First Declaration of the Hambach jungle
trees not baggers | 15.04.2012 13:26 | Climate Chaos | Ecology | Energy Crisis
The Forest is now squatted!
A part of the Hambach forest has been squatted in order to save it from the excavators send by the giantic energy coperation RWE digging up the coal.
Alongside a cultural happening/fair in the woods (Waldfest) „Wald statt Kohle“ Forest, not coal! the squatting commences. Even though the
Under the slogan „Forest, not coal!“ („Wald, statt Kohle“) a festivity is celebrated in the forest. Alongside that happening the squatting has started, though both activities remain independet of each other.
At the „Waldfest“ people from different groups meet up forming a broad coalition to get active in saving the Hambach Forest and stopping the extraction as well as the production of energy out of the fossil coal.
Hambach forest, near Cologne, shall be completly destroyed making space for the largest digged out hole in Europe „Hambacher Tagebau“ according to the plans of RWE.
During the festivity people get the chance of taking responsibility by godfathering their special tree thus protecting the trees their way(s).
By squatting we are also taking over responsibility godfathering our trees, protecting them our own way.
A part of the Hambach forest has been squatted in order to save it from the excavators send by the giantic energy coperation RWE digging up the coal.
Alongside a cultural happening/fair in the woods (Waldfest) „Wald statt Kohle“ Forest, not coal! the squatting commences. Even though the
Under the slogan „Forest, not coal!“ („Wald, statt Kohle“) a festivity is celebrated in the forest. Alongside that happening the squatting has started, though both activities remain independet of each other.
At the „Waldfest“ people from different groups meet up forming a broad coalition to get active in saving the Hambach Forest and stopping the extraction as well as the production of energy out of the fossil coal.
Hambach forest, near Cologne, shall be completly destroyed making space for the largest digged out hole in Europe „Hambacher Tagebau“ according to the plans of RWE.
During the festivity people get the chance of taking responsibility by godfathering their special tree thus protecting the trees their way(s).
By squatting we are also taking over responsibility godfathering our trees, protecting them our own way.
Why squatting?
We have decided to squat knowing that it is surpassing the small path of legal protest. Nevertheless two final reasons lead us to that conclusion:
Firstly: The gap between what is legaly allowed and what is regarded as justified by us is too big.
Even though RWE is, by destroying the forest in order to dig out the brown coal for burning it, also destroying the regional basis of living, as well as endangering peoples' health up to Cologne area, not speaking of the worldclimate, they are legally allowed to do so.
Nonetheless we are not able to see any justification in their action.
However we cannot find any „real“ justification for RWEs doing.
By squatting this forest we're not acting legal according to the current laws.
But the squat is justified by the aim of trying to stop RWEs wood and world destruction course.
Secondly: We believe that the gap between what is legal and what is just will always exist. Due to this simple fact that a neutral point of view cannot exist putting legal things just
So a neutral point of view cannot exist. Just and legal remain different because everybody her-/himself bears in mind of what is just and what is not.
Therefore establishing free and livly forms of interaction, defining what is just and sensible, is a must; Than having the definition derivated from ancient laws, for the most, are only protecteing the intrests of the ruling elites.
By squatting we're trying to generate such a process of vivid negotiating furthermore thematizing the topic of how climate and enviromental destruction shall be dealt with.
Loudly we're shouting „No!“ at anybody whom's solution it is to go on just like used to be, AND who are -just like RWE- are even speeding up in the old fashioned way by building a new coal plant!
If we are to be evicted by police force then we are facing the answer of a repressiv state which is tring to suspend any horizontal and vivid process of self-organization.
That is the ideolgy of the state as well as of the capitalis cooperations who are far to inflexible, not mentioning they're wrong maxim of action, to give sensible answers to the topics of our time.
They will eventually perish just like the dinosaurs who were also unable to cope with the changing conditions.
In fact the solution is not to modify the existing system of exploitation and supression into something more flexible, but to overcome that system!
Against coal energy - Here and Everywhere
This squat is opposing coal energy in general as ist is the most CO2 intensive form of gaining energy. The „Rheinische BraunkohleRevier“ (Rhinanian Brown Coal Area) is Europe's climate killer no. 1. In contrary most of the coal burnt here, is shipped from other parts of the world e.g. Columbia where the extraction coincedences with brutal human rigth violations.
Worldwide the conflicts arising alongside coal extraction and burning are getting worse. Especially in Southeast Asia where in the last few years resisting activists have been murdered.
We want to create awareness of these struggles to help the people fighting.
Therefore we'll include mure informations about the on-goings in these areas in our further declarations, letting those acivists speak.
Furthermore we declare our solidarity towards the radical anti-coal-campaign like the coal-action-network in the U.K., rising-tide-groups in Australia and North-America, or the „wij stoppen steenkool“ campaign in the Netherlands. With their direct form of action, hese groups gave as inspiration, and we hope that will inspirate other groups world-wide as well.
The woods for all!
Squatting the forest shall be an act fo re-empowerment by the locals. The „Occupiying Force“ RWE shall loose their „right“ of „directing“ over the region unscruplous destroying the local and global fundaments of live.
People should decide of what will happen to the forest in a cooperative manner instead. This space should be open to all on the basis of equal treatment of each other.
Therefore it is necessary that the people at place question which role-models and ways of acting they reproduce. What structures of obstruction and dominance do exist direct and indirect. We think that it is important that we all act together to fight, prevent and intervene any disriminating act of any kind.
Space for preparing the change
Squatting the Hambach Forest is a direct action directly confronting the injustice.
But we want to go on further: It'll also be a place for people of different backgrounds to meet up and network. People that used to have only the fight against brown coal in common shall come together exchanging ideas and experiences of the ongoing surpression.
So they're enabled to network and organize - for further resistance and more.
We do need a place where people are able plan the climate-just future themselves.
Firstly: The current politics - they totally failed and keep on failing in answering the pressing matter of climate change!
Secondly: Organizing ourselves from below is much more fun!
Maybe this squat might become such a place.
The offshoot of a new world inmidst the heart of fossil-nuclear capitalism.
Why „declarations out of the Hambach jungle?
The name of this text cam up following the tradition of the Zapatistas in Mexico and their „Declarations of the lacandon jungle“. The Zapatistas achieved their aim of living in dignity in the borders of the poorest Mexican state through a strong direct and determind push back of the repressive police and para-military Mexicos.
We are not that bold of claiming our action to be comparable to the things happend in Mexico but nevertheless our aim is the same. Fighting for a self- determinated life in dignity inmidst a system of destruction and opression.
We believe that succesfull fights as in Chaipas are possible all over the world and necessary.
We want to make the first staps in this direction.
That form of a declaration was also chosen because we are tired of corupting and shortening the contents only to make them fitting into a standard press format, whereafter they're still totally corrupted by the press.
Instead we're optimistic that this and the following declarations will reach -hopefully a lot - people directly.
We call that forest Hambach jungle knowing that this term is not correct. But Hambach Jungle is, in its structure, one of the oldest forests in Western Europe. Rare habitats are found here. Unlike RWE, wanring to destroy the forest in total, we pleadge for another solution, an experiment wherby that very natural forest will, in afew decades, turn into jungle-like wood.
Then, we would leave the Hambach Jungle deliberatly!
We have decided to squat knowing that it is surpassing the small path of legal protest. Nevertheless two final reasons lead us to that conclusion:
Firstly: The gap between what is legaly allowed and what is regarded as justified by us is too big.
Even though RWE is, by destroying the forest in order to dig out the brown coal for burning it, also destroying the regional basis of living, as well as endangering peoples' health up to Cologne area, not speaking of the worldclimate, they are legally allowed to do so.
Nonetheless we are not able to see any justification in their action.
However we cannot find any „real“ justification for RWEs doing.
By squatting this forest we're not acting legal according to the current laws.
But the squat is justified by the aim of trying to stop RWEs wood and world destruction course.
Secondly: We believe that the gap between what is legal and what is just will always exist. Due to this simple fact that a neutral point of view cannot exist putting legal things just
So a neutral point of view cannot exist. Just and legal remain different because everybody her-/himself bears in mind of what is just and what is not.
Therefore establishing free and livly forms of interaction, defining what is just and sensible, is a must; Than having the definition derivated from ancient laws, for the most, are only protecteing the intrests of the ruling elites.
By squatting we're trying to generate such a process of vivid negotiating furthermore thematizing the topic of how climate and enviromental destruction shall be dealt with.
Loudly we're shouting „No!“ at anybody whom's solution it is to go on just like used to be, AND who are -just like RWE- are even speeding up in the old fashioned way by building a new coal plant!
If we are to be evicted by police force then we are facing the answer of a repressiv state which is tring to suspend any horizontal and vivid process of self-organization.
That is the ideolgy of the state as well as of the capitalis cooperations who are far to inflexible, not mentioning they're wrong maxim of action, to give sensible answers to the topics of our time.
They will eventually perish just like the dinosaurs who were also unable to cope with the changing conditions.
In fact the solution is not to modify the existing system of exploitation and supression into something more flexible, but to overcome that system!
Against coal energy - Here and Everywhere
This squat is opposing coal energy in general as ist is the most CO2 intensive form of gaining energy. The „Rheinische BraunkohleRevier“ (Rhinanian Brown Coal Area) is Europe's climate killer no. 1. In contrary most of the coal burnt here, is shipped from other parts of the world e.g. Columbia where the extraction coincedences with brutal human rigth violations.
Worldwide the conflicts arising alongside coal extraction and burning are getting worse. Especially in Southeast Asia where in the last few years resisting activists have been murdered.
We want to create awareness of these struggles to help the people fighting.
Therefore we'll include mure informations about the on-goings in these areas in our further declarations, letting those acivists speak.
Furthermore we declare our solidarity towards the radical anti-coal-campaign like the coal-action-network in the U.K., rising-tide-groups in Australia and North-America, or the „wij stoppen steenkool“ campaign in the Netherlands. With their direct form of action, hese groups gave as inspiration, and we hope that will inspirate other groups world-wide as well.
The woods for all!
Squatting the forest shall be an act fo re-empowerment by the locals. The „Occupiying Force“ RWE shall loose their „right“ of „directing“ over the region unscruplous destroying the local and global fundaments of live.
People should decide of what will happen to the forest in a cooperative manner instead. This space should be open to all on the basis of equal treatment of each other.
Therefore it is necessary that the people at place question which role-models and ways of acting they reproduce. What structures of obstruction and dominance do exist direct and indirect. We think that it is important that we all act together to fight, prevent and intervene any disriminating act of any kind.
Space for preparing the change
Squatting the Hambach Forest is a direct action directly confronting the injustice.
But we want to go on further: It'll also be a place for people of different backgrounds to meet up and network. People that used to have only the fight against brown coal in common shall come together exchanging ideas and experiences of the ongoing surpression.
So they're enabled to network and organize - for further resistance and more.
We do need a place where people are able plan the climate-just future themselves.
Firstly: The current politics - they totally failed and keep on failing in answering the pressing matter of climate change!
Secondly: Organizing ourselves from below is much more fun!
Maybe this squat might become such a place.
The offshoot of a new world inmidst the heart of fossil-nuclear capitalism.
Why „declarations out of the Hambach jungle?
The name of this text cam up following the tradition of the Zapatistas in Mexico and their „Declarations of the lacandon jungle“. The Zapatistas achieved their aim of living in dignity in the borders of the poorest Mexican state through a strong direct and determind push back of the repressive police and para-military Mexicos.
We are not that bold of claiming our action to be comparable to the things happend in Mexico but nevertheless our aim is the same. Fighting for a self- determinated life in dignity inmidst a system of destruction and opression.
We believe that succesfull fights as in Chaipas are possible all over the world and necessary.
We want to make the first staps in this direction.
That form of a declaration was also chosen because we are tired of corupting and shortening the contents only to make them fitting into a standard press format, whereafter they're still totally corrupted by the press.
Instead we're optimistic that this and the following declarations will reach -hopefully a lot - people directly.
We call that forest Hambach jungle knowing that this term is not correct. But Hambach Jungle is, in its structure, one of the oldest forests in Western Europe. Rare habitats are found here. Unlike RWE, wanring to destroy the forest in total, we pleadge for another solution, an experiment wherby that very natural forest will, in afew decades, turn into jungle-like wood.
Then, we would leave the Hambach Jungle deliberatly!
trees not baggers
e-mail:
hambacherforst@riseup.net
Homepage:
hambachforest.blogsport.de