Kaw Marches - a two-hours drive from Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana (Source: own photo)
Forty-one per cent of French Guiana, a country twice the size of Denmark, is national park. The tiny population of 295,000 lives on a just three per cent of the territory, mostly along the Atlantic coast. The climate is warm and humid and it rains many times every day, but the sun always comes out very quickly and dries you so you don't mind. The country is lush and green; the jungle starts literally the moment you leave the towns. French Guiana is one of the most biodiverse and environmentally pristine countries on the planet. The French government actively discourages development of the rain forest, oil reserves, and the country’s enormous mining potential. It sounds ok, no?
Well, yes, but it is not quite that simple. Ask any Creole in French Guiana – Creoles are the people born in French Guiana – and most will tell you that France is thwarting their development, for its own ends.
The Creoles point out, for example, that France prohibits even the most basic exploitation of the vast natural resources, which they see as the most obvious source of income, jobs, and entrepreneurship. And they are right, because the national parks are controlled from Paris and large parts of them have been made completely off-limits to anyone other than scientists approved by the French government.
Lush green jungle. There are at least 1,861 tree species in French Guiana, excluding palm trees, which are in fact grasses (Source: own photos)
If you think about it, it is quite draconian to prohibit any economic activity in half of the country. Even ecotourism and carefully managed and sustainable use of natural resources is illegal. This restriction explains why there are only two travel agencies in all of French Guiana, whose offerings, unsurprisingly, are restricted to very basic excursions. It also explains why the tourism infrastructure is so rudimentary. The nature is there, you are just not allowed to enjoy it! Privately, the tour agents here confess that if you really want to explore the jungle of the Guianas, you are better off heading to Suriname or Guyana.
The official reason for the French government’s extreme stance on the environment is that France is environmentally conscious and wants to protect this precious resource for future generations. In reality, France is acting its own interest. By barring economic activity in much of French Guiana, France beefs up mainland France’s net zero credentials, because French Guiana is not a country, but rather a department within France, in other words, it is no different from, say, Dordogne, Metropolitan Lyon, or Ardennes. Hence, keeping French Guiana pristine means France gets to demonstrate much better climate credentials than would have been possible without French Guiana.
Cayenne is a lovely name for a capital. There is also a town called Cacao! (Source: own photos)
When you dig deeper, you realise that France is not even serious about protecting French Guiana’s amazing nature, only that it wants to appear to do so. Take the oil sector. There is oil all along the South American coastline from Venezuela via Guyana and Suriname to Brazil. Yet, oddly, there is no oil off the coast of French Guiana. Look closer, however, and you find that Total Energies, a French oil company, drills heavily in the offshore fields of Suriname, just next door. Look even closer and you will see that Total Energies drills horizontally, right into French Guiana’s oil reserves from Surinamese waters. By doing it this way, French oil companies get to exploit French Guiana’s oil, but in a way that makes it look as if they is not.
A Caiman lies in wait for prey (Source: own photo)
The same is true for mining. French Guiana is replete with gold deposits, but there is no officially sanctioned gold mining in the territory. Indeed, France makes a great effort to teach kids in schools here that mining is bad for the environment. Yet, illegal mining is rife, mainly by Brazilians, who cross the border to dig out the shiny metal. Illegal mining is genuinely awful for the environment, scarring the forest and polluting French Guiana’s rivers with mercury. Legal, well-regulated mining would be far better and could significantly enrich the Creoles. However, the French government appears to prefer illegal mining, since, I am told, an informal arrangement exists between illegal miners and Paris according to which France gets to confiscate a certain percentage of the gold, which then gets sent to mainland France. The illegal miners get to continue to exploit the land and France gets its gold, but Creoles can’t get a piece of this business for themselves, because France wants to keep up the pretence that it does not allow mining in pristine French Guiana.
Another compelling reason for France to keep French Guiana on a tight leash is that France’s substantial space programme is based in Kourou, a town about an hour up the road from the capital, Cayenne. France used to send rockets into space (and denotate nuclear bombs) in Algeria, but after it was kicked out (see here) the space programme was moved to French Guiana.
White-headed marsh tyrant (Source: own photo)
As an aside, by a pure stroke of luck, I found myself in Kourou at the launch of Ariane 6, a large rocket carrying an important French military satellite into orbit (see here). The launch was a pretty big deal in Kourou. In the days leading up to the launch, the skies around town were full of supersonic French fighter jets, helicopters, and military transport planes, while the roads were packed with trucks carrying soldiers. Navy ships were docked in the harbour or patrolling offshore. On launch-day itself, the cloud cover was sadly too low to see the rocket, but I heard and felt it. The ground shook with the continuous rolling thunder from the massive engines. Even the birds took shelter fearing the end of the world. It was my first-ever experience of a rocket launch and I was impressed. There is so much power in those things!
The final reason France is so protective of French Guiana is that the territory gives France a foothold in South America. I know from personal experience in Uganda how jealously France will defend its geopolitical footprint (more on that in another blog one day). All branches of the French military are here, but the main threat is not external.
I believe France’s great fear is that French Guiana goes the way of Algeria, although in my opinion that is extremely unlikely. This is why France maintains that French Guiana must be a department rather a semi-autonomous or fully independent state. The French do everything in their power here to make sure there are no grievances and that no one gain enough economic clout to become a political threat to Paris rule.
This tiny bat weighs only 3 grams. There are 109 known bat species in French Guiana (Source: here)
Specifically, the largest employer by far in French Guiana is the state; France is effectively either employing people directly or paying people social security to keep them happy. The big challenge for France is the ‘dangerous’ entrepreneurial class, i.e. people who are not content just to suck on the teat of the state. To combat this threat, France does everything it can to prevent anyone from becoming a ‘big fish’. This is why they have put French Guiana’s amazing natural riches off-limits to Creoles. In addition, France deliberately insists that French Guiana uses the EUR and complies with European Union regulations both of which make French Guiana hopelessly uncompetitive in this part of the world.
In fact, it is surreal to be a part of the Eurozone in South America. French Guiana is not even allowed to trade (very much) with its neighbours Brazil and Suriname, since the European Union does not have a trade agreement in place with South America. You therefore have the bizarre situation where French Guiana imports everything from tropical fruit to meat from Europe even though these items are available in neighbouring Brazil for a pittance.
Spotted this White-throated Toucan from a distance in Petit Saut (Source: here)
Needless to say, such controls produce tons of smuggling across French Guianese borders. Cayenne locals spend their weekends driving to the Brazilian border two hours away to stock up only to face roadblocks on the way home as the authorities seek to stamp out this trade, although, I am told, it is apparently not very difficult to come to some understanding with the police, who also think the restrictions on trade are a bit mad.
So, to sum up, French Guiana beefs up France’s environment score, secures France a military foothold in South America, enriches the French treasury with gold, and provides a home for the French space program. To keep the Creoles compliant, France gives everyone a job in the state or pays them generous social security, while at the same time keeping the private sector in a bit of a straight-jacket to ensure no one rises above their station. If you are a tourist, there is amazing nature to see here, even though so little is accessible. I would absolutely include French Guiana on a trip to this part of the world, not least because it is not every day you get to experience French foreign policy so upfront and personal.
The End
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