SENEGAL-FRANCE-MINING-ENVIRONMENT

A man dances during a performance inside the Lompoul Ecolodge in the Lompoul desert, on February 11, 2025. The "world's biggest mining dredger" has swallowed up acre after acre of the fertile coastal strip were most of Senegal's vegetables are grown. The ragged 23-kilometre scar it has left after harvesting zircon -- which is used in ceramics -- is so large, it is visible from space. The roar of the dredger and its gigantic factory are 150 metres away from the Ecolodge. Of Lampoul's seven tourist camps, six have accepted EGC's money and have moved. Local communities also accuse the mine of "degrading the soil and the dunes", threatening their water and food security. (Photo by PATRICK MEINHARDT / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK MEINHARDT/AFP via Getty Images)