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A Rocha Ghana has said saving the Atewa Forest is a must and has nothing to do with propaganda as alleged.
This comes in a direct reply to the Ghana Integrated Aluminum Development Corporation (GIADEC) after it claimed that the idea that the whole of Atewa Forest will be destroyed by bauxite mining is propaganda.
According to A Rocha Ghana, saving the Atewa Forest is the sustainable and responsible use of the country’s natural resources and without any form of links to propaganda.
A Rocha Ghana insists that the loss of the forest and habitats would be irreversible and would also cause wider damage to the integrity and ecosystem service provision of a much greater area of forest around it.
Ghana’s Atewa Range Forest, designated by the Government of Ghana as a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area, has from today made it on to the list of the world’s Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) sites.
This is a critical new development as Atewa Forest now becomes a “No-Go Area” for mining, strengthening its protection of the species, ecosystem services and livelihoods it supports.
To achieve this reputable global conservation status, the area must contain more than 95 per cent of the entire population of one or more species listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered on the International Union Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
A Rocha Ghana, an environmental Non-profit Organization said, it has read the statements made by the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) during a meeting with journalists published on Monday 5 April. A statement signed by Mr Daryl Bosu, Depuy National Coordinator of A Rocha Ghana and copied to the Ghana News Agency n response to GIADEC said, it rejects as ‘propaganda’ an apparent claim that the whole of Atewa Forest will be destroyed by bauxite mining. The statement said, the area it will be ‘playing’ with – a surprising term to use for an activity that will cause so much damage to livelihoods, species, habitats, and clean water – was about 10 per cent or less over 50 years, and would mine 5million tonnes of bauxite in that time.
Bauxite mining in Atewa will give room for galamsey, illegal logging – A Rocha modernghana.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from modernghana.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Mr. Seth Adjei, Technical Director of the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) speaking on mining in the Atewa Forest
The Technical Director of the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC), Mr. Seth Adjei has discounted as propaganda, claims that the entire Atewa Forest stands irreversible destruction should government proceed with plans to mine bauxite.
It cannot be true and should not stall national development, he told journalists attending a workshop on the environment in Accra.
“We are talking about destroying the whole of the Atewa Forest. It is not true. It’s propaganda. The portion of the Atewa Forest that we are going to be ‘playing’ with is about 10 per cent or less over 50 years. So you can imagine, 50 years, 10 per cent, how much of it in a year are we going to touch?” Mr. Adjei quipped.