In Haute-Provence, the solar industry is razing forests

On Mount Lure, in the department of Alpes de Haute-Provence, photovoltaic manufacturers would have us believe that razing biodiversity to plant solar panels is an ecological gesture. Fortunately, citizens, not fools, are watching out and trying by all means to stop this destructive madness.

How beautiful is the mountain

It is a magnificent Mediterranean massif made up of 70% forest and 20% of agricultural land and pastures, which dominates the Vaucluse mountains. The Lure Mountain, which is part of the Prealps of southern France, is a tremendous reservoir of biodiversity, classified as a biosphere reserve by Unesco [1] and home, for example, forty heritage animal species (i.e. protected species, endangered species and rare species), including twenty-two determining species (considered important for the ecosystem and particularly representative) [2].

This wild country dear to Jean Giono, away from major roads, sparsely populated, with diverse environments sheltering emblematic animals such as red deer, chamois, roe deer and even wolves, is however under threat from zealots of the religion of Progress.

The sun has a rendezvous with the rain [3]

The appetite for the industrial megamachine never being satisfied, this peaceful corner of Haute-Provence is threatened by various photovoltaic power plant projects. In addition to disfiguring landscapes, these industrial infrastructures will endanger biodiversity and soils.

Indeed, the negative impacts of these installations on the environment are well documented, with for example the reduction in the richness and density of bird species, the decline of pollinators, the loss of habitats for biodiversity, the excess mortality of birds due to the excess mortality of birds due to burns from the concentrated sunlight produced by photovoltaic panels [4]...

However, this very gloomy picture does not stop the greed of societies that are making their butter on the so-called “ecological transition”. For example, the Canadian company Boralex, which claims to “protect living beings and their habitats” [5] and yet requested an exemption from environmental law in order to be able to destroy protected species and habitats on the Cruis site. In all, 12 photovoltaic power plants have already been built on the slopes of Mount Lure, and 15 others are in the works, with around 1000 hectares of nature that would be impacted. The images of these Mediterranean forests razed by machines to plant solar panels are desolate.

In addition to local damage, solar panels have a catastrophic ecological impact throughout their lives. The materials used to make them are far from being green. For example, silicon, the main element in panels, requires the exploitation of silica quarries, which causes serious problems with water quality and soil erosion. Its industrial treatment involves the abundant use of toxic products, water and energy: the ratio is estimated at 280 kg of chemical products per kg of silicon produced [6]. In addition, as they are often made in China, these panels travel thousands of kilometers before reaching their place of installation. New proof, if needed, that the ecological transition is a scam to repaint the industrial system that consumes life on Earth in green.

The wind of resistance is rising

But on Mount Lure, resistance fighters rise up to try to counter the industrial ogre and save their forests. Since its creation in 2019, the collective Elzéard Lure en Résistance [7] (named after the hero of Jean Giono's short story, The man who planted trees, 1953) is scrambling to obstruct solar park projects by multiplying actions: film screenings, festive events, demonstrations, construction site blockades, filing complaints against manufacturers... As always, the resistance fighters face ferocious repression, both from the state and from militias under the orders of industrialists. Two activists in their sixties were sued for lying in front of construction equipment ordered by the Canadian multinational Boralex, and were fined and their driving licenses suspended for 3 months [8]. During a blocking action, activists were subjected to violence by security guards monitoring a construction site, one of the opponents even had a broken rib with an iron bar [9].

The association “Les Amis de la Montagne de Lure” (Amilure) [10], created in 2017, is also fighting to protect the mountain in the face of the appetites of wind and photovoltaic manufacturers. Following their complaint against the company Boralex, the Administrative Court of Marseille cancelled in May 2024 the decree that authorized this company to destroy protected species and habitats on the Cruis site, where Boralex had begun to install a large photovoltaic park [11]. It is certainly a stick in the wheels of these destructive manufacturers, but Boralex has already replied that this decision did not call into question their right to operate the Cruis solar power plant, nor their presence on the site and the finishing works of the power plant [12].

As we can see, in the face of the Goliaths of industry, activists must deploy unlimited energy to obtain only meager victories. While these acts of resistance are courageous and admirable, this unfortunately does not prevent the inexorable advance of the techno-industrial system. To stop the development of photovoltaics, and the entire industrial megamachine, we cannot be satisfied with meager local victories: what we need is a global anti-tech revolt, and this will not happen without one Serious strategy and ultra-determined revolutionaries.