Newmont Akyem Mine Biodiversity Offset — Forest Reserve Reforestation (Ghana)

Newmont Golden Ridge Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ghana's Forestry Commission committing to revegetate and maintain, for at least 10 years, three times the 101 ha of Ajenjua Bepo Forest Reserve land taken by its Akyem gold mine — a 303 ha offset obligation split across the Ajenjua Bepo and Mamang Production Forest Reserves.

Reforestation began in 2014 using roughly 30 indigenous species plus Cedrela, grown from more than 60,000 seedlings. By 2023 the company reported 317 ha reforested, exceeding the 303 ha commitment; a first 60 ha phase of fully cultivated forest at Ajenjua Bepo was formally handed over to the Forestry Commission in August 2023, and a second 257 ha phase at the Kweikaro Production Forest Reserve is scheduled for transfer by 2027.

Since 2018, Newmont and IUCN have run a joint biodiversity programme applying the IUCN Biodiversity Net Gain Review Protocol; a review team of IUCN member-organisation representatives and outside experts visited the Akyem site in 2022 and published a summary report in 2023 with recommendations for improvement, targeting no net biodiversity loss with net gains where possible. This offers real independent oversight of process, though publicly disclosed evidence still centres on hectares reforested rather than audited species-recovery counts, and local NGOs (e.g. Earthworks) have separately reported community opposition linked to the mine's land take and resettlement — a reminder that the reforestation programme's success does not resolve every local grievance.

Read the full analysis: https://thebftonline.com/2023/08/21/newmont-akyem-to-hand-over-60ha-of-cultivated-forest-to-govt/