Published
Video length: 2 min
Environment: in Yvelines, forest plunderers are wreaking havoc
Profitable wood thefts are increasing in French forests. The Yvelines gendarmes are tracking down looters responsible for ecological disasters.
(France 2)
Profitable wood thefts are increasing in French forests. The Yvelines gendarmes are tracking down looters responsible for ecological disasters.
A bruised wood. Of the forest that stood on the site a few months ago, there is almost nothing left. In Septeuil, in Yvelines, the gendarmes have been investigating wood thefts for more than a year. The thieves cut down the logs themselves in the surrounding forests. “The type of tree that was cut down were the beautiful, healthy trees, and what remained were the sickly, thin trees.”points out Gabriel Ducrest, commander of the Mantes-la-Jolie departmental company.
Hundreds of thousands of euros in damage
Good quality wood, from large oak trees in protected areas, is worth a lot to thieves. “We are facing a loss of several hundred thousand euros, on the dozens of plots which have been victims of these abusive tree cuttings”, explains Gabriel Ducrest. Behind these cuts, the gendarmes suspect a forestry operator in the region.
