Gov’t repeals L.I 2462, bans mining in forest reserves
The government has repealed the Legislative Instrument L.I 2462 which empowered the President to authorize mining activities within Ghana’s protected forest reserves.
The Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Revocation Instrument, 2025 (LI 2515), signed by Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, matured into law on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, following its gazette notification on October 31, 2025.
The L.I 2462, enacted in 2022 under the erstwhile Akufo-Addo administration, granted power to the President to authorize mining activities in forest reserves under the condition of “national interest,” an act described by environmental activists as a “death warrant for Ghana’s green lungs,” arguing that it created legal loopholes that exposed protected forests to industrial mining operations.
Civil society organizations, including the Media Coalition Against Galamsey and the Ghana Environmental Advocacy Group, had mounted campaigns calling for the instrument’s revocation, citing its potential in worsening environmental degradation and illegal mining activities.
Lands Minister Armah-Kofi Buah laid the revocation instrument in Parliament aspart of the government’s efforts in fighting illegal mining (galamsey). Without the legal protection provided by L.I. 2462, mining activities in a forest reserve are now treated as a serious criminal offense attracting severe penalties.
According to the amended Legislative Instrument L.I 2515, person caught mining in forest reserves face between 15 to 25 years imprisonment plus 10,000 to 15,000 penalty units, foreign nationals involved in such activities also face a 20 to 25-year prison sentence plus 100,000 to 300,000 penalty units, while individuals found guilty of aiding and abetting face 15 to 25 years imprisonment with equivalent financial penalties.
A coalition of Civil Society Organizations has hailed the revocation as a major achievement in the fight against galamsey and environmental degradation, expressing that the repeal will protect forest reserves, including ecologically sensitive and biodiversity-rich areas.
“We commend the Government and Parliament for revoking L.I 2462, a regulation that exposed our forest reserves, including ecologically sensitive, and biodiversity-rich areas, to mining. This repel is a major step towards safeguarding Ghana’s forest reserves for present and future generations,” it said in a joint statement on Thursday.
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