A GNA Feature by Emmanuel Gamson
Takoradi, July 21, GNA– On a calm morning at the estuary, where the Butre and Nyan Rivers meet the Atlantic Ocean, the water tells two different stories.
From the sea, waves roll in with their familiar rhythm. Pelicans dive for fish while, canoes bob gently on the tide. But from upstream, another current arrives, carrying an invisible burden of mercury, arsenic, cyanide, and tonnes of sediment washed from illegal small-scale gold mining, galamsey, sites hundreds of kilometres inland.
By the time the polluted river water reaches the coast, it has become more than a freshwater problem. It has become a marine crisis.
The Marine Protected Area
A Marine Protected Area ( MPA), is a designated section of the ocean or coastline where human activities are regulated or restricted to conserve biodiversity, protect habitats, and ensure long-term ecosystem sustainability.
It is often described as the ocean’s equivalent of national parks. Some zones are fully protected, where fishing and drilling are prohibited, while other zones allow limited use under strict regulations.
On April 14, 2026, Ghana declared its first ever MPA in the Greater Cape Three Points enclave of the Western Region, marking a historic milestone in ocean governance and environmental conservation.
The MPA covers about 700 square kilometres of biodiversity-rich coastal waters across 21 communities within the Greater Cape Three Points enclave.
Studies have identified the area as one of Ghana’s most biodiversity-rich zones, with coastal wetlands, rocky reef formations, mangrove ecosystems, and critical fish breeding and nursery habitats that make it a highly productive marine environment.
Scientists say MPAs function as safe zones where fish can breed, grow, and replenish without human pressure. Over time, these protected populations spill over into surrounding fishing areas, boosting catches and restoring balance.
Ghana has adopted a mixed-use management approach. This means fishing communities will continue to have access to these waters, but with a shift from practices that degrade the environment and deplete stocks to sustainable methods that allow the ocean to recover and regenerate.
Legal Underpinning and Global Commitments
The declaration was made pursuant to Section 39 of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Act, 2025, Act 1146.
It also aligns with Ghana’s obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which calls for the conservation of 30 per cent of terrestrial, inland water, coastal, and marine areas by 2030, the “30×30 target”.
Other frameworks include the Abidjan Convention and the African Union Blue Economy Strategy.
Galamsey as a threat
Ghana’s efforts to restore declining fish stocks and protect marine biodiversity through the MPA could be undermined by an environmental threat originating far beyond the shoreline.
For years, galamsey has devastated Ghana’s forests and river bodies. Rivers like the Pra, Ankobra, Offin, Birim and Tano have become synonymous with muddy, coffee-coloured water.
Marine scientists describe rivers as the arteries connecting inland ecosystems to the sea. Whatever poisons these arteries eventually reaches the ocean.
Galamsey activities along the Butre and Nyan Rivers and other coastal zones have leached mercury, and heavy sediment loads into estuarine and mangrove systems, degrading water quality and fish habitats and resulting in a decline in aquatic life.
Mr. Justice Camillus Mensah, Programme Manager at Hen Mpoano, an NGO that championed the creation of the MPA, told the GNA: “The illegal mining activities in the MPA zones is a big challenge, because there are a number of estuaries that are emptying into the mangroves and the sea and destroying the habitats.”
This creates a direct contradiction for the MPA, whose central objective is to rebuild depleted fish stocks. Protecting fish in the ocean becomes significantly harder if their nursery habitats are continuously poisoned from inland rivers.
Mr. Emmanuel Coffie, a fisherman at Busua in the Ahanta West Municipality, said galamsey was taking a significant toll on livelihoods. “the Government has created the MPA and has asked us not to go fishing within certain zones so that the fish stocks can be replenished. But if polluted river water from galamsey activities enters the sea and kills the fish, then that can defeat the purpose for creating the MPA,” he said.
Mr. Mike Abaka-Edu, Western Regional Secretary of the Ghana National Canoe Fishermen Council (GNCFC), also told the GNA that fishermen have for years expressed concern about the devastating impact of galamsey on the industry.
He described the MPA as a laudable initiative that, if properly managed, could help replenish fish stocks and protect marine biodiversity. He, however, expressed concern that galamsey activities on river bodies within MPA communities could affect the initiative’s sustainability.
Can an MPA survive polluted waters?
MPAs are often described as savings accounts for biodiversity. By restricting destructive activities, they allow fish populations to recover, reproduce, and spill over into surrounding fishing grounds. Worldwide, successful MPAs have restored coral reefs, increased fish biomass, and improved livelihoods.
But there is a condition.
Mr. Jerry Ansah, an Environmental Activist, said: “The habitat itself must remain healthy because an MPA cannot prevent mercury, cyanide, and other heavy metals from entering the sea through rivers. It cannot stop sediment from smothering breeding grounds or block contaminated freshwater flowing into protected estuaries.”
He noted that river basin management must become an integral component of marine conservation. “Protecting the ocean without protecting rivers is like locking the front door while leaving every window open,” he said.
“Communities are paying twice. Those upstream lose clean water because of illegal mining, and those downstream lose fish because of the same pollution,” he added.
“We are paying twice for the same environmental crime. Every cedi invested in marine restoration becomes less effective if upstream pollution continues unchecked.”
A National conservation action at crossroads
Ghana’s first MPA represents a landmark shift in fisheries management. Years of declining fish landings have forced policymakers to reconsider approaches centred solely on regulating fishing effort.
The MPA seeks to create ecological refuges where marine life can recover naturally. If successful, it could become a model for West Africa.
But conservation experts insist that its success depends on looking beyond the coastline. River catchments, forests, wetlands, and coastal ecosystems form one connected landscape, and destroying one weakens all the others.
Mr. Theophilus Boachie-Yiadom, Country Manager for the Environmental Justice Foundation, EJF, said the MPA would serve a good purpose in conserving biodiversity and restoring depleted fish stocks. “But if we do not firm up our fight against galamsey on upstream river bodies, then sustainability is going to be a challenge,” he said.
Policy gaps and call to action
Mr. Ansah observed that environmental governance in Ghana often separates terrestrial and marine management into different institutions. “Mining regulators focus on inland operations, marine agencies concentrate on fisheries, and water managers address river pollution. Yet nature recognises no such boundaries,” he said.
He called for an integrated management approach that treats forests, rivers, estuaries and oceans as one interconnected system. “Without that integration, Ghana risks establishing marine protected zones that continue receiving polluted water from unprotected river bodies,” he added.
Standing on the beach at the estuary of the Butre River, it is impossible to tell where freshwater ends and the ocean begins. The two merge seamlessly, and so do their environmental futures.
Every load of sediment dumped into an inland river eventually becomes part of the sea, and every gram of mercury released upstream has the potential to enter marine food webs.
If Ghana hopes to secure the future of its fisheries, safeguard coastal livelihoods, and ensure that its first Marine Protected Area succeeds both on paper and in practice, then there must be a renewed commitment to the fight against galamsey on river bodies and in forest reserves.
GNA
Edited by Justina Hilda Paaga/George-Ramsey Benamba
Reporter: Emmanuel Gamson