and do whatever else you can to make other people aware of the importance of the Atiwa Forest and the struggle to prevent its destruction.
- For more information or to help the campaign contact - Save Atiwa Forest Reserve,
- Sources- Rainforest Rescue, A Rocha Ghana and Save Atiwa Forest.
The same thing is happening in south America and the green back is going to win everyday unfortunately
ReplyDelete