Environmental activists began occupying a forest near Tesla's German factory in Berlin on Thursday to oppose the American giant's expansion plans and its consequences on the environment in the region.
Mounted on the trees using climbing equipment, they built around ten cabins high up, in a part of the forest intended to be razed by Tesla, AFP journalists present on site noted on Thursday.
This technique aims to make it difficult for the authorities to dislodge the protesters and thus hinder the work.
Tesla has submitted an official request to expand by 170 ha the site of its “giga factory”, which currently covers 300 ha, south of Berlin.
The objective is to double its production and the number of its employees.
Concern about water consumption
This project “endangers the supply of drinking water to the entire region, the climate and the ecological transition of transport”, denounced in a press release on Thursday the environmental group “Robin Hood” (“Robin Hood”), one of the movements which organize the operation.
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The opponents' concerns mainly relate to the deforestation necessary for the work, the significant water consumption of the industrial complex and the increase in road traffic.
And this while Brandenburg, the region around the German capital, is regularly hit by droughts during the summer.
“Residents are having their water stolen!”
“, Paul Eisfeld, 24, an activist and spokesperson for the organizers, told AFP.
“This forest is largely located in a protection zone for drinking water,” lamented Manu Hoyer, 64, an activist against the Tesla factory since the announcement of its installation in 2019.
The municipality votes more than 60% against the project
The organizers also declare that they are carrying out this action to “support” the residents of the municipality of Grünheide, where the factory is located, who voted more than 60% against the Tesla project in a consultative ballot in mid-February.
“We must now apply the vote of the inhabitants,” declares Robin Hood.
A demonstration is planned for March 10.
Tesla's giga factory, the first in Europe, opened in 2022 after a two-year approval and construction process, due to procedures initiated by local environmental associations.
Some 11,500 employees work in the Tesla factory near Berlin, opening in 2022, which produces, according to the company, more than 250,000 electric cars per year with a long-term target of 500,000 units.