Ghana’s once vibrant socio-ecological landscapes, characterized by pristine river basins, expansive forest cover in both reserved and non reserved areas, flourishing marine ecosystems, and thriving wetlands, peatlands, and mangroves, are currently facing an unprecedented level of depletion. A critical state previously unforeseen in Ghana’s history poses significant threat to the nation’s socio-economic development, which is heavily reliant on its natural resources. The World Bank’s 2020 Country Environment Analysis report has underscored the pivotal role natural resources play in Ghana’s economic growth. However, the report also emphasizes that unchecked environmental unsustainability could impede this growth. The evidence of such unsustainability is glaringly manifesting in the destruction of forests, land, and water. The destructions are due to unregulated mining practices, disregarding existing safeguards for community needs and lacking effective enforcement and compliance measures. This has resulted in a substantial loss of water provisioning services, giving rise to health issues in mining communities, negatively impacting downstream water users, and exposing people to contaminated foods and lands.

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This document was developed over several months through broad engagements of Non Profit Organisations (NPOs) within the natural resources, oil and gas, energy, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), and climate change sectors, sharing inputs from their respective constituents across the country. The Environment Manifesto is informed by the felt needs and aspirations of Ghanaians across the 16 regions over the increasing impunity and detrimental activities of government, corporations and individuals, that sometimes have fatal and irreparable impacts on food, clean water, natural ecosystems, health and environment. 

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