Dr Randy Abbey, the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, who made this known during a day's conference for members of Parliament in Accra, said another 50,000 hectares of cocoa farms were at risk of destruction.

"Illegal small-scale mining is ultimately diminishing the land under cultivation, levels of output and incomes of cocoa farmers," Dr Abbey stated.

The CEO of COCOBOD indicated that because of the impact of illegal mining on cocoa farms, Japan and European Union will from September this year test Ghana's cocoa beans to ascertain whether they contain heavy metals.

In view that, Dr Abbey said COCOBOD had decided to set up a state-of-the-art laboratory at the Quality Control Centre in Tema to test Ghana's cocoa beans to ascertain whether there are any traces of heavy metals before being packaged for export.

Dr Abbey announced plans by COCOBOD to table the Economic Protection Act, (ARFCD 47) of 1979, to amend the law to tackle the incidents of felling of cocoa trees.

The amendment would make the law more punitive and ensure that those who fell cocoa trees, without justifiable reasons, receive severe punishment and heavy fines.

Currently, he said, cocoa provides direct jobs to two million Ghanaians and additional five million indirect jobs.

Earlier, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, in his address, said the government would support MPs to lead the charge in their constituencies to mobilise their constituents to form Community Mining Co-operatives to engage in proper mining.

The Minister said the Community Mining Cooperatives would be issued with mining licences and assisted to acquire mining concessions to undertake legal small-scale mining.

The minister underscored the need for collective responsibility by all stakeholders to protect and preserve the natural resources.
"Illegal small-scale mining is a social and economic crisis that threatened our livelihoods," he noted.

The minister observed that out of the 288 forest reserves in the country 44 of them were under serious threats by illegal mining, representing 7,500 hectares of standard football field.
The minister said the turbidity levels of the water bodies had worsened currently ranging from 5,000 to 12,000 NTU, which in normal circumstances should range between zero and 500.

The minister expressed President John Mahama's commitment to tackle the galamsey menace head-on.

"The fight against illegal small-scale mining must get to the root cause and identify the main financiers and big wigs and shame them," he said.

The conference was held on the theme, "Restoring a Culture of Proper Small-Scale Mining in Ghana," which brought together MPs, heads of agencies under the Ministry including the Ghana Geological Survey Authority, Minerals Commission, Forestry Commission, Lands Commission and Environmental Protection Agency, as well as Civil Society Organisations.

The parliamentarians were tasked to take tangible actions to drive change in their respective constituencies to curb the illegal mining scourge.

They would also be equipped with the requisite knowledge, skills, and tools to lead the charge in their respective constituencies to crackdown on the menace.