France Report

France's other green protest: against Center Parcs

The protesters who have occupied the proposed site for a new airport at Notre-Dame-des-Landes near Nantes in west France have grabbed media attention in recent years. Less well-known are the environmental activists who have set up a similar camp in an ancient forest on the other side of the country in a bid to stop the development of a new Center Parcs holiday centre. As Jade Lindgaard reports, unlike their anti-airport counterparts, the protesters opposing the Center Parcs project are from being universally popular with locals.

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To get there you have to clamber over bits of wood erected as a defensive mound. Lying between two banks a series of steps enable you to gain access to the habitable barricade that serves as a welcome area. It bears the name 'Saboté' ('Botched' in English) and is the gateway to a camp of protesters at Chambarans, a forest situated around sixty kilometres from Grenoble in eastern France.

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Since January 7, 2023 our colleague and friend Mortaza Behboudi has been imprisoned in Afghanistan, in the Taliban prisons.

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#FREEMORTAZA

Since January 7, 2023 our colleague and friend Mortaza Behboudi has been imprisoned in Afghanistan, in the Taliban prisons.

We do not forget him and call for his release.

Learn more about #FREEMORTAZA