Hambach Forest

Hambach Forest (German: Hambacher Wald, Hambacher Forst (German pronunciation: [ˈhambaxɐ ˈfɔʁst] ^ⓘ), Bürgewald, Die Bürge) is an ancient forest located near Buir [de] in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, between Cologne and Aachen. It was planned to be cleared as part of the Hambach surface mine by owner RWE AG. There were protests and occupations from 2012 against this, and in 2020 a law was passed to preserve what remains of it.

Hambach Forest is rich in biodiversity and home to 142 species regarded as important for conservation. The forest has been called "the last remnant of a sylvan ecosystem that has occupied this part of the Rhine River plain between Aachen and Cologne since the end of the last ice age". Only ten percent of Hambach Forest still remains, and the remaining forest is severely threatened by mining for brown coal. Of special interest is the rare Bechstein's bat population, which is strictly protected according to annex II and annex IV of the European Habitats Directive. An Environmental Impact Assessment study has never been conducted. The Administrative Court [de] in Cologne denied the necessity of such a study in November 2017 because the permission for the mining operations was given in the 1970s, long before Environmental Impact Assessment studies became mandatory.

The area is part of the Rhenish Lignite Mining Area (German: Rheinisches Braunkohlerevier (de)), and the Hambach surface mine is the largest open pit mine in Germany, as of 2018. RWE AG has owned the land since the 1960s or earlier and held an official permit to clear forests in the area since the 1970s. The company repeatedly argued that Hambach Forest must be cleared to ensure future energy supply. RWE spokesperson Guido Steffen stated “I’ve known Hambach for decades, before the mine. It was a great forest ... It’s a pity it must be logged. We’re not doing this because we have fun logging trees, but out of economic necessity. Germany needs energy.”

The usual process is to excavate the lignite/brown coal beneath it with huge excavator machines and then burn it in steam-electric power generation. The 2018 map to the right shows the extent of excavation activities until then. On this map, Hambach Forest (around abandoned old Morschenich) is not displayed at all, but under a hatching meaning "future area of operations".

Since 2012, Hambach Forest had been a political standpoint for environmentalists who protested against the German energy company RWE AG because of the open-pit Hambach surface mine neighboring the site. At 85 square kilometres (33 square miles), the mine is the largest of its kind in Europe.

An area within the forest was occupied by those opposing the clearance for lignite extraction. They sought to close the mine and save the remaining sections of the forest which are under threat of being cut down to allow the expansion of the mine.

The first occupation lasted from April to November 2012. A second occupation started in September 2013 and lasted until March 2014, followed by a third occupation from April to October 2014.

The fourth occupation period started in 2015 and lasted until 2018. It involved a settlement with around two dozen tree houses and numerous road barricades. The barricades were erected to prevent mining company and police vehicles from entering.