Revoking EI 144: An environmental relief

Is Accra losing its major green buffer zone, which doubles as an air purifier within the city since 1927? This was the question running through the minds of most Ghanaians a few years ago.

Originally covering an area of 495 hectares, the Achimota Forest Reserve was created as a green belt between the capital city and the Achimota School. This natural resource was reduced to 355 hectares and faced further depletion.

The Achimota Forest Reserve plays an important role in protecting the environment, improving air quality and serving as a green buffer for Accra and nearby communities.

In this regard, the authorities during the pre-independence era saw the need to prepare an ecological area where much human activity would be restricted, which would in turn serve as a field laboratory for schools, provide a place of recreation and conserve biological diversity within Accra and its environs.

This idea was put into action when the government acquired the land from the Owoo Family (original owners of the land) in 1927 for this purpose. The Achimota Forest Reserve was classified as a forest reserve and accordingly gazetted in 1939.

This forest reserve is the only major green belt within Accra, which is sandwiched by Achimota School to the west, the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) to the east, Christian Village on the northern side, and the George Walker Bush Highway on the southern part.

The entire forest area is located in the Okai Kwei North Municipality in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. It is approximately 7.6 kilometres from the central business district of Accra.

Ensuring its use for the purpose of its acquisition, the entire area was protected against unauthorised activities such as poaching, hunting, logging and the construction of houses and other commercial facilities.

Later, the undesirable state of the forest reserve caused some residents living within Accra and its environs to raise concerns about whether the green belt was being replaced with the usual concrete structures, which have now become the order of the day. Large portions of land within urban areas in Ghana are made up of concrete structures, and Accra is no exception.

A study carried out by Adams Osman of the Department of Geography Education, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana, shows the trends and efficiency of land consumption in the Greater Accra Region from 1987 to 2017. The study shows that artificial surfaces increased from 4.2% to 33.1%, with an annual growth rate of 22.1% over the 30-year period.

Another study published in 2018 by Alex Barimah Owusu of the [University of Ghana](https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/jengeo/11/1-2/article-p37.xml "External link — University of Ghana") estimated that Accra lost 65% of its urban vegetation between 1986 and 2013.

This phenomenon means more vegetation is giving way to concrete surfaces within the capital city and its environs. More trees are being cut down to pave the way for the construction of houses and other commercial entities.

In 2005, the Environmental Protection Agency linked nearly 3,000 deaths in Accra to air pollution. According to the agency, this figure could rise to 4,600 deaths by 2030 if no control measures are put in place to check pollution levels.

Currently, Accra has been ranked among cities in the world with moderate air pollution by IQAir, an international partner agency of UN-HABITAT, UNEP, GREENPEACE and the US Green Building Council (USGBC), based on the Air Quality Index. This placed Accra in 492nd position among cities ranked worldwide in relation to air quality.

In the agency’s estimation, Accra is a city that has some fairly bad pollution issues, with several months on record in years past that would put many members of its population in danger due to the highly damaging effects that pollution exposure can bring, particularly to vulnerable members of society.

The facts surrounding the condition of the Achimota Forest Reserve were that the government released more land than had been agreed in 2007 and had also decided to commit another large portion to the creation of an Eco-Park.

It can be recalled that in 2007, the Owoo Family petitioned the then government to release the unused portions of the forest in the southern periphery to the family in lieu of compensation, which had not been paid over the years since 1927, when the land was acquired.

In 2008, the government agreed to lease 90 acres of the southern periphery of the forest to the family for a period of 99 years. However, this was not activated.

In 2011, the Owoo Family again petitioned the government on the same issue, and another committee was constituted to look into the petition. After the government was satisfied with the family’s application, 361 acres of land (instead of the original 90 acres) were released in September 2013.

Within the same period, the government, working through the Forestry Commission, also decided to convert some portions of the forest into an Eco-Park, which called for the amendment of the 1930 Instrument that classified the entire area as a forest reserve.

An Executive Instrument (E.I.) 144 on April 19, 2022, therefore, lifted the 1927 classification of those portions of the Achimota Forest in the southern periphery as a forest reserve. The E.I. 144 was published together with the Forests (Achimota Firewood Plantation Forest Reserve) (Amendment) Instrument, 2022 (E.I. 154).

The E.I. 144 was intended to make the peripheral portions of the forest reserve a declassified zone to ensure development consistent with the area of the forest reserve. Furthermore, the E.I. 154, on the other hand, states emphatically that the area of the forest shall remain a forest reserve. Both instruments contain provisions that seek to protect the ecological integrity of the forest reserve.

Meanwhile, 889 acres of forest land have been officially declared as the remaining forest reserve since 40% (361 acres) of the southern periphery has been handed over.

This decision generated public fury and criticism from environmental groups, civil society organisations (CSOs) and some Members of Parliament (MPs), who called for the reversal of the decision to restore the forest to its protected status.

The individuals and institutions argued that declassifying the forest reserve was a dangerous step, explaining further that “we spend almost 100 years to reach 27% encroachment and now with one swoop of a pen, we are giving out 70%, that is not acceptable.”

Further information indicates that the Achimota Forest Reserve is classified under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which limits the use of the land for certain activities. As a result, Ghana’s IUCN obligations on development require forest reserves to focus primarily on agriculture, forestry and tourism.

The questions in the minds of most Ghanaians were: If the original plan by the government in 2007 was to lease 90 acres of the forest land for 99 years, as agreed, why did E.I. 144 (2022) give out 361 acres of land?

Secondly, was E.I. 154 (2022) meant to protect and preserve the remaining forest reserve or to continue its depletion?

As Ghanaians pondered over this issue, relief came from the government’s decision to revoke Executive Instrument (E.I.) 144, restoring the Achimota Forest Reserve to its fully protected status and reversing the decision that removed part of the forest from the reserve.

This decision, made on June 24, 2026, to restore the forest to its original classification under the 1927 declaration, brought an end to the legal tussle that began in 2022, when about 361 acres were excised from the southern periphery of the reserve.

As Ghanaians, we need to remember the wise saying that “When the last tree dies, the last man dies”.

Writer: Isaac Shinne Ametepe, Public Relations Unit, National Folklore Board