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The Atewa Range Forest Reserve (also called the Atiwa-Atwaredu ranges) is in the
Akyem Abuakwa Akyem Abuakwa is one of the four states of Akyem in 14th century Africa. Currently, it is part of Ghana. Historically, the Akyem were part of the Adansi Kingdom, which was the first nation to build buildings out of mud. They were therefore were ...
region of southeastern
Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...
, near the town of
Kibi Kibi may refer to: * kibi (binary prefix), an ISO/IEC standard binary prefix for units of digital information * Kibi District, Okayama (吉備郡; -gun), a district in Okayama Prefecture, Japan * Kibi, Wakayama (吉備町), a town in District, Wak ...
, and south-west of the Kwahu Plateau which forms the south-west boundary of
Lake Volta Lake Volta, the largest artificial reservoir in the world based on surface area, is contained behind the Akosombo Dam which generates a substantial amount of Ghana's electricity. It is completely within the country of Ghana and has a surface area ...
. The range runs roughly north–south, consisting of steep-sided hills with fairly flat summits. It is the last remains of the
Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configu ...
peneplain 390px, Sketch of a hypothetical peneplain formation after an orogeny. In geomorphology and geology, a peneplain is a low-relief plain formed by protracted erosion. This is the definition in the broadest of terms, albeit with frequency the usage ...
that once covered southern Ghana, and contains ancient bauxitic soils. The range is the site of an important forest reserve, and the source of three major rivers.


Forest Reserve

A large area of the range has been declared a forest reserve, including about 17,400 hectares of upland evergreen forest, rare for Ghana. The reserve is managed by the Forestry Commission of Ghana in collaboration with other stakeholders, key among them is the Okyeman Environment Foundation, which has restricted people from farming in the area and instead is trying to encourage eco-tourism. However, the reserve is under pressure from logging and hunting for bushmeat. It is also vulnerable to mining exploration activities, since the reserve contains gold deposits as well as low-grade bauxite. Many of the plant species occur only in this part of Ghana, or in few other localities and part was declared as a specially protected GSBA (Globally Significant Biodiversity Area) following a national botanic survey of forest reserves by Ghana Forestry Dept. in the 1990s. The forest reserve contains many birds that are rare elsewhere in Ghana including Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo, Rufous-sided Broadbill, Least Honeyguide,
Spotted Honeyguide The spotted honeyguide (''Indicator maculatus'') is a species of bird in the family Indicatoridae. It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial ...
, Common Bristlebill and Blue-headed Crested-Flycatcher. In a 2006 expedition to survey the reserve, scientists discovered two rare and possibly endangered species of primate in the reserve: Geoffroy's pied colobus ('' Colobus vellerosus'') and the olive colobus ('' Procolobus verus''), as well as 17 rare butterfly species and the critically endangered frog species '' Conraua derooi''. Butterfly species include the '' Papilio antimachus'', which has the widest wingspan in the world and the '' Mylothris atewa'', which may be globally critically endangered. As of 2016, there is an ongoing campaign to promote Atewa to national park status.


Rivers

The Atewa range is the source of three important rivers: the Ayensu and
Densu River The Densu River is a 116 km long river in Ghana rising in the Atewa Range. It flows through an economically important agricultural region, supplies half the drinking water to Ghana's capital city of Accra, and ends in an ecologically signi ...
s which flow south into the Atlantic, and the Birim which makes a long detour north and southwest around the Atewa range before joining the
Pra River Pra River may refer to: *Pra River (Ghana) The Pra River is a river in Ghana, the easternmost and the largest of the three principal rivers that drain the area south of the Volta divide. Rising in the Kwahu Plateau near Mpraeso and flowing sout ...
. The Birim, which flows through all the three of the traditional
Akyem The Akyem are an Akan people. The term Akyem (Akem, Akim or Aki) is used to describe a group of four states: Asante Akyem, Akyem Abuakwa, Akyem Kotoku and Akyem Bosome. These nations are located primarily in the eastern region in south Ghana ...
areas of Ghana, is an important but declining source of diamonds.


References


External links

* * {{authority control Mountains of Ghana National parks of Ghana