Schüco International, Tetra Pak and BMW Group have signaled concern over the use of bauxite sourced from Ghana’s Atewa Forest for aluminium if mining has catastrophic and irreversible effects on the people and wildlife that depend on the forest

‘Saving Atewa Forest from mining should be an intergenerational priority, and we are happy and grateful that big businesses in the aluminium value chain understand the importance of a healthy forest and the environmental services it provides,’ said Mr. Oteng Adjei, president of the Concerned Citizens of Atewa Landscape (CCAL), the grassroots movement advocating against bauxite mining in Atewa Forest and the recipient of letters from all three companies.The letters from the companies state:

‘Schüco would oblige our aluminium suppliers not to supply aluminium derived from bauxite mined in the Atewa Range Forest Reserve, and we intend to encourage other aluminium users to join us in this commitment.’

‘Sourcing aluminium produced from bauxite mined in the Atewa Range Forest Reserve… presents a level of risk that is completely unacceptable to Tetra Pak. No matter how high the environmental standards that are applied, any form of mining at this site will have an unavoidable destructive impact on the values inherent in such a natural habitat.’

‘Bauxite from the region of the Atewa Forest needs to be in line with the Convention on Biological Diversity, the UNFCCC Paris Agreement on Climate Change and Ghana’s voluntary national contributions towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals. If this is not the case the BMW Group will not accept aluminium in its supply chains that originates bauxite from the Atewa Forest.’

While the companies recognize the government of Ghana’s desire to develop the aluminium sector for economic development and poverty reduction, their letters make clear their commitments to sustainability. All three companies want their suppliers and sub-suppliers to meet their same social and environmental standards.

‘Atewa’s incredible biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides are priceless, and the local communities have been very vocal in their wish to protect this place from destruction,’ said Daryl Bosu of A Rocha Ghana. ‘By trying to extract short-term monetary gain from the forest, the government is actually driving companies away from doing business with Ghana. It is time to invest in Atewa’s long-term protection for the benefit of Ghanaians and all life on Earth.’

Protecting Atewa Forest as a national park and a buffer area around it—rather than mining it for bauxite—actually has the highest economic value for the country over 25 years, with tremendous benefits to communities.

Simon Stuart, Executive Director of A Rocha International said, ‘There are so many ways in which protecting Atewa Forest would be a better outcome than exploiting it for bauxite. We are glad to see these companies taking this lead by expressing their concerns at a time when we so desperately need a broad consensus to make these better choices for the natural world.’

Read the full press release here, and please share this petition with your friends. Let’s save Atewa!