{"id":22238,"date":"2026-01-14T06:01:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T06:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/22238\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T06:01:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T06:01:07","slug":"14-regions-in-ghana-severely-impacted-by-galamsey-expert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/22238\/","title":{"rendered":"14 regions in Ghana severely impacted by galamsey \u2013 Expert"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"article-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanaweb.com\/GhanaHomePage\/NewsArchive\/14-regions-in-Ghana-severely-impacted-by-galamsey-Expert-2017141?gallery=1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/55375632.295.jpg\" alt=\"Dr Ekua Odoom is an environmental scientist\" title=\"Dr Ekua Odoom is an environmental scientist\" width=\"295\" height=\"197\" \/> <\/a>Dr Ekua Odoom is an environmental scientist<\/p>\n<p id=\"article-123\">An Environmental Scientist at the Institute of Environment and Sanitation Studies (IESS), University of Ghana, Dr Ekua Odoom, has described illegal mining, widely known as galamsey, as a major contributor to some of Ghana\u2019s most pressing environmental challenges.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on the country\u2019s environmental situation, Dr Odoom said Ghana is currently grappling with key issues including plastic pollution, climate change, illegal mining, biodiversity loss, and land degradation.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanaweb.com\/GhanaHomePage\/features\/Galamsey-in-Ghana-How-it-began-what-it-has-become-and-why-education-must-lead-the-way-2001082\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Galamsey in Ghana: How it began, what it has become, and why education must lead the way<\/a><\/p>\n<p>According to her, galamsey activities significantly affected biodiversity loss and land degradation through the destruction of forests, farmlands, and natural habitats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCurrently I think about 14 out of 16 regions have been heavily impacted by activities and then the impact of these galamsey activities can be seen  through the pollution of our water bodies,&#8221; she noted. <\/p>\n<p>Dr Odoom  further warned of serious public health implications linked to galamsey, including an increase in respiratory and neurological diseases due to exposure to toxic chemicals and heavy metals used in mining operations.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanaweb.com\/GhanaHomePage\/features\/Galamsey-Is-illegal-mining-an-undeclared-war-on-Ghana-s-future-2016749\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Galamsey: Is illegal mining an undeclared war on Ghana&#8217;s future?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The impact of these galamsey activities can be seen through the pollution of our water bodies. Health-wise, you talk about prevalence or increase in respiratory and some neurological diseases,&#8221; she remarked.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Odoom also called for stronger enforcement of mining laws, and sustained public education to curb illegal mining.<\/p>\n<p>Galamsey continues to pose a serious threat to the country&#8217;s environment, public health, and sustainable development. <\/p>\n<p> Watch the video below: <\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\" xml:lang=\"en\">\u2018Currently, 14 out of Ghana\u2019s 16 regions are heavily impacted by galamsey activities.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Dr. Ekua Odoom, Environmental Scientist at the Institute of Environment and Sanitation Studies, UG, highlights political interference as a key driver of illegal mining.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/JohnMahama?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">#JohnMahama<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6lnZHEc0uT\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/6lnZHEc0uT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 ChannelOne TV (@Channel1TVGHA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Channel1TVGHA\/status\/2011087103824994425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">January 13, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>JKB\/AM<\/p>\n<p>Which party leaves government with its finance minister missing \u2013 Ex Subin MP loses cool on Ofori-Atta<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dr Ekua Odoom is an environmental scientist An Environmental Scientist at the Institute of Environment and Sanitation Studies&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[79],"class_list":{"0":"post-22238","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ghana","8":"tag-ghana"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}