JoyNews investigations have uncovered what appears to be a final scramble for the country's forest reserves just days before the presidential and parliamentary elections.

Heavily armed thugs have invaded the reserves with heavy earth-moving equipment, overpowering personnel of the Forestry Commission, who were left helpless.

The illegal gold mining operations have wreaked havoc on several hectares of the once-lush Jimmirah, Tano–Offin, Offin Belt, Aseneyo, and Apamprama forest reserves.

Officials of the Forestry Commission in the area are at their wits' end.

Ashanti Regional Forestry Commission Manager, Clement Omari told JoyNews that “It looks as if our future is bleak in terms of managing the resources."

'We are very overwhelmed. And if we are in charge of a forest reserve, we have so many thugs mountain barricades or barriers, and you cannot assess the forest itself, to do your day-to-day activities. It's very serious.”

Ohemeng Tawiah has more in the following report.