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world18h ago
Rockets, gold and the Foreign Legion: can Europe defend its frontier in the Amazon? | Alexander Hurst
- France’s Harpie mission targets illegal gold mining in French Guiana to curb mercury pollution in the Maroni River.
- The Maroni River cross-border dynamic complicates enforcement, with mining activity on the Surinamese side beyond Paris’s reach.
- Mercury contamination from mining threatens local communities, prompting health concerns and lawsuits against the French government.
- AP-51 serves as a key Harpie camp where gendarmes and legionnaires coordinate patrols against garimpeiros.
- The EU’s space program and Sentinel data are used to monitor forests and mining sites from above.
- The report highlights the paradox of Europe’s strategic autonomy: space sovereignty vs. cross-border environmental enforcement.
- The Guardian’s field reporting notes over 176 mining sites within Parc Amazonien Guyane and growing cross-border pressures.
- Wayana and other Indigenous communities face deteriorating water quality and health impacts from mining.
- The piece connects local ecological damage to global climate data collection via ESA satellites launched from Kourou.
- The article frames Harpie as a long-running, costly effort with mixed success and sustainability questions.
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