As of: February 29, 2024, 2:03 p.m
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Activists from the “Stop Tesla” initiative have built several tree houses in a pine forest near the Tesla Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg plant.
© Patrick Pleul/dpa
The protest against Tesla is increasing.
Activists are mobilizing against the planned expansion and occupying a piece of forest.
This is reminiscent of another environmental protest a few years ago.
Grünheide - Environmentalists are protesting on tree houses against Elon Musk's only European Tesla car factory in Grünheide near Berlin.
Resistance to the US electric car manufacturer's flagship project is increasing.
Around 80 activists from the “Stop Tesla” initiative occupied a forest near the car factory since Thursday night to protest against the planned expansion of the factory site to include a freight yard and storage areas.
The group built tree houses on the approximately 120 hectare area that is to be cleared.
Her main concern is protecting the water.
The police spoke to the activists.
The scene brings back memories of the protest against the Hambach Forest a few years ago, which escalated.
In the forest next to the Tesla factory, environmental activists have built around eight tree houses, the highest at around eleven meters high.
They don't want to leave so quickly.
A helicopter flies over the area.
“We want to stand in the way of destruction,” says the spokeswoman for the “Stop Tesla” initiative, Caro Weber.
According to her, environmental activists from all over Germany are there.
Many are covered with hoods or scarves over their faces.
They report that they are experienced in climbing, were there in Lützerath and in the Hambacher Forest in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Occupiers are in the forest near the Gigafactory
The mood seems peaceful after a frosty night.
A field kitchen has been set up.
Hot water bottles are available for the night.
Thick climbing ropes, hooks and helmets hang everywhere.
Several hours after the action in the forest became known, it is unclear whether the police will intervene.
A police spokesman says it will first be checked 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 is freely accessible and, according to the police, is a state forest, so it does not belong to Tesla.
One unrolls a banner: “Water is a human right” is written on it in huge letters.
There are posters hanging in the forest about the consequences of lithium extraction for batteries.
“Clean cars are a dirty lie” is one slogan.
Activists from the Robin Wood alliance have attached a wooden platform in one of the treetops under the motto “Forest instead of monster factory” where climbers can linger.
They are demanding that Tesla, the municipality, the state and the federal government do everything they can to stop the expansion and promote a mobility transition.
Occupiers want to support Tesla critics
The activists, some of whom have put on colorful wigs, shout “Grünheide remains”.
A woman sitting in the tree house says she has been here for two nights.
On the wood of their cobbled-together hut, which sways back and forth, it says: “Forest instead of asphalt”.
She was also there at Hambacher Forest.
The protest is important because she believes that there should be a Tesla expansion despite the negative citizen vote.
“I’ll stay here for now.”
The group wants to support the vote of the citizens of Grünheide.
In a resident survey, almost two thirds voted against a development plan for the planned expansion.
“Our main concern is the drinking water protection area,” says activist Weber.
The initiative does not trust that politicians will follow the will of the residents, since the existing plant was already built with special permits.
The local council is expected to decide on the development plan in May.
The citizens' vote is not legally binding, but is considered an important signal.
Hundreds of kilometers further to the west lies the Hambacher Forest between Cologne and Aachen.
It is considered a symbol of the protest against coal and was scheduled for clearing in 2018 to give the energy company RWE the opportunity to mine the lignite underneath.
The threatened destruction of the ancient forest with tall, giant trees mobilized great resistance.
It cost the police many weeks and millions of euros to dismantle 86 tree houses and dismantle the camps underneath.
A young journalist died when he broke through the boards of a suspension bridge between two tree houses and fell 15 meters.
When the eviction was almost complete, the clearing was temporarily banned by court order.
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What does Tesla want to build on the expanded area?
At first it is peaceful in Grünheide.
But the protest against Tesla, which has been going on since the construction work, has increased.
Conservationists and citizens' initiatives are against the factory and against the expansion.
Tesla sees advantages for the region and wants to relieve freight traffic with the factory station.
The expansion should also be seen against the background that Tesla wants to expand production on the existing site and double the planned 500,000 cars per year to one million.
The protest with tree houses is a new stage in the resistance against the car manufacturer, which is considered a driving force in Brandenburg for six percent economic growth in the first half of 2023 and has so far brought around 12,500 jobs to the Brandenburg sand.
However, the activists are not the first tree-based critics against Tesla: almost exactly four years ago, the police took two women from trees on the site of the planned factory who wanted to take action against the clearing at a height of six to eight meters.
Tesla was allowed to clear the forest ahead of schedule.
Even two environmental associations were unable to prevent this in court.
dpa