"The forest, the land, the river is our life, but mining is destroying it," said a community leader. "We used to farm and harvest food, but now our crops are dying, and our rivers are polluted. We are at risk of hunger and poverty."

At the BRACE Community Durbar in Kunsu, participants emphasized the disparity between the profits of a few individuals and the struggles of the community. They argued that mining has severe environmental and social impacts, but provides little developmental benefit to the community at large.

Residents have reported numerous issues such as skin diseases, polluted water sources, devastated farmlands, and frequent encounters with venomous animals, leading to injuries and child drownings.

The Director of Nature and Development Foundation, Mr. Mustapha Seidu, highlighted the importance of strategically placed trees in cocoa farming, highlighting their role in regulating temperature, reducing soil moisture loss, and promoting sustainable production and increased crop yield in Assin Fosu during his visit to beneficiaries of the "COCOA FOREST MOSAIC FOR PEOPLE AND ECOSYSTEM RESILIENCE project.

Women shea nut collectors from the Gbantala, Kpalwogu, Katua, Wuntibri, and Yizesi communities have received training on the safe collection of shea nut using the shea nut rollers. According to the women, the traditional method of collecting shea nuts with bare hands is characterized by snake bites, scorpion bites, injuries from other sharp objects or sticks, and long bending or squatting, which usually results in waist pain and other health challenges.

In a heartwarming video interview, Alhassan and Bawa, two beneficiaries of a sustainable livelihood intervention of the project, “Living with Wildlife: Improving Livelihoods in the Mole Ecological Landscape” have pledged to abandon hunting practices within the Mole National Park. Their stories serve as a powerful testament to the project's success in uplifting communities from poverty to conserving wildlife.

The sustainable shea production is part of various livelihood improvement interventions that is being rolled out in the two CREMAs as part of the project. The target of the activity is to train 400 women within the Mole Ecological Landscape for efficient and safe collection of organic shea nut and to increase quality and quantity of the shea butter produced from the nuts.

The National House of Chiefs has added to calls recommending the total abolition of policies that grant permission for mining in the country’s forest reserves.According to the House, although regulatory policies were instituted to rake in more resources and economic benefits for the country, the governing bodies have failed to implement the policies judiciously.