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

The company’s rubber plantation threatens the Dja Faunal Reserve, which hosts endangered species such as forest elephants, chimpanzees and lowland gorillas. Indigenous Baka communities were expelled from their forest, their holy sites destroyed, and an age-old way of life eradicated without compensation.

Will a brand-new EU law banning the import of commodities from deforestation or violating human rights make a difference? This investigation shows how dirty rubber from Cameroon ends up in our tires. In covering the story, the journalists speak to Baka communities who have been forcibly moved from their land, with environmentalists, rubber traders, car tyre manufacturers in Europe, and government and EU officials. The team also examines company structures and analyses satellite images that show primary forest destruction.

Read more about the project here. Drone photo: Nathalie Bertrams.