German forest activists resist eviction in tense police stand-off

KERPEN, Germany: German activists living in treehouses to protect an ancient forest from being razed for a nearby coal mine yesterday vowed to resist forced eviction by police, in a major escalation of the long-running environmental battle.

Hundreds of police officers descended on the area in the early morning, after local authorities ordered the Hambach Forest in western Germany to be cleared immediately citing fire hazards.

Dozens of protesters are holed up in some 60 treehouses, some as high as 25 metres off the ground.

The occupation began in 2012 and their presence had until now been quietly tolerated.

But the state premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet, told local broadcaster WDR late Wednesday that this was ‘an illegally occupied area’ and accused the protesters of being violent.

The activists, who are protesting the expansion of energy giant RWE’s giant open-pit lignite mine, one of Europe’s largest, have called for a mass mobilisation by supporters in coming days.

“The destruction of Hambach Forest is intolerable,” said Jan Puetz of Aktion Unterholz in a joint statement with other activist groups.

“Starting this weekend, we will prevent the evacuation and the forest cutting by police and RWE with actions of mass civil disobedience”.

State police warned on Twitter that the height at which the demonstrators were hunkering down “poses a danger to everyone. We don’t want people to get hurt.”

A live video streamed on the Spiegel Online website showed officers in a cherrypicker cutting down branches to gain access to the homemade structures.

A large rescue air cushion was placed on the ground.

Officers also peacefully broke up a sit-in by a group of demonstrators blocking the path to the treehouses and removed makeshift barriers, according to DPA news agency.

As well as a huge police presence, heavy clearing equipment and water cannons could be seen at the site. — AFP