A Rocha Ghana Forest Programme

Since the early 1990s, Ghana has lost more than 33.7 percent of its forests, which corresponds to 2,500,000 hectares mainly due to logging, unsustainable farming, bushfires, mining and infrastructural development. Ghana’s deforestation rate between the period of 2005 and 2010 was projected at 2.19 percent per annum, making Ghana the sixth highest most deforested country in the world for that period (FAO, 2010). (https://theredddesk.org/countries/ghana). A Rocha Ghana is therefore working in forests like the Atewa Forest to help curb the menace of deforestation and degradation and for the conservation of biodiversity. Our efforts in forest areas is also geared towards providing alternative livelihood for communities living around these forests areas in order to reduce their overreliance on both Timber and Non-Timber Forest Products.  

A Rocha Ghana is therefore working in forests like the Atewa Forest to help curb the menace of deforestation and degradation and for the conservation of biodiversity. Our efforts in forest areas is also geared towards providing alternative livelihood for communities living around these forests areas in order to reduce their overreliance on both Timber and Non-Timber Forest Products.

Atewa Forest

#Atewa4Water
Over five million people depend on the forest for a clean water supply
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#Atewa4NationalPark
Atewa Forest in Ghana is home to many birds, mammals, reptiles, butterflies and amphibians which are either threatened or found nowhere else.
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#AtewaForest
It is home to more than 100 species currently at risk of extinction.
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Atewa Forest in Ghana is home to many birds, mammals, reptiles, butterflies and amphibians which are either threatened or found nowhere else. It is home to more than 100 species currently at risk of extinction. A Rocha scientists discovered this includes the Endangered White-naped Mangabey Cercocebus lunulatus, a rare species of monkey.

Five million people depend on the forest for a clean water supply. There are plans to extract bauxite – the ore of aluminium – from the Atewa Hills. A Rocha Ghana takes the lead in the campaign to protect it from mining, and for it to become a national park. Read more about the Atewa Forest campaign.

Download Atewa Narrative HERE

Forests in all forms―whether tropical, temperate or boreal, perform far more functions than simply the production of wood and non-wood products. They are crucial for the attainment of more than half of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs). They provide solutions to the following;

  • Poverty eradication
  • Environmental sustainability
  • Food security and agriculture
  • Clean water and watershed protection
  • Biodiversity conservation
  • Mitigation of and adaptation to climate change
  • Combating of desertification and land degradation, and disaster risk reduction.
  • Forests are vital for creating green economies, including green industries.