Finalist: Social movements for 1.5
The photo series has accompanied environmental protests in Germany since 2015, with a focus on protests against lignite. In this context, the action form of forest occupation has gained great importance in Germany in recent years. Starting with occupations of open-cast lignite mines of the movement "Ende-Gelände", coal mining became a public issue. In this form of civil disobedience, activists shut down coal mines for several days. Starting from Hambacher Forst 2018, various forest occupations developed in Germany. First against the expansion of the Hambach coal mine. Then in 2020 in Dannenrod against the construction of a highway.
Currently in 2022 in Lützerath against the expansion of the Garzweiler open pit mine. This makes Lützerath the last place in Germany to be mined for lignite.
In all of these three occupations, Hambacher Forst, Dannenröder Wald, and Lützerath, activists have built large settlements of dozens of tree houses and built communities. Their goal is to prevent the clearing of the forest or the dismantling of the site. In this way, they make these places a symbol of resistance against the overexploitation of fossil resources and create the possibility to physically block this machinery in the places. Thus the occupations became centers of the radical environmental movement in Germany. So the activists are trying to keep the 1.5 degree limit of global warming.
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A masked activist climbs his tree house in Hambach Forest. The edge of the open pit mine can be seen in the background. The so-called Hambach Forest is the last part of this woodland and has been occupied by activists for 6 years. In this forest, activists have built dozens of tree houses and set up various smaller settlements for living. Their goal is to prevent the clearing of the forest and thus the extension of the lignite opencast mine. In September 2018, the activists in the forest were completely evicted by the police for the first time and all tree houses were destroyed. However, a lawsuit by an environmental organization stopped the impending clearing of the forest and there are new tree houses by now. The conflict at Hambach Forest symbolizes the handling of climate protection in Germany and in 2018 became an important milestone in the environmental movement, especially in the fight against lignite. For the activists, the forest is an experiment for a different, better society. It is an enclave for all those who want to break with a way of life based on the exploitation of this planet and who are looking for alternatives and refuge.
