Environmental resources constitute the foundation of human survival, economic development, and ecological stability, particularly in resource-rich developing countries such as Ghana. These resources include forests, water bodies, mineral deposits, fertile lands, and biodiversity. Despite their importance, they face increasing pressures from unsustainable exploitation. This study adopted a systematic review methodology following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. A structured search of peer-reviewed studies was conducted using Web of Science and ProQuest databases. After screening 346 records, 20 high-quality journal articles published between 2015 and 2025 were analyzed using qualitative thematic synthesis. Ghana has approximately 7.9 million hectares of forest cover (about 35% of land area), yet loses around 120,000 hectares annually, with 18,000 hectares of primary forest lost in 2022 alone. Rivers such as the Pra, Ankobra, and Offin have experienced rising contamination, with over 60% of water bodies in mining-affected areas polluted. Illegal mining has degraded 34 of Ghana's 288 forest reserves. Key emerging challenges include deforestation, illegal mining (galamsey), water pollution, poor waste management, biodiversity loss, and climate variability. Promoting sustainable resource management requires strengthened governance, community participation, improved policy enforcement, integrated resource management, and technological innovations such as digital monitoring. An integrated framework linking real-time data collection, community-based management, and climate-smart restoration is proposed as a scalable model for Ghana and similar contexts in sub-Saharan Africa.
Takal et al. (Wed,) studied this question.