Illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) in Ghana: environmental pollution and remediation approaches-a review.

Illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) is a vital source of livelihood in Ghana. Its contribution to Ghana's national gold production is significant. However, galamsey is associated with many environmental challenges, posing serious threats to biodiversity and public health. Although extensive research has investigated the environmental impacts of galamsey, the scientific literature on potential remediation strategies remains relatively scarce. This study fills this gap in the literature by synthesising evidence of galamsey-related pollution pathways, pollutant profiles, and remediation techniques, including emerging low-cost and locally driven methods. The study found that galamsey has destroyed several hectares of forests, degraded land resources, caused biodiversity loss, reduced agricultural productivity, and polluted water bodies (including Pra, Birim, Ankobra, Tano, and Offin rivers) and soils, and rendered the air, especially in the mining areas, unsafe. The findings indicate that chemical pollution and high turbidity dominate water bodies in Southern Ghana, while Northern Ghana faces severe soil degradation and heightened desertification risks. This study explores various biological, physical, and chemical remediation techniques that can be applied, with recent advances highlighting phytoremediation and sorption as key approaches widely tested in galamsey-polluted environments over the past decades. To address the interwoven environmental challenges, this review highlights proposals for sustainable small-scale mining and ecological restoration. This paper is expected to advance environmental remediation strategies for addressing the galamsey challenge, in line with measures aligned with the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).