The government has announced that it reclaimed 1,335 acres of land degraded by illegal mining activities (galamsey) in 2025 as part of efforts to restore damaged landscapes and convert affected areas into ecological zones.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, disclosed this during the Government Accountability Series on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, explaining that the reclamation exercise was carried out in the Ashanti Region through a public-private partnership.
He said the extent of destruction caused by illegal mining requires a coordinated approach involving government, private sector partners and other stakeholders to successfully restore affected lands.
Mr Buah noted that the Ministry has adopted an aggressive reclamation strategy aimed at recovering degraded mining areas and restoring them for productive and environmental purposes.
“The Ministry, working with the private sector, has embarked on an aggressive strategy to reclaim degraded mining areas and transform them into ecological zones. The last time we were here, we talked about how huge that responsibility is in terms of how much we have to reclaim on this destroyed land,” he said.
He disclosed that the 1,335 acres reclaimed last year formed part of ongoing interventions to address the environmental damage caused by illegal mining.
“I can tell you that just last year we reclaimed 1,335 acres of degraded land, and this was done in the Ashanti Region,” he added.
The Minister further revealed that government has secured additional commitments from private sector partners to expand the reclamation programme, with a target of reclaiming another 1,500 acres this year.
According to him, the private sector-led efforts will complement government’s own reclamation initiatives, including the restoration of 960 acres of degraded land in selected communities.
“We have gotten commitment from the private sector to undertake more reclamation, and we are targeting another 1,500 acres of reclamation this year, and this is in addition to the government-owned reclamation effort of 960 acres in selected areas, so we hope to improve those numbers,” he stated.
Mr Buah said the continued reclamation programme remains a critical component of government’s broader efforts to reverse the environmental damage caused by illegal mining and restore degraded ecosystems across mining communities.
