Germany: An Update from Hambach Forest Defenders

from Hambach Forest Defenders

The defense of the the Millenarian Hambacher Forest against the encroching RWE open cast lignite mine continues with activist-build towers and live-in barricades. The Hambacher Forest is not only one of the last Millenarian Forests in Europe but also the largest on the edge of mostly deforested area of Ruhr Valley and the Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg region hence its importance to biodiversity and animal migration corridors.

The lignite mine fought through direct action methods by the activist living in the forest for the last 3 years has been devouring towns, villages, whole forests and draining the watertable for up to 70 kilometers and is also the largest in western europe and Europe’s biggest net CO2 emmiter.

The scale of the mine itself being 12km across and nearly half a killometer deep conjures analogies of Mordor or SciFi Prison planet with the diggers being the world’s largest machines feeding the conveyor belts delivering the coal to rail links supplying the power plants on the edge of the mine itself and throughout this region . This in turn pales in comparison to the global and externalized costs of lignite as a climate chaos agent and a number one source of mercury contamination in worlds oceans.



The Hambach Forest Struggle continues to experience periodic police intrusions, arrests and desctruction of barricades which are protecting three forest tree-sits: Oaktown, Beechtown, and CrustyTown which are spread throughout the forest. The arrest result in solidarity actions and demonstrations and relatively short releases.

This is not something that can be said about the irreversible habitat destruction that continues day and night and sadly after partial victory of having the costs of evictions and police actions being deferred to the RWE concern the German Forestry department started filing complains about the forest being blockaded against the machinery send to destroy it and the taxpayer and the German State resumed again picking up the bill for the repression of eco-activists and ecological destrucion.

For that reason we urge all who choose to pursue the avenues of civic action to put grassroots pressure on the appropriately named Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture in Bonn (www.verbraucherlotse.de) Monday to Thursday from 9:00 bis 17:00 Telefonnummer 02 28 – 24 25 26 27, per E-Mail info@verbraucherlotse.de, 53168 Bonn und unter der Fax-Nummer 02 28 – 68 45 72 20.

For those in the struggle to protect the Earth through direct action we urge you to visit us and follow the struggle and become a part of global community of resistance.

Our present demand and wish list includes as always planetary eco-justice followed by walkie talkies, 12v batteries and solar panels.

In Solidarity,

Hambach Forest Defenders!

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