17,400 ha
of protected mountain rainforest — one of West Africa's most critical high-elevation water towers.
3
major rivers begin here — Ayensu, Densu, and Birim, quenching millions.
3M+
people who directly depend on Atewa's clean watershed for drinking and farming.
Core
conservation landscape status, championed on the ground by A Rocha Ghana.
What lives here
- Diana monkeys and other rare primates found nowhere else nearby
- Rare Adenia and other highly localized, endemic plant species
- Over 100 recorded, brightly colored butterfly species
- One of West Africa's most important, designated bird areas
What threatens it
- Bauxite mining concessions currently overlapping the forest reserve
- Uncontrolled illegal logging and forest encroachment
- Water pollution from upstream artisanal mineral extraction
- Expanding farmland pressing continuously on the forest edge
“Every tree, every stream, every species in Atewa represents a million years of quiet refinement. Once lost, its life-giving waters cannot be rebuilt by any machine.”
— Artisanal Watch Alliance
Atewa Range Forest Reserve is globally recognized as a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) and is home to a staggering array of rare and threatened species. It stands as a lush green fortress amid expanding agricultural and urban landscapes, capturing rains and releasing them gradually to feed Ghana’s major cities.
Yet, this critical ecosystem faces constant pressure. Sustaining its water, soil, and species requires long-term commitment, robust local community ownership, and an unyielding defense against destructive industrial mining concessions.
Consortium partner
Consortium partner Atewa
Het Atewa-bosreservaat in Ghana is een van de laatste ongerepte regenwouden in West-Afrika — thuisbasis van bedreigde soorten en bron van schoon drinkwater voor vijf miljoen mensen. Samen met lokale gemeenschappen, boswachters en onderzoekers beschermen we dit unieke landschap tegen mijnbouw en ontbossing, en investeren we in duurzame alternatieven die mens én natuur ten goede komen.
Show Atewa Range some love
Every heart tells A Rocha Ghana and the wider network that people are watching, and that this landscape matters.