Several thousand people yesterday demonstrated against the planned clearance of a forest in western Germany that has set the stage for a long-running environmental stand-off.
Organisers of the protest in Hambach Forest, in North Rhine Westphalia, said 7,000 people took part.
Police wouldn’t give a turnout figure, and it was unclear whether damp autumnal conditions had led to a reduced number of participants.
Police had stopped the protest walk from taking place on Saturday, but an administrative appeals court in the city of Muenster ruled in favour of the environmentalists and gave the green light for the protest — albeit for a stationary demonstration as opposed to a march.
German energy company RWE plans to fell part of the forest — which is home to centuries-old trees and some protected species — this autumn in order to extend its coal-mining activities in the area.
Over a week ago, authorities began clearing a makeshift camp at the site where anti-coal activists have been living in tree houses for years.
The camp clearance was halted indefinitely after a journalist fell to his death there last Wednesday while crossing a rope bridge.
People gather yesterday around a makeshift memorial set up where a journalist died during the operations to evict protesters at the Hambach Forest.
