As Hambacher forest (also Hambacher forest) today is still a 200-acre forest in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) between Cologne and Aachen referred. The largest part of the forest area, which had to give way to the open pit Hambach, was called Bürgewald or The Guarantor.
He is considered a symbol of the resistance of the anti-coal power movement against the destruction of the environment and climate damage by the coal industry, as well as the upcoming coal exit as part of the energy transition.
After the district government of Arnsberg responsible for mining in North Rhine-Westphalia had approved the main operational plan of the opencast mine from 2018 to 2020 and a collective action was dismissed by the German Federal Environment and Nature Conservation Union (BUND), RWE AG wanted to clear further parts of the Hambach Forest. For reasons of breeding protection under the Federal Nature Conservation Act, this is possible between 1 October and the end of February. According to the court, RWE said it would wait until 14 October 2018 at the latest. On 20 April 2018, the BUND again filed a lawsuit against the approved main operating plan and sees in the Hambach Forest the criteria of a European nature reserve. On 5 October, the Higher Administrative Court of Münster ordered a provisional grubbing-up stop as a result of a further action by the BUND against the deforestation of the Hambach Forest until a re-evaluation of the facts.
According to plans of the energy company RWE, the remaining 200 ha of forest should be cut down to less than 100 ha in 2018. Substantial conflicts with tree-occupiers on tree houses in the Hambacher forest were to be expected. The black-yellow state government under Armin Laschet (CDU) decided in September 2018 for an evacuation of since 2013 in the forest existing tree houses because of lack of fire protection. She justified the move as necessary to ensure the safety of the squatters. A connection with the planned from October clearing rejected the state government.
After the clearing by the Higher Administrative Court of Münster was stopped for the time being and a large demonstration took place at the forest, the state government stopped the eviction. According to the union's estimate, the police made around a million hours of work during the five weeks of eviction.
Source: Wikipedia