THE DEFENDERS OF THE ENVIRONNEMENT | TF1 | Reportages

Agricultural land, rivers, forests… Over recent years the environment has become one of the major preoccupations of the French, so, the forces of law and order and individuals are redoubling their efforts to fight those who are destroying the natural world.

ILLEGAL DUMPS

A former military fort on a 30-acre site, abandoned 24 years ago. The Ecologist Brigade discovered that construction companies were dumping their waste there without permission and out of sight. Asbestos, fibre-cement roofing, PVC… “The danger is that there may be potential chemical reactions going on under the waste and these chemical reactions create gases which could explode.” 80% of the sites they located in recent months are situated on agricultural land. Buried, hidden beneath the earth. An added risk to the food chain. More than 1,000 acres of polluted land has been located in the Ile de France alone.

ELVER TRAFFICKING

In La Rochelle, Chief Warrant Officer Laferrière and his team are preparing for long, sleepless nights… these gendarmes protect a tiny fish that is worth its weight in gold: the elver. This baby eel, essential to the equilibrium of our rivers is an endangered species. Christophe chases poachers who supply international networks that supply the Asian market. Result: in 30 years, the eel population of the rivers had dropped by 90%… The gendarmes possess considerable resources, the same as those deployed to combat organized crime or the war on drugs… “On an armed operation. For the gendarmes’ helicopter division, its weapon is its thermal cameral. For example, we conduct go-fast pursuits from 8 miles away.”

GUYANA DEFORESTATION AND TIMBER TRAFFICKING

In Guyana, the GIGN (Gendarmerie Intervention Group) is confronted with illegal gold diggers. Every year they steal tonnes of gold from this French territory. The equivalent of half a billion euros. We are with an elite unit that hunts down the gold diggers¾the garimperos. Day after day, they destroy the tropical forest to get to the rivers and set up their motor pumps. But gold theft is not the only plague in Guyana. MICHEL and THIERRY are forest wardens for the ONF (National Forest Office) and working with the environmental police to combat the theft of exotic timbers that is threatening the balance of the tropical forest. The smugglers saw the planks right there and then get them out to Surinam, just on the other side of the river Maroni. The best way to hit these smugglers is in the wallet and, therefore, to confiscate their equipment. “Apart from the personal satisfaction, these chain saws cost nearly €1500. Well, for the smugglers that’s quite a loss. I get the feeling we’re slowing them down a bit.”