The desert is progressing, but how much? What are the consequences? This Monday, April 4 at 9 p.m., the France 5 survey entitled “When the desert approaches” gives the floor to those who face the phenomenon.
In “On the front», Hugo Clement goes to meet the women and men who are fighting to slow down the advance of the desert expanses. For this, the journalist goes to the Sahara, Mauritania, Namibia, the United Arab Emirates or Senegal.
TV MAGAZINE. – Why did you want to investigate the desert?
Hugo CLEMENT. -We decided to launch this survey last year at the same time when there was a rather impressive sirocco episode over the Alps. We said to ourselves that we were going to go back to the source of this sand, already to understand what it could change for us, then to meet the women and men who are on the front line facing the progression of the desert, and who are facing the direct effects of climate change.
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The documentary explains to us that the surface of the Sahara has increased by 10% in a century. In concrete terms, what problems does this advance in the desert pose?
There are very concrete consequences on the people who live in these desert areas and who see their houses being buried, certain villages which must be completely abandoned to rebuild the city later because it is difficult to stop the advance of the desert. . Some countries are not yet desert areas but see this sand progress and try to resist by planting millions of trees. This is what we have seen, in particular, in Senegal. Then we wanted to know if there was an impact of this sand which comes to us, which is deposited in particular on our mountains. A snow scientist tells us that this greatly accelerates the melting of the Alps, for example.
“What I remember from my encounters with those who fight to ensure that the desert does not progress any further is that you must never give up”
The documentary is also interested in the people who manage to live in these arid zones…
We wanted to understand how they adapt. Unfortunately, more and more people around the world will be affected by this arid and dry climate. In France, according to projections made by scientists, we will have an aridification of the climate, especially in the South, with increasingly significant periods of drought, a certain type of vegetation which will disappear because it is no longer suitable. We wanted to understand how to deal with this type of modification.
What do you remember from your encounters with those who are fighting to ensure that the desert does not progress further?
That you should never let go. Their fight is both uneven and, in some areas, a bit lost, but they continue to defend their lands. We see it in Chinguetti in Mauritania: they do not want to abandon these territories in which their people evolved. I also remember that we are very lucky for the moment in France to live in a climate that is still relatively friendly. When we see these people struggle daily with buckets and shovels to prevent their house from being swallowed up, we become aware of how lucky we can be to live in France and of the much easier conditions than those encountered by these people there. I have a lot of admiration for them, for this form of conviction and this desire to fight against elements that are stronger than us.
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You launched “Sur le front” in 2019. Today, after 19 issues, would you say that you are rather optimistic or pessimistic?
Rather optimistic. “On the Frontlines” is with people who do things, who fight and have projects to protect the environment, who fight for species, for places. Since we launched this show, it’s really important for us to shine the spotlight on the people who fight and show us the way, guide us to move towards a world more respectful of the living, in general. Being permanently on the ground with these people is an invaluable opportunity because it allows us to maintain optimism and hope. So obviously, I’m not going to tell you that it’s always happy because there is also a lot of bad news, a lot of investigations that clench our throats or our hearts because what we discover is abominable , but we are in the action, we are on the ground with them. We say to ourselves that we cannot be pessimistic and give up when we see all these wonderful people who are fighting in France and around the world. Afterwards, this does not prevent us from being realistic and listening to what the scientists say. Yes, clearly, I think we are at a crucial moment for humanity. Many scientists say that we are in a decisive decade, especially in terms of biodiversity. It’s normal to be worried, it’s normal to be alarmist, it is absolutely necessary to continue to raise these cries of warning to encourage politicians and companies to act, but that does not prevent me from being irremediably optimistic nonetheless.
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