The Interconnection between Forest Reserve Destruction and National Security: A Call for Comprehensive Action

Forests in Ghana offer crucial ecosystem services that are essential for the health and well-being of the people. However, the widespread destruction of forest reserves due to illegal logging and mining activities is not only an environmental concern; it has become a significant security crisis that requires immediate action.

Environmental wreckers may overlook the functional ecological purposes of forest reserves, but they need to remember that forest reserves are crucial for protecting biodiversity, mitigating climate change, providing essential resources and ecosystem services, supporting human livelihoods, and promoting sustainability.

From cleaning the air we breathe to providing food and medications when sick, it's easy to overlook how forests influence our daily lives. Indeed, forests are crucial to life on our planet. However, much like oxygen, we risk taking them for granted until we face the potential loss of these invaluable resources.

The environmental criminals have forgotten that forests also ensures the prosperity and well-being of future generations, as long as their resources are managed responsibly. Ghanaians must remember that forests supply people with various resources, including fresh air, clean water, and nourishing crops. They are also linked to physical activity and excellent mental health.

Another, maybe lesser-known, function of forest reserves is that they serve as an essential supply of medication. According to the United Nations, plant-based medicines account for up to a quarter (25%) of all therapeutic pharmaceuticals in the industrialized world, which may reach 80% in underdeveloped nations like Ghana. Despite these environmental, health, and social advantages, forest reserves in Ghana are being destroyed at an alarming pace, demanding our immediate attention and action.

Indigenous societies that often eat over 100 species of wild food, many of which are gathered in woods, are at the mercy of ecological criminals. The criminals have forgotten that access to forest-based food systems associated with higher dietary variety, which often leads to improved health outcomes, has been destroyed by their greed.

Deforestation endangers food supplies and has catastrophic implications, with roughly one-third of developing infectious illnesses connected to land-use change, such as the spread of disease-carrying vectors due to habitat destruction. This underscores the immediate consequences of forest loss on public health and the urgent need for conservation. Local and indigenous populations in the country are losing their lands to environmental exploiters. Endangered species, for instance, are on the brink of extinction as their habitats and populations decline due to human greed. This transformation is turning rainforests from a solution to climate change into a contributor to climate disaster.

Yet, the alarming rate at which both Ghanaians and foreign actors are engaging in illegal logging and mining—commonly known as Galamsey—signals a severe disregard for our nation's future. The situation is dire. Armed groups are infiltrating our forest reserves, creating a volatile environment that threatens our safety and sovereignty.

Many Ghanaians are rightfully raising their voices, urging the government to take decisive measures against these environmental criminals who operate with impunity. There are foreigners and some Ghanaians hiding in our forest reserves, engaging in illegal logging and Galamsey. These individuals are armed with sophisticated weapons to protect themselves. Therefore, we can no longer view illicit deforestation merely as an environmental concern; it is intertwined with organized crime and violence that has the potential to destabilize our country in the near future.

Evidence of this alarming trend is evident in various regions, particularly in the North, Western, and the Western North Regions where armed individuals protect the environmental criminals. These groups are not just a threat to our forests; they undermine the peace we cherish as a nation. The correlation between environmental crimes such as illegal logging, illegal mining and drug abuse among the youth is alarming.

To tackle this crisis, we must adopt a comprehensive approach. The government must recognize the profound relationship between environmental degradation and security threats. In this regard, the government can combat this environmental menace by involving the military and authorizing them to shoot and kill if the environmental criminals resist arrest or attempt to engage them in an armed fight.

Moreover, we need the law enforcement agencies to deeply understand the connections between environmental crimes and other criminal activities such as arms trafficking, drug dealing, and corruption. Effective investigations and responses must be prioritized, and a cooperative framework between law enforcement and judicial entities should be established to ensure that environmental criminals face appropriate consequences.

It is also essential to support local peacebuilding initiatives that address the fallout from environmental degradation, particularly in areas plagued by violence. The government must face the reality that the degradation of our forests directly correlates with increased insecurity.

Our communal and national policies must evolve to reflect the urgency of this crisis. The link between deforestation and violent conflict should become a central focus of preventative measures. Without decisive action, our efforts to protect Ghana’s environment and security will be in vain. Now is the moment to step up our commitment and efforts to safeguard and restore these crucial ecosystems. The time for action is now.

By Kwame Aduhene-Kwarteng (Castro) PhD, MA