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NASA highlights Ghana’s declining forest reserves
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In southwestern Ghana, a patchwork of tropical forest lies among widespread farmland dotted with towns. These forest fragments are remnants of the Upper Guinean forest of West Africa, a biodiversity hotspot that has been diminished by human activity and fires.
Primates, elephants, hippopotamuses, and butterflies are among the thousands of animals that live in the region’s primary forests, which are almost entirely within a network of forest reserves. But satellite images indicate that these protected forest remnants have become even smaller in recent decades.
The false-colour images above, acquired by the Landsat 4 and Landsat 9 satellites, show 12 protected forest reserves and Bia National Park in the Bia-Goaso forest district in 1989 (left) and 2023 (right). The forested canopies of the reserves are dark green, whereas the surrounding landscape is lighter green.
“This area has historically been an important forest habitat for biodiversity, but elephant populations have declined precipitously because of human encroachment and habitat degradation,” said Michael Wimberly, a professor of geography and environmental sustainability at the University of Oklahoma. The photograph below, taken by Wimberly, shows intact forests in a reserve east of the Bia-Goaso region.
Wimberly and a team of researchers in the United States and Ghana used Landsat data to study forest degradation, loss, and recovery in the reserves across Ghana from 2003 to 2019. Although vegetation change was relatively slow from 2003 to 2015, it picked up significantly between 2015 and 2019.
Overall, there was more forest loss and degradation than recovery, resulting in a gradual decline of tree cover.
The drivers of change here are multifaceted, noted Wimberly. In 2016, drought associated with El Niño parched forests and promoted fires across more than 12 percent of Ghana’s moist semi-deciduous and upland evergreen forests. Forest loss was especially prevalent in a reserve known as Bonsam Bepo, south of the city of Goaso.
In a reserve southeast of this image, mining operations contributed to forest loss. In the reserve north of Bia National Forest, widespread logging for timber from 2017 to 2019 led to forest degradation. In other reserves, such as Krokosua (the u-shaped reserve at the bottom of the image), the expansion of cocoa farms has consumed forest. Ghana and neighbouring Côte D’Ivoire produce about two-thirds of the world’s cocoa.
A 2024 United Nations report on the state of the world’s forests highlighted the Forest Data Partnership, an effort to help people in Ghana access remote sensing data to track commodities linked to deforestation and prevent forest loss.
The approach is being field-tested in Ghana and at the joint NASA-USAID SERVIR program’s regional hub for West Africa to help make agricultural production and food systems more sustainable.
Wimberly and colleagues continue to monitor Ghana’s tropical forest landscapes and forest reserves using Landsat data and models to classify the health of forests. Their updated results can be explored in this interactive map.
Source: earthobservatory.nasa.gov
MTN Ghana has undertaken a tree-planting exercise at the Chipa Forest Reserve as part of its commitment to protecting the planet and support the restoration of degraded sections of the forest.
The activity forms part of the company’s 2026 Sustainability Month celebration held under the theme “Small Actions: Big Impact,” and its 30th anniversary celebration.
It was held in partnership with the Forestry Commission (FC) and the Rainforest Alliance with MTN Ghana supporting the restoration of approximately two hectares of degraded forest through the planting of 1,666 trees.
Due to the current dry weather conditions, 833 trees were planted during the exercise, with the remaining 833 to be planted when the rain commences.
The exercise brought together MTN employee volunteers, officials from the Forestry Commission and representatives of the Rainforest Alliance, demonstrating the importance of collaboration in driving environmental sustainability.
Speaking at the event, the Acting General Manager for Sustainability and Shared Value at MTN Ghana, Georgina Asare Fiagbenu, emphasized the critical role trees play in sustaining life and protecting the environment.
“Trees are essential to human survival and healthy ecosystems. They absorb carbon dioxide, release oxygen, regulate temperatures, protect soil, support biodiversity and provide habitats for many species. They also conserve water, reduce erosion and help communities adapt to the effects of climate change,” she said.
The District Manager of the Tema-Ada Forest Services Division of the Forestry Commission, Linda Ansah, welcomed MTN Ghana’s support, describing it as a valuable contribution to efforts aimed at restoring degraded sections of the reserve.
The Country Director of the Rainforest Alliance, Nicholas Jengri, also welcomed the partnership and emphasised the importance of collective action in addressing environmental challenges.
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The Ministry of Education (MOE) has warned students, parents and guardians against fake and digitally manipulated Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) placement slips being circulated on social media.
The MOE said it had detected attempts by some unscrupulous individuals to digitally alter placement slips and circulate them online with claims that students’ original school placements had been changed by the Ministry.
A statement signed by Mr Hashmin Mohammed, the Press Secretary to the Minister of Education issued to the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday, described the claims as “false and misleading.”
It said preliminary internal verification had established that some of the placement slips being circulated did not correspond with records generated from the official CSSPS platform.
The statement noted that discrepancies had been identified in the barcodes and QR codes appearing on some of the purported placement slips.
“The codes did not match the placement information displayed on the documents being circulated as evidence of alleged changes,” it added.
The Ministry’s system records and audit logs did not support the claims being made by individuals circulating the materials, the statement said.
“The evidence available to the Ministry indicates that the affected documents have been digitally manipulated or otherwise altered to create the impression that students’ placements have been changed.”
It described the alleged manipulation as a serious attempt to undermine public confidence in the CSSPS process and create confusion and anxiety among students, parents and guardians.
The statement indicated that the Ministry had referred the matter to the Cyber Security Authority and other relevant security agencies for further investigation and appropriate action. It urged the public to exercise caution and avoid sharing unverified placement slips or claims about placement changes on social media.
Parents, guardians and students have also been advised to rely only on placement information obtained through official CSSPS channels.
The Ministry reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that the 2026 CSSPS exercise was conducted with transparency, fairness, integrity and accountability, adding that legitimate concerns regarding placement would be investigated through the appropriate channels.
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