Ghanaian investigative and environmental journalist, Erastus Asare Donkoh, says enforcement and responsible mining are important in managing illegal mining in Ghana. 

Speaking on Class FM 91.3 FM's Morning Show hosted by Kwame Dwumour Agyemang, says proper, sustainable and supervised mining will help safeguard our forests.

“Why can't we get the Geological Services Division to be able to do proper geological research to find out where the orbs are in every district, so that if people want to mine and they get their licenses, they can tap into this data so they don't go digging almost everywhere for gold,” he said. 

 According to him, Gold, which is a non-renewable commodity, cannot be used as a buffer against all other renewable sources like timber, cocoa, and cashew.

“Timber Organisations that rely on the forest for reforestation should be able to do that.

We should not prioritise mining over all other things that, now we cannot farm, we cannot get water to farm, our timber firms should collapse because we want gold?” he queried. 

He also urged Members of Parliament to come up with legislation that will provide a permanent framework for future fights against illegal mining.