Police clear protest camp towards forest clearing in Hesse | EUROtoday

As of: November 12, 2025 9:12 a.m

The police in Hesse have been taking motion towards a protest camp of environmental activists since early this morning. They had occupied a bit of forest to guard the timber from being cleared. Gravel and sand are to be mined there.

As the police introduced on Wednesday, officers have been busy dismantling a protest camp within the forest close to Langen (Offenbach) since early morning. Environmental activists from the Forest Instead of Asphalt group constructed it in the summertime of 2024 to guard timber within the southeast of the Langener Waldsee from clearing. There have been at the moment round 50 activists within the camp.

It is assumed that the eviction will happen peacefully, a police spokesman informed the hr. The officers will “track down people and lead them off the site.” There are round ten environmentalists on web site, as hr reporters report.

The police spokesman mentioned the operation started at 4:30 a.m. The protesters ought to due to this fact be taken out of the timber when it has grow to be gentle. According to hr info, this has not but occurred. Some of the activists signaled their willingness to climb down from the timber on their very own, the police mentioned.

The security of everybody concerned is the main focus of the measures, the police mentioned. “Protest is legitimate, but it must always remain peaceful and legally compliant – that is the clear expectation of the police, who pay particular attention to transparency and communication in their operations.” Anyone who violates official orders should anticipate applicable measures.

Clearing has been permitted since 2022

An occupier who calls herself Ahorn informed the hr on Tuesday: “People are preparing individually for eviction.” It is as much as every particular person to determine how far she or he will go.

Matthias Rohrbach from the Langener Bannwald Action Alliance assured: “As an action alliance, we will not call for violence. If the Bannwald goes down, then with flags flying – but peacefully!”

It was most likely clear to the activists that there would in the end be an eviction. Since 2013, the Sehring firm has had permission to clear the affected piece of forest with a view to additional mine gravel and sand, regardless that it’s really a specifically protected forest. The Darmstadt regional council revoked this standing for the forest. The Federal Administrative Court confirmed the legality of this step in 2022.

It shouldn’t be but identified when the clearing will start.

City: Camp shouldn’t be included constitutional rules suitable

The metropolis of Langen sees its rights as an proprietor violated by the protest camp. It was not too long ago mentioned that the camp can’t be reconciled “with democratic and constitutional principles”. The metropolis solely warned walkers in regards to the space on the finish of October. “The magistrate advises walkers and those seeking relaxation to avoid the area around the illegal camp of forest squatters,” the town mentioned. The public order police cordoned off a big space across the camp.

The forest itself was additionally considerably broken by the camp’s residents. Nails and wooden screws have been pushed into quite a few timber, and amphibian safety fences have been additionally destroyed. The injury triggered is estimated at greater than 200,000 euros.

Activist: “The quality of life will deteriorate”

“Just because one forest is being cleared doesn’t mean that another will also be cleared,” mentioned activist Ahorn on Tuesday. She and the opposite tree occupiers have skilled a number of solidarity from the inhabitants previously few months. “Every forest, every tree is important. Giving up hope is not an option.”

From the attitude of environmentalists, forests that counteract international warming shouldn’t be lower down at a time when the man-made local weather disaster is resulting in extra excessive climate. It’s additionally in regards to the high quality of lifetime of the folks in and round Langen, mentioned Rohrbach: “This is a forest with old trees that is used for local recreation and water production. The quality of life will continue to deteriorate.”

financial pursuits valued larger than environmental safety

The Sehring firm has been mining gravel and sand within the space for many years – this in the end created the Langener Waldsee, one of many largest quarry lakes within the area. Since 2013, Sehring has had permission to clear round 64 hectares within the southeast of the lake so as to have the ability to extract extra uncooked supplies from the bottom. About half of it has already been cleared.

The firm’s managing director, Stefan Sehring, reacted angrily to the protest camp in the summertime of 2024. The activists have been trampling on the legislation and behaving in an anti-democratic method. As an organization within the uncooked supplies business, it’s best to nonetheless be allowed to function in Germany.

The Darmstadt regional council had justified its approval for the deforestation of significantly weak forests with a reference to financial pursuits: When weighed up towards environmental safety, “the public interest in a secure and local supply of raw materials for the Rhine-Main area outweighs”.

On Monday, the town of Langen suffered a defeat on the Darmstadt Administrative Court. She wished to maneuver a registered everlasting vigil in solidarity with the folks within the protest camp to a different location – 870 meters from the precise camp, because the court docket wrote. This would have represented a “significant interference” and was due to this fact prohibited.