Article by Remo Kurka, 11 September 2026 - Kakum National Park remains one of Ghana's greatest natural treasures.
For visitors, it is a place of enormous trees, dense rainforest, monkeys, birds and butterflies, with the famous canopy walkway providing a remarkable view from high above the forest floor.
But behind the beauty lies a growing concern.
In 2026, illegal gold mining — commonly known in Ghana as galamsey — continues to put pressure on the forests, water bodies and communities surrounding the Kakum Conservation Area.
The situation requires careful explanation.
It would be wrong to suggest that illegal miners have simply taken over Kakum National Park itself. The park remains legally protected, and Ghana's Minerals Commission has previously rejected an application to mine within the national park.
The real concern is broader and, in some ways, more difficult to solve.
Kakum does not exist in isolation.
The rainforest is part of a larger ecological landscape containing forest reserves, farms, rivers, streams and communities. When illegal mining destroys these surrounding areas, it can undermine the ecological security of the protected forest itself.
That is the threat Ghana must confront in 2026.
The forest is rich, alive, and sacred — a place where life flourishes, hidden and vibrant, under the protective canopy of towering trees.
Kakum National Park remains one of Ghana's most extraordinary natural treasures.
For visitors, the first impression is often one of untouched wilderness: towering rainforest trees, the calls of birds hidden somewhere in the canopy, butterflies moving through shafts of sunlight and, with some luck, monkeys appearing between the branches. The famous canopy walkway offers visitors a spectacular view over the forest and has become one of Ghana's most recognisable tourist attractions.
But beneath this impressive picture lies a growing concern.
In 2026, galamsey — illegal and often environmentally destructive gold mining — continues to place serious pressure on Ghana's forests, rivers and communities, including the wider landscape surrounding Kakum National Park.
The threat should not be exaggerated. Kakum National Park remains legally protected, and Ghanaian authorities have rejected proposals to allow mining within the park itself.
But protection on paper does not automatically protect an ecosystem.
The forest surrounding a national park, the rivers flowing through it, the farms beside it and the communities depending upon it are all part of the same ecological system.
And that larger system is increasingly under pressure.
The beauty of wildlife at Kakum National Park (c) Remo Kurka
Kakum is not simply a tourist attraction with a canopy walkway.
It is a living rainforest ecosystem.
The Kakum Conservation Area contains a remarkable diversity of plant and animal species and forms part of the remaining Upper Guinean rainforest ecosystem of West Africa.
Its importance extends far beyond its boundaries.
Forests regulate water, protect soils, store carbon, support biodiversity and contribute to the livelihoods of people living nearby.
They also create economic opportunities through tourism.
This is what makes galamsey particularly dangerous.
Illegal mining does not simply remove a few trees. It can fundamentally alter the landscape.
Trees are cleared.
Soil is excavated.
Streams can be disturbed or diverted.
Heavy machinery enters forest areas.
Roads and tracks are created.
Mining camps appear.
Wildlife habitat becomes fragmented.
And once the gold has been removed, the landscape can be left severely degraded.
The situation reported in 2026 demonstrates that the pressure is not theoretical.
In August, enforcement operations in the Kakum Forest area resulted in the arrest of dozens of suspected illegal miners and the immobilisation of large numbers of mining machines and industrial pumps.
Such operations reveal the scale of equipment being brought into sensitive forest environments.
They also reveal another problem: illegal mining can return after enforcement teams leave.
Machines can be replaced.
People can return.
New access routes can be created.
Previously untouched areas can become new targets.
This creates a continuous battle for the agencies responsible for protecting Ghana's forests.
The challenge is therefore not simply to conduct an occasional operation.
It is to prevent illegal mining from becoming established in the first place.
This distinction is crucial.
It would be inaccurate to suggest that the entire Kakum National Park has been taken over by galamsey.
It has not.
The danger is more complicated.
Mining activity in the surrounding forest landscape can gradually undermine the ecological integrity of the protected area.
Animals do not understand park boundaries.
Water does not stop flowing because a protected-area boundary has been crossed.
Rainwater carries soil and sediment downhill.
Birds and mammals move between habitats.
Local communities depend on resources on both sides of protected-area boundaries.
If the surrounding landscape becomes heavily degraded, Kakum can increasingly find itself functioning as an isolated island of forest surrounded by damaged land.
That is a dangerous situation for biodiversity.
When people think about galamsey, they often think first about deforestation.
The loss of trees is certainly serious, but the consequences go much deeper.
A rainforest contains a complex structure of roots, soil organisms, vegetation and waterways that have developed over many years.
Mining removes and disturbs that structure.
Heavy machinery compacts soil.
Excavation removes topsoil.
Vegetation is destroyed.
Natural drainage patterns can change.
Rainfall can cause severe erosion on exposed ground.
The result can be a landscape that is extremely difficult to restore.
Planting a few new trees afterwards does not recreate an old-growth rainforest.
A mature rainforest is an ecosystem, not simply a collection of trees.
Perhaps the most serious long-term concern is water.
Gold mining can generate enormous quantities of disturbed soil and sediment. When mining occurs close to streams and rivers, that material can enter waterways.
The consequences can include increased turbidity, sedimentation, erosion and damage to aquatic habitats.
Ghana has already experienced widespread concern over the impact of illegal mining on water bodies elsewhere in the country.
The Kakum landscape cannot afford to ignore this threat.
The forest and its waterways are interconnected.
Protecting the trees while allowing surrounding waterways to deteriorate would not constitute successful conservation.
The health of the rainforest ultimately depends upon the health of its water systems.
Kakum's wildlife is another major reason why the expansion of human activity around the forest is so concerning.
Species such as forest elephants and other large mammals require substantial areas of suitable habitat.
Primates depend heavily on forest vegetation and connected canopy.
Birds depend on particular trees, food sources and nesting locations.
When mining fragments the forest, wildlife may lose access to feeding grounds and safe movement corridors.
Noise from machinery, vehicles and pumps also changes the character of an area that should otherwise remain relatively undisturbed.
And there is another danger.
Where new roads and mining settlements enter previously inaccessible forest, other illegal activities can become easier.
Poaching, illegal logging and uncontrolled harvesting of forest resources can follow the expansion of mining activity.
One environmental problem can therefore open the door to another.
Galamsey also threatens something that is often overlooked: tourism revenue.
Kakum is one of Ghana's most important nature-based tourism destinations.
Visitors come to experience rainforest, wildlife, birdlife and the canopy walkway.
They come because the forest is alive.
They come because it offers something fundamentally different from an urban or coastal holiday.
If surrounding forests are progressively cleared and waterways degraded, the attraction becomes less powerful.
The economic consequences would extend far beyond the park entrance.
Tour guides need visitors.
Hotels need visitors.
Restaurants need visitors.
Transport operators need visitors.
Local craftspeople and traders need visitors.
Farmers and food suppliers benefit from the tourism economy.
The destruction of the natural environment can therefore damage an entire network of livelihoods.
The galamsey crisis cannot be understood simply by describing miners as criminals and assuming the problem will disappear when they are arrested.
There are economic realities behind illegal mining.
For some people, galamsey provides income where other opportunities are limited.
Young people in rural communities may see gold mining as one of the fastest ways to earn money.
Farmers may struggle with fluctuating agricultural prices and rising costs.
The immediate financial reward from mining can therefore appear much more attractive than waiting years for a forest to provide an economic return.
That is why enforcement alone will never completely solve the problem.
If Ghana wants to protect Kakum and other forests permanently, it must also make conservation economically meaningful for the people living around them.
Local communities should not be treated merely as people living next to a national park.
They are essential partners in protecting it.
Traditional leaders, farmers, youth organisations, local businesses and community groups all have a role to play.
If communities benefit from tourism, sustainable agriculture, forest restoration and conservation-related employment, the economic argument for protecting the forest becomes stronger.
If the only immediate economic opportunity available to a young person is illegal mining, asking that person simply to protect the forest may not be enough.
Conservation must therefore be connected to development.
Protecting Kakum must also mean creating reasons for communities to want Kakum protected.
Ghanaian authorities have demonstrated that they are capable of conducting major operations against illegal miners.
Arrests can be made.
Mining equipment can be seized or destroyed.
Access routes can be closed.
But the recurring nature of illegal mining demonstrates the limitations of temporary enforcement operations.
A successful long-term strategy requires sustained surveillance and rapid intervention.
It requires adequately equipped forest guards.
It requires intelligence gathering.
It requires cooperation between the Forestry Commission, police, local authorities, traditional leaders and communities.
Modern technologies such as drones can also help identify new mining activity before it becomes deeply established.
Most importantly, those who finance, organise and profit from illegal mining must face meaningful consequences — not only the individuals working at the mining site.
Where illegal mining has already damaged forest land, simply stopping the miners is not enough.
The next challenge is restoration.
Mining pits must be made safe.
Degraded soil needs to be rehabilitated.
Watercourses need protection.
Native vegetation needs to return.
In some locations, active reforestation may be necessary.
But restoration is expensive.
And even successful restoration cannot immediately replace the ecological complexity of a mature rainforest.
This is another reason prevention is so important.
It is far cheaper and more effective to protect an intact rainforest than to try to reconstruct one after it has been destroyed.
There is an important national question behind the struggle to protect Kakum.
What does Ghana want its forests to represent in the future?
A source of short-term mineral wealth?
Or a long-term national asset supporting biodiversity, water security, climate resilience, tourism and rural livelihoods?
The answer should not require Ghana to choose between development and conservation.
True development should be able to accommodate both.
Gold can generate wealth.
But gold is finite.
Once a deposit has been mined, it is gone.
A healthy rainforest is different.
It can continue providing ecological and economic benefits year after year.
It can support tourism.
It can store carbon.
It can protect water.
It can support wildlife.
It can provide opportunities for research and education.
And it can remain an inheritance for future generations.
Perhaps the greatest danger facing Kakum is complacency.
Visitors may enter the park, walk across the canopy bridges and see an apparently healthy rainforest.
They may leave believing that everything is fine.
But conservation does not end at the entrance gate.
The condition of the surrounding landscape matters.
The health of rivers matters.
The survival of forest corridors matters.
The activities taking place near the boundaries matter.
The livelihoods of neighbouring communities matter.
If those systems deteriorate for long enough, the protected forest will eventually feel the consequences.
Kakum National Park is one of those places that Ghana should be able to show the world with pride.
It represents a part of West Africa's rainforest heritage that has survived decades of pressure.
The canopy walkway is famous.
The rainforest itself is priceless.
But in 2026, protecting Kakum requires looking beyond the walkway and beyond the park gate.
The fight against galamsey must include the entire ecological landscape surrounding the park.
It must include the rivers.
It must include the forest reserves.
It must include farming communities.
It must include traditional authorities.
It must include tourism.
And it must include the young people who will ultimately inherit whatever remains.
The objective should not simply be to stop miners from entering Kakum today.
The objective should be to ensure that there is still a Kakum worth protecting fifty years from now.
That will require more than police operations.
It will require political commitment, consistent enforcement, community participation, economic alternatives, scientific monitoring and long-term investment in conservation.
Ghana still has the opportunity to protect Kakum.
But that opportunity should not be taken for granted.
Every hectare of intact rainforest is an asset.
Every clean stream is an asset.
Every surviving animal population is an asset.
And every visitor who comes to Kakum because the forest is still alive is a reminder of what is at stake.
Galamsey may promise quick wealth. Kakum represents a wealth that can last for generations. Ghana's challenge in 2026 is to make sure the second is not sacrificed for the first.