As of: February 29, 2024, 7:25 p.m
By: Bettina Menzel
Comments
Press
Split
Around 80 activists occupy a forest in Grünheide.
With the campaign they want to protect the groundwater, which they see threatened by the US car manufacturer's gigafactory.
Grünheide – On the night of Thursday (February 29th), environmentalists went out to occupy a forest near the Tesla factory in Grünheide near Berlin.
The activists want to protest against the planned expansion of the US car manufacturer's factory premises.
Your goal: protecting groundwater.
Their means of combat: treehouses.
Environmental activists occupy forest: “Factory built in drinking water protection area”
In a forest next to Tesla's gigafactory, environmental activists built eight tree houses on Thursday night, the highest of which is eleven meters high.
The approximately 120 hectare area is to be cleared so that the US car manufacturer can build a freight yard and storage areas here.
“We want to stand in the way of destruction,” says the spokeswoman for the “Stop Tesla” initiative, Caro Weber, to the German Press Agency (dpa).
The environmental group is therefore concerned with protecting the water.
The activist group Robinwood, which was also on site, demanded that Tesla and those responsible in the municipality, state and federal government “do everything to stop the expansion [...].”
One banner read “Water is a human right.”
“Clean cars are a dirty lie,” read another, alluding to lithium extraction for batteries.
The existing gigafactory had already been built with a special permit.
“This factory is built in the drinking water protection area, where not even 50 cows are allowed to be kept because the groundwater can be so easily endangered.
Instead, a car factory is being built here,” criticized activist Robin Sommer.
Activists from the “Stop Tesla” initiative carry a tree trunk through a pine forest near the Tesla Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg plant (picture from February 29, 2024).
© Patrick Pleul/dpa +++ dpa-Bildfunk +++
Environmental activists want to support citizens' vote - police check violation of ban on gatherings
A resident survey in Grünheide recently showed that around two thirds of citizens were against expanding the area.
Participation was 76 percent.
However, the results of the survey are not binding for the community.
The protest is important because it is believed that there should be a Tesla expansion despite the negative citizen vote, said an activist from the dpa.
The occupation of the forest is planned for an indefinite period.
It was initially unclear whether the police would intervene and drive away the protesters.
According to a police spokesman, it is being examined whether there has been a violation of the assembly law.
The police are talking to the tree squatters.
The forest between the Tesla train station and the factory does not belong to Tesla, but according to the police is a state forest and the area is freely accessible.
The US company owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk has so far created around 12,500 jobs in Brandenburg with the gigafactory.
Tesla promised that there should be 40,000 in the region.
Electric cars have been rolling off the assembly line in Grünheide for about a year, but allegations against Tesla have also recently been made.
The car manufacturer is said to have often put employees on sick leave under pressure
(bme with dpa/AFP).