The Atewa Forest Reserve also called the Atiwa-Atwaredu ranges, is a protected area in Ghana. It covers a total area of 1,790 square kilometers. The reserve was established by the British colonial authorities in 1952 as the Gold Coast Game Reserve and renamed Atewa Forest Reserve in 1955.
The Atewa Range is located in southeastern Ghana, near the town of Kibi, and southwest of the Kwahu Plateau. The range runs roughly north-south, consisting of steep-sided hills with fairly flat summits. It is the last remains of the Cenozoic peneplain that once covered southern Ghana, and contains ancient bauxite.
The government has declared a large chunk of the range as a forest reserve, including about 17,400 hectares of upland evergreen forest. The reserve is managed by the Forestry Commission of Ghana in collaboration with other stakeholders, including the Okyeman Environment Foundation. This foundation was established to help conserve the environment and is restricting people from farming in the area instead of trying to encourage eco-tourism.
The Atewa forest has three major important rivers called Ayensu, Densu, and Birim River. It also has 165 million tonnes of bauxite yet to be mine
The forest was gazetted as a National Forest Reserve around 1926 but was changed by Special Biological Protection Area in 1994, as Hill Sanctuary in 1995, and finally as one of Ghana’s 30 Globally Significant Biodiversity Areas (GSBAs) around 1999.
Atewa forest contains a large amount of plant diversity; it is home to at least 1100 different species of plants, 56 of which are threatened with extinction, and many that are endemic to the Upper Guinea ecoregion. There is also a high level of localized distribution in some species.
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The Atewa Range is located in southeastern Ghana, near the town of Kibi, and southwest of the Kwahu Plateau.
165 million tonnes
Atiwa District is a former district that was located in Eastern Region, Ghana.