A joint team of the Military and Rapid Response Units of the Forestry Commission has conducted an operation to flush out illegal miners from the Krokosua Hills Forest Reserve in the Western North region.
The operation, involving teams from Bibiani, Sefwi Wiawso and the Juaboso Forest District, targeted illegal mining activities around Nsinsem and Sayerano within the forest reserve.
Although no arrests were made during the exercise, the team destroyed several pieces of equipment and structures found at the mining sites.
Items burnt include eight pumping machines, 11 changfan machines, two motorbikes, two tricycles and one generator.
The operation also resulted in the destruction of 18 makeshift structures believed to have been used by the illegal miners.
The Krokosua Hills Forest Reserve has previously been identified as an area under pressure from illegal mining. In 2023, the Forestry Commission’s Rapid Response Unit arrested eight suspected illegal miners during an operation in the reserve and seized mining equipment.
The reserve is also considered environmentally significant, with its forests serving as an important watershed and supporting rich biodiversity.
The latest operation forms part of ongoing efforts by the Forestry Commission and security agencies to protect Ghana’s forest reserves from illegal mining and other activities that contribute to forest degradation.
Authorities are expected to sustain such operations to prevent illegal miners from returning to the affected areas.
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