The Atewa Range is in the Akyem Abuakwa

Akyem Abuakwa

Akyem Abuakwa describes a traditional geo-political entity in Eastern GhanaAkyen Abuakwa is one of the three independent states along with Akyem Bosome and Akyem Kotoku that forms the Akyem Mansa. This nation state with a non-contiguous land mass exists in the Eastern and Ashanti region of...

 region of southeastern Ghana

Ghana

Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

, near the town of Kibi

Kibi, Ghana

Kibi or Kyebi is a town in southeastern Ghana on the eastern slopes of the Atewa Range, and is the capital of the East Akim Municipal District. It lies at an altitude of 318 m, and has a population of about 23,000...

, and south-west of the Kwahu Plateau

Kwahu Plateau

The Kwahu Plateau is a long plateau in Ghana. It forms the country's watershed, separating the two main river networks in the country....

 which forms the south-west boundary of Lake Volta

Lake Volta

Lake Volta is the largest reservoir by surface area in the world, and the fourth largest one by water volume. It is located completely within the country of Ghana, and it has a surface area of about 8,502 km² . Lake Volta lies along the Greenwich Meridian, and just six degrees of latitude...

. The range runs roughly north-south, consisting of steep-sided hills with fairly flat summits. It is the last remains of the Tertiary

Tertiary

The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...

 peneplain

Peneplain

A peneplain is a low-relief plain representing the final stage of fluvial erosion during times of extended tectonic stability. The existence of peneplains, and peneplanation as a geomorphological process, is not without controversy, due to a lack of contemporary examples and uncertainty in...

 that once covered southern Ghana, and contains ancient bauxitic

Bauxite

Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...

 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 may also be 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. The forest reserve contains many birds that are rare elsewhere in Ghana including Afep Pigeon

Afep Pigeon

The Afep Pigeon also known as the African Wood-Pigeon, or Gray Wood-Pigeon is a member of the Columbidae family which lives in Africa.Like many other pigeons, it mainly feeds on grain and seeds....

, Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo

Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo

The Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family.It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and...

, African Broadbill

African Broadbill

The African Broadbill, Smithornis capensis, is a species of bird in the Eurylaimidae family.It is found in Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria,...

, Least Honeyguide

Least Honeyguide

The Least Honeyguide is a species of bird in the Indicatoridae family.It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra...

, Spotted Honeyguide

Spotted Honeyguide

The Spotted Honeyguide is a species of bird in the Indicatoridae family.It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria,...

, Common Bristlebill

Common Bristlebill

The Common Bristlebill is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family.It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan,...

 and Blue-headed Crested-flycatcher

Blue-headed Crested-flycatcher

The Blue-headed Crested-flycatcher is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family.It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo,...

. 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

Conraua derooi

Conraua derooi is a species of frog in the Ranidae family.It is found in Ghana and Togo.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and rivers.It is threatened by habitat loss.-Source:...

. Butterfly species include the Papilio antimachus

Papilio antimachus

Papilio antimachus is a butterfly in the family Papilionidae. With a wingspan between , it is the largest butterfly in Africa and among the largest butterflies in the world. Papilio antimachus live in the tropical rainforests of West and Central Africa...

, which has the widest wingspan in the world and the Mylothris atewa, which may be globally critically endangered.

Rivers

The Atewa range is the source of three important rivers: the Ayensu and Densu which flow south into the Atlantic, and the Birim

Birim River

The Birim River is one of the main tributaries of the Pra River in Ghana and the country's most important diamond-producing area, flowing through most of the width of the Eastern region. The river rises in the east of the Atewa Range, flows north through the gap between this range and the Kwahu...

 which makes a long detour north and southwest around the Atewa range before joining the Pra River

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 southward for 240 km through rich cocoa and farming areas and valuable forests in the Akan...

. The Birim, which flows through all the three of the traditional Akyem

Akyem

The Akyem are an Akan people. The term Akyem is used to describe a group of three states: Akyem Abuakwa, Akyem Kotoku and Akyem Bosome. These nations are located primarily in the eastern regions of modern-day Ghana. The term is also used to describe the general area where the Akyem ethnic group...

areas of Ghana, is an important but declining source of diamonds.