How can we bring the perpetrators of ecocide to justice? This in-depth report on a landmark court case investigates businessman Nicolae Boddan Buzaianu’s very profitable timber trafficking business in West Africa, which has fueled the continent's longest-running conflicts in Casamance. The Swiss and Romanian businessman teamed up with former Gambian President Jammeh and the Westwood company made possible the illegal export of thousands of tons of rosewood. Banned since june 2022, the trafficking lingers on, exacerbating desertification and adding fuel to the fire of global warming. Has the time finally come to stop the impunity for environmental crimes committed abroad?

Filming Locations
Casamance, Senegal (illegal rosewood trafficking, deforestation, armed conflict zone).
Gambia (timber export, authoritarian regime of President Yaya Jammeh).
Banjul, Gambia (export port).
Château de Greg, Switzerland (residence of Nicolas Bouziane until 2015).
China (mentioned, main buyer of rosewood).
French Riviera, France (mentioned, alleged villa of Nicolas Bouziane).
Central African Republic (mentioned, new projects of Nicolas Bouziane).

Main Contributors
Nicolas Bouziane, Swiss businessman of Romanian origin, founder of Westwood company.
Yaya Jammeh, former autocratic president of Gambia between 1994 and 2017.
Benoît Mestre, lawyer for NGO Trial International.
Haïdar El Ali, former Minister of Environment of Senegal (2012-2013), environmental activist.
Abdoulaye Badji, mayor of Catala in Casamance (2014-2017).

Main themes
Illegal rosewood trafficking between Casamance and Gambia organized by a Swiss businessman, close to the Gambian president between 2014 and 2017.
Alleged financing of the armed conflict in Casamance through timber trafficking revenues, potentially constituting a war crime.
Criminal complaint filed in Switzerland by Trial International against Nicolas Bouziane, stalled for three years at the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland.

Key Figures
Nearly 2 million rosewood trees felled in Casamance over 15 years.
444 containers of timber exported per month on average during the Westwood period 2014-2017, compared to 193 containers between 2012 and 2013.
3,000 dollars per container collected in cash by Westwood, in addition to 13,200 dollars in official taxes.
45 million dollars claimed from Westwood by the Gambian commission of inquiry for illegal timber trafficking.

Quotes
Haïdar El Ali: "For 10,000 francs, you cut down a tree and turn my country into a desert."
Benoît Mestre, Trial International: "This case is somewhat at the crossroads between international criminal law and environmental crimes. The destruction of the environment in the context of an armed conflict constitutes a war crime."