By Alex Ababio & Isaac Nsiah Foster |
Ghanaian Watch Special Report Team
As Ghana’s forests fall to mining, logging, and weak environmental laws, the nation’s few surviving chimpanzees face near extinction. Conservationists are now racing against time to protect our closest living relatives.
The researchers moved carefully through Bui National Park, but what met them was heartbreaking silence. Once, the forest echoed with the loud calls of chimpanzees; now, the sound was gone. After months of fieldwork, their worst fears were confirmed—Bui National Park had lost all its chimpanzees.
“We conducted surveys to know whether we could trace any of them,” said Richard Ofori-Amanfo, Western Regional Park Manager at the Wildlife Division of Ghana’s Forestry Commission. “We are yet to establish from our findings to categorically say whether they are still in the forest or otherwise. For now, we have not been able to sight any of them in that stretch of forest or park.”
This loss goes far beyond one park. It reflects a national biodiversity crisis. Experts estimate that fewer than 60 chimpanzees remain across Ghana. The country now stands on the edge of becoming another West African nation to lose its chimpanzees forever. A Ghanaian Watch investigation uncovers the tangled web of habitat loss, legal loopholes, and conservation struggles defining the fate of Ghana’s last chimpanzees.
Vanishing Act: A Population on the Brink
The story of Ghana’s chimpanzees is a tragic one. Once found in many forests across the country, they have been almost completely wiped out by human activity. According to the Wildlife Division, chimpanzees now survive in only three key areas—Bia National Park (about 34 individuals), Krokosua Forest Reserve (around 5), and Goaso forest reserves (roughly 3 confirmed sightings). Adding stray individuals from other forests, the national total barely reaches 60.
“In the past, the chimpanzee population in Ghana was huge, but now they are going extinct,” said Ofori-Amanfo. The Western Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus), Ghana’s native subspecies, is already listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The species has already vanished from Benin and Togo, and Ghana could soon follow.
Chimpanzees share about 98% of their DNA with humans, making them vital to scientific and medical research. Studies show they have unique genetic traits that help them survive in different environments, including some natural resistance to diseases like malaria. Sadly, this closeness to humans also makes them highly vulnerable to the damage humans cause.
Current estimates show:
Bia National Park: 34 chimpanzees, protected but still threatened.
Krokosua Forest Reserve: About 5, in a fragmented habitat.
Goaso Forest Reserves: Around 3 individuals, unconfirmed sightings.
Bui National Park: 0, locally extinct.
Total for Ghana: Fewer than 60, critically endangered.
A Death by a Thousand Cuts: Habitat Destruction
The Mining Menace
The greatest danger to chimpanzees is the destruction of their forests—especially through illegal gold mining, locally called galamsey. To miners, the forest is a place to dig for gold, not a home for wildlife.
According to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, 5,252 hectares of forest reserves have already been destroyed by galamsey. Out of 288 forest reserves in Ghana, 45 have been affected and nine have been completely ruined.
“The intensity and widespread of galamsey in recent times have become a major factor which is hindering the efforts to protect chimpanzees and other wildlife resources in the country,” said Ofori-Amanfo.
A 2025 scientific study confirmed that illegal mining causes “significant reductions in plant species richness and diversity.” In many heavily mined areas, there is “complete absence of vegetation” and “total carbon loss.”
Government policies have worsened the situation. In 2022, Ghana introduced the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations, L.I. 2462, which allows the president to approve mining in protected forests in the “national interest.” Environmentalists and the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences strongly opposed this law. In June 2025, the Academy published an open letter titled “Stop Mining In Ghana’s Forest Reserves—Repeal L.I. 2462 Now”, describing it as “a ticking time bomb” that will destroy the country’s natural reserves.
A Perfect Storm of Threats
Beyond mining, chimpanzees face multiple other threats:
1. Hunting and Ritual Killing
“Previously our research showed that some hunters also killed these animals,” Ofori-Amanfo said. Although subsistence hunting has decreased, he added, “Some few hunters in recent times kill the chimpanzees to use them for ritual purposes.” Younger hunters are generally more educated and reluctant to kill chimpanzees, but greed and superstition continue to fuel the practice.
2. Disease and Contamination
Chimpanzees are easily infected by human diseases such as tuberculosis, measles, and COVID-19. They are also at risk from toxic chemicals used in mining. “They don’t have resistance to hard metals like mercury and lead and cyanide,” warned Ofori-Amanfo. “These substances can severely affect them, so if we don’t take care and allow these substances to get to them, it will affect the left population of chimpanzees.”
3. Loss of Habitat
Chimpanzees rely heavily on forest cover to build their nests and find food. “Chimpanzees love to live in the forest areas, but a significant number of Ghana’s forest cover has been destroyed by human activities through logs cutting and trees cutting,” Ofori-Amanfo said. Their habit of building a new nest every night means they constantly need tall trees. Without them, they are forced to sleep on the ground, where predators like leopards can easily attack.
The main threats to chimpanzees, therefore, are:
Illegal gold mining: Complete forest destruction and pollution.
Legal mining in forests: Habitat fragmentation.
Hunting: Direct killings.
Disease transmission: Human-to-animal infection.
Logging: Removal of nesting trees.
Legal Shields and Loopholes: The Conservation Response
New Laws, Old Problems
In 2023, Ghana passed the Wildlife Resources Management Act (Act 1115), later amended in March 2024, to increase penalties for wildlife crimes. Offenders who harm protected species like chimpanzees can now face two to six years imprisonment.
But conservationists argue that the punishment is still too light. “As I read the law I realized there should be more to be done,” said Ofori-Amanfo. “We need to make specific laws on some of these animals, especially those whose population are reducing and going extinct.” He compared Ghana’s penalties to countries like Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya, where killing endangered species can lead to 20 to 30 years in jail or even life imprisonment.
He added, “The tusk of an elephant is too expensive, even more than some saloon cars, so it is a national resource that we should not toy with.”
Ghana is also a signatory to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), which lists chimpanzees under Appendix I, banning international trade in them. Yet weak enforcement allows illegal bushmeat and pet trade to continue.
Conservation in Action
Despite these challenges, Ghana’s Wildlife Division continues to fight for the species. The Division runs special protection programs in areas like Bia, Ankasa, and Goaso, with increased patrols and surveillance. Officials also visit nearby communities to educate people on the importance of protecting chimpanzees.
“We are doing action plan to ensure we protect all the chimpanzees in the Western part of Africa,” said Ofori-Amanfo. One idea being discussed is translocation—moving chimpanzees back to old forest areas if those habitats can be restored.
Chimpanzees also play an important role in science. “When we want to test the drug or medicine efficacy on humans, chimpanzees are the first animals that you can use to test the drug or use it in clinical trials,” Ofori-Amanfo explained. Their close resemblance to humans has also reduced local appetite for chimpanzee bushmeat. “The majority of the consumers are hesitant because when they identify the meat to be that of chimpanzee they will not eat it because they perceive the chimpanzees as very much resembling humans.”
The Root Causes: Systemic Failure and Political Complicity
A Network of Destruction
Experts say corruption lies at the heart of the crisis. David Nana Kudiewu-Miod, a geological mining expert with Mohammed Brothers in Tarkwa, told Ghanaian Watch: “Approximately 70% of illegal mining activities are clandestinely backed by politicians. And the truth is, we know who they are, and they are aware that we know of their involvement.”
He explained that galamsey is no longer random. “Galamsey is no longer a haphazard affair. It’s an organized illegal business, run by artisanal miners with financial backers, managers, and logistical support.”
The Ghana Coalition Against Galamsey (GCAG) has called on the government to revoke L.I. 2462, end police protection for miners, and punish all officials involved. Its convener, Kenneth Ashigbey, warned: “If this government does not act decisively, no one is safe.”
Global Pressures, Local Consequences
This is not just Ghana’s problem. A 2024 World Resources Institute report revealed that mining has destroyed 1.4 million hectares of forests worldwide between 2001 and 2020, including 450,000 hectares of tropical rainforests. Ghana is among 11 countries responsible for 87% of all mining-related forest loss.
The rising global demand for minerals—especially those used in renewable energy—could bring even more pressure in the years ahead. While Ghana’s crisis mainly involves gold, future interest in minerals like lithium could worsen the environmental strain.
A Race Against Time
The fate of Ghana’s chimpanzees mirrors the world’s biodiversity crisis. The nation faces a choice: continue down a path of environmental destruction or take strong action to protect what little remains.
“We must recognize that climate change presents an opportunity for transformative change,” said Professor Christopher Gordon, former Director of the Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies at the University of Ghana. “Conversely, our current trajectory is alarming. The relentless pursuit of gold and other minerals is devastating our forest reserves, polluting our waterways, and threatening our very survival.”
For Ofori-Amanfo and his team, the mission continues. “We the Wildlife Division with its guards and officials are more aggressive in protecting the wildlife, especially the chimpanzees, otherwise their numbers will go down and eventually go extinct in Ghana.”
He urged citizens to act. “I want to urge all Ghanaians to endeavor to protect the remaining endangered species in Ghana and urge them to refrain from habitat destruction and greediness through which we are destroying our forest reserve.”
The silence in Bui National Park is a warning. Once the forests lose their voices, the loss spreads until the only memory left is that of animals that once made them come alive. Ghana’s story of the chimpanzee isn’t over yet—but how it ends depends on what we do now.