Zijin Golden Ridge Limited (Akyem Gold Mine), has launched the Atewa Biodiversity Offset Project, the first large-scale, science-based mining biodiversity offset to be implemented in Ghana, in partnership with the Forestry Commission of Ghana.
The Atewa Biodiversity Offset Project is a 10-year conservation initiative designed to achieve No Net Loss of biodiversity impacted by mining activities at the Akyem Mine. It targets the restoration and protection of the Atewa Range Forest Reserve, a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area, through a combination of forest protection, habitat restoration, enrichment planting, and community livelihoods support.
"This initiative demonstrates our commitment to responsible mining and environmental stewardship,” said Jason Zhang, Vice President for Sustainability and External Relations at Zijin Golden Ridge Limited. “Through our partnership with the Forestry Commission, we are working to ensure that biodiversity values impacted by mining are restored and protected for future generations.”
The launch comes as the Government of Ghana has placed forest conservation at the centre of its national economic agenda. Hon. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources and Acting Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, recently launched the second edition of Ghana’s Tree for Life Reforestation Initiative under the theme “Forests and Economies”, declaring that Ghana planted over 30 million seedlings in 2025, creating more than 41,000 jobs, and targeting another 30 million in 2026. The Atewa Biodiversity Offset Project directly advances this national vision, linking forest conservation to community livelihoods, employment, and long-term ecological stewardship.
The launch was marked by a logistics handover ceremony at the Forestry Commission in Accra, where Zijin Golden Ridge Limited provided operational vehicles, communication tools and field monitoring equipment among others, to strengthen the Forestry Commission’s capacity to protect the Atewa Range Forest Reserve and support biodiversity conservation activities on the ground.
The project addresses the ‘residual’ ecological impacts of mining that cannot be resolved through reforestation alone, including the loss of wildlife habitat and the displacement of threatened species. Zijin Golden Ridge Limited has already exceeded its separate reforestation commitment, establishing 317 hectares of plantation forest against a legal requirement of 303 hectares.
The biodiversity offset programme targets the achievement of 371 Quality Hectares, an internationally recognised measure of biodiversity value, over the 10-year implementation period. In 2026, the programme is scaling up significantly, with close to 1,500 hectares earmarked for enrichment planting and 500 hectares for active restoration.
