The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has vowed to end mining in forest reserves if he is elected president in the upcoming December 7 polls. 

According to the former President, the destruction of the forest reserve for gold must not be encouraged.

Speaking to chiefs and elders of the Central Region, Mr Mahama said Ghana’s forest must be protected. 

He pledged that his government would not tolerate the mining of gold in forest reserves at the expense of preservation.

“We are going to stop all mining in forest reserves. Some of those trees existed when our ancestors were here. Some of those trees are 700 years old in those forest reserves. And our ancestors didn’t cut them. Our ancestors left them for us.

“We are going to cut them and what are we going to leave for our children? Savannah, desertification, destroyed environment. And so we must preserve the forest. Yes, it is attractive to get as much gold as we can but that is like cutting your nose to spite your face.”