In 2021, the police and the gendarmerie recorded a total of 31,400 attacks (offences or fines) on the environment, from acts targeting animals to disputed forest exploitations, according to the first report on the matter published on Wednesday May 18 by the Ministry of Interior.
Read alsoNatural disasters: “We are already facing the consequences of climate change”
Environmental offenses recorded last year by the ministry's statistical service (SSMSI) are up 7% compared to 2016, an increase of 1.3% on average per year.
Acts against animals represent a third of these attacks, 25% are linked to illegal logging or mining and 13% to hunting and fishing regulations, the ministry said.
The prize goes to the Guyana region, with a rate of 42 offenses recorded per 10,000 inhabitants nine times higher than the national average (4.5) linked, notes the SSMSI, to "
the high concentration of offenses related
" to gold panning .
The only other region with an environmental damage rate of more than 10 offenses per 10,000 inhabitants is Corsica (18).
These are more specifically breaches of fire prevention rules (46%) and illegal logging (19%).
The Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts concentrate the highest rates of forest-related offenses (illegal logging and non-compliance with fire prevention rules).
Almost exclusively men
By their nature, half of the offenses recorded are committed in rural communes.
For the only environmental offenses recorded in 2021, excluding acts against animals, almost half of the complainants are legal persons, according to the ministry.
Conversely, less than 10% of those questioned by the police and the gendarmerie are legal persons.
The individuals involved are almost exclusively men (86%) and more than half are between 30 and 59 years old.
Read alsoBiden takes the lead in the global fight for the climate
The statistical service notes that between 2016 and 2021, the nature of environmental damage has evolved differently.
Offenses related to pollution increased sharply (+96% compared to 2016, or +14% on average per year), as well as those related to waste (+63%, +10% on average per year).
Conversely, offenses concerning logging and mining operations as well as those related to hunting and fishing have decreased by 11% and 18% respectively between 2016 and 2021.