The sanctions incurred in the event of trafficking in protected species or illegal exploitation of resources are rare and not very dissuasive, notes the Central Office to combat environmental and public health in a report published End 2022.
by Rémi Barroux
Environmental crime is progressing. In a report published in late December 2022, the Central Office for the Fight against Environmental and Public Health (OCLAESP) reports an increase of 5 % to 7 % of these crimes internationally since 2016, For an illicit annual gain estimated between 80 billion and 230 billion euros, according to data from the United Nations Office against Drugs and Crime.
This crime, linked in particular to the trafficking of wild and wood, would represent the fourth source of criminal income, after drugs, counterfeiting and trafficking in human beings. It would even be the first source of financing for armed and terrorist groups.
If this photograph of environmental crime – imperfect, because laws and regulations differ from one country to another, defining variable perimeters – does not precisely describe the situation in France, the upward trend S ‘ also check it. The environmental damage recorded by the police and the gendarmerie increased by 7 % between 2016 and 2021.
France, “hub”
Also according to statistics from the Ministry of the Interior published in May 2022, a third of these attacks are an acts aimed at animals, a quarter are linked to illegal forestry or mining activity – Guyana with a rate of ‘Instruction per capita nine times higher than the national average -13 % consist of hunting and fishing offenses.
In its report, OCLAESS, led by Brigadier General Sylvain Nucleus, studies these different sectors of environmental crime, that it concerns technological risks (waste, asbestos, fire, pollution, products phytosanitary, etc.), damage to species (non -domestic animals, plants, illegal fishing) or those with natural spaces (protected areas, forests, coastline). For the office, magnitude trafficking is often of an international nature and “France constitutes a real hub, appearing as a country of destination, for pesticides for example, sometimes as a transit country or as a supplier country, as for the Poaching of Chardonnerets “.
The reasons for this resurgence of environmental crimes are explained by the difficulties in seeing the facts, in “identifying the entire chain of responsibility”, in establishing the links of cause and effect, in particular with regard to pollution , leading to “sometimes long and complex” investigations. The technicality of regulations and environmental law also represents an obstacle and requires the deployment of specialized or environmental staff.
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