A refugee in France for two months, this 42-year-old Franco-Gabonese entrepreneur is one of the figures in the fight against pollution in Gabon. At the head of a well-known audiovisual production company in the country, he has been documenting for three years the oil deposits in the rivers and the mangroves around the platforms of the Franco-British group Perenco. Number two in oil in France owned by billionaire François Perrodo, Perenco has become the main operator of Gabon’s black gold by buying aging Total wells in the 2010s. Around its boreholes, local residents and fishermen are noticing leaks repeatedly, but fear reprisals from power, in a country where oil extraction accounts for 60% of budget revenue. Bernard Christian Rekoula is their spokesperson on social networks.
On April 28, 2022, his drone flew over Perenco’s facilities in Cap Lopez, near the economic capital of Port-Gentil. 50 meters from the coast, a tank containing 300,000 barrels has just yielded. Caught in the act of massive pollution, Perenco ensures that the situation is under control and that it succeeds in containing the hydrocarbon spills in its retention tanks. The images of Rekoula, taken up by France 24, prove the contrary. This is too much for the Gabonese authorities who are increasing intimidation and summonses against the director. On December 11, fearing for his life, he told Le Point for the first time how he had to flee illegally from Gabon.
On the eve of the organization of the One Forest Summit in Libreville, from March 1 to 2, the defender of the environment warns Emmanuel Macron, who will co-host this summit. Despite efforts to preserve the forests that cover 90% of Gabon, nearly 100,000 hectares have been destroyed over the past 20 years, according to Global Forest Watch. “Coming to Gabon will be interpreted as a desire to dub Ali Bongo and his greenwashing operation”, warns the environmental defender. With opponents, he calls for a strike and a ghost town day during the summit.
Le Point Afrique: Gabon has the second largest forest in the world, so much so that it absorbs more CO2 than the entire emissions of the country. Is this treasure well protected?
Bernard Christian Rekoula: The country claims to be very committed to the preservation of forests, but this is false. Large industrial projects and the cultivation of palm oil on thousands of hectares are ravaging the woods. The Singaporean company Olam is one of the main culprits of this deforestation.
Centennial trees, highly prized for their rare species, such as kevazingo, are uprooted and exported. However, its trees produce fruit much sought after by elephants, who, for lack of food, go to help themselves in the surrounding villages and plantations. Fields are devastated in one night when they required several months of work. Beyond the environmental tragedy, deforestation threatens the lives of populations.
Yet the Bongo family, which has ruled Gabon for more than 50 years, has presented itself as a convinced “green” since the early 2000s. Beyond the forests, what is its record in terms of nature protection?
Not only does the Gabonese state do nothing to safeguard nature, but it also stifles the pollution that occurs. The Cap Lopez disaster in 2022 is the most serious ever recorded in Gabon. I discovered it because I was in Port-Gentil at the same time and I was able to blend in with the population to get there. The whole area smelled of gas and hydrocarbons for a radius of 20 kilometers. But the authorities wanted to believe that the offending tank was not in service, then they minimized the extent of the leak. At the same time, a Perenco borehole broke in a forest 100 kilometers away, and oil spilled into the river. The impact of this other oil spill has never been assessed.
How do the Gabonese authorities react to your denunciations?
Initially, they ignored them. I was called a liar in the newspapers. From now on, I systematically film myself live on Facebook when I document an ecological disaster to prove that I am not making this up. I have built a network of nearly 200 whistleblowers who are residents but also people working in local communities. But, more and more, the State prevents us from doing our work of information. For three years, we have been asking for a study on the damage caused by Perenco on the fauna and flora, justice has given us reason but nothing is happening. [Perenco has been sued for environmental pollution since 2021 and the Court of Cassation rejected its last appeal in March 2022, Editor’s note]
By going to Gabon, what signal is Emmanuel Macron sending to the population and to environmental defenders?
This visit is a great deception that endorses the greenwashing of power. With the other civil society associations, we ask him not to go to Gabon. There is a fed up of the population against the Bongo family in power for 55 years. To come to Libreville is to dub Ali Bongo, as Nicolas Sarkozy had done with his father, Omar Bongo. His visit risks provoking anti-France sentiment, as his image is already tarnished by years of collusion with the repressive regime. Yesterday, French companies exploited uranium, today they pollute the rivers. The anger is palpable.
