Gold, guns, gangs: on patrol with the elite unit saving Ivory Coast's forests

After deforestation for cocoa and goldmining reached alarming rates, the African country set up a security team with a mission to stamp out illegal activityAbout an hour before dawn, Lt Mahi Landry and his team of rangers find the illegal goldmine they've been looking for deep in Téné forest, in south-central Ivory Coast.It has been raining heavily for most of the night and the only light is from the beams of a few torches. The team, accompanied by the Guardian, has to dodge felled branches, taking care not to fall into holes that have been dug in the earth. Cigarette packets, empty bottles of alcohol and the odd shoe are strewn across the forest floor. Continue reading...