Ingrid Gercama

KOUNGOULOU - Europe’s growing demand for natural rubber to produce tyres has been destroying West Africa’s rainforests for large-scale industrial rubber plantations. In Cameroon, rubber conglomerate Halcyon Agri, which also sells rubber to the European Union (EU), has cleared at least 127 km2 of primary rainforest. The rubber market is growing steadily and is expected to exceed $50 billion by 2027.

SARAJEVO - Around half of Bosnia-Herzegovina is covered by forests and wood is one of the Balkan country’s most valuable natural resources. But instead of developing the nation, some politicians and private companies enrich themselves with the profits of the ‘green gold’. Forests are cut down for private interests and governments and companies in Western-Europe close their eyes to gain cheap wood. 

GUINEA/SERBIA/THE NETHERLANDS - According to Europol, the smuggling of songbirds and other tropical birds to the European Union (EU) has skyrocketed in recent years, especially along the Balkans trafficking route.

BELGRADE - In Serbia, there is a lot of lithium, money and political interest at stake. Under the farming lands of its Jadar valley, geologists from mining giant Rio Tinto found Europe's largest lithium deposits - an amount enough to produce at least one million electric car batteries a year.