Saxony
Heidebogen: Police begin operations because of protest camps
Police officers are standing in front of a tree house from the “Heibo Stays” initiative in an occupied forest area in the Laußnitzer Heide. Climate activists and nature conservationists have been holed up in the Heidebogen for about a year and a half to protest against the gravel quarrying Photo
© Sebastian Kahnert/dpa
For about a year and a half, climate activists and conservationists have holed up in the Heidebogen to protest against the gravel quarrying. The area is now being cleared.
The police have started an operation at a protest camp in the Heidebogen forest north of Dresden – an eviction is being examined. On Wednesday morning there should be a joint inspection with representatives of the Bautzen district office and the Sachsenforst, as the Saxony police announced in the morning via Twitter. It should be clarified whether the protest camp has to be dissolved because of a violation of conditions, it said. In the Heidebogen – called Heibo in local parlance – climate activists and nature conservationists have been holed up for about a year and a half to protest against gravel mining.
According to the current legal situation, a 7.5-hectare piece of forest is to be cleared for this purpose by the end of February. The police operation is intended to secure both the demonstrations and the forestry work. Both could possibly also take place in parallel. The police suspect 50 to 60 people in the camp.