Birim River - Environment

Environment

The river rises in the Kibi or Akim district of the Eastern Region of Ghana, in the Atewa Range, which rises to 780m. The surrounding lowlands are about 180-200m above sea level. Much of the Atewa range is a forest reserve, with large areas of primary forest holding many rare plant, animal and insect species despite persistent timber poaching. There are many unstudied archeological sites. The Kibi area has 1500–2000mm of rain annually.

The Birim basin is in the wet semi-equatorial zone of Ghana. There are two rainy seasons, one from May to June and the second from September to October. In the drier seasons, temperatures are around 26 °C in August and 30 °C in March. Relative humidity is 70% - 80% throughout the year. At one time covered by dense tropical forest, large areas have been cleared for farming. Ghana's forest area dropped from 8.2 million hectares around 1900 to 1.6 million hectares by 2000, and continues to decline due to demand for exports and for construction material by the growing population. Managed plantations are being introduced and may help to reverse the decline.

The river water contains levels of faecal coliforms and streptococci, mostly of human origin but in some cases due to pollution from livestock operations, that make it unsafe to drink without treatment. Below Akwatia the river holds high levels of silt from the mining operations.