GroenFront! (Dutch EarthFirst!) occupied the Schinveld forest in the SE of the Netherlands to protest agains the intended destruction of 6 hectares of woods.
NATO and the Min. of Defense want AWACS radar planes on the nearby Geilenkirchen NATO base, just across the border in Germany, to off with more kerosene in their fuel tanks. The AWACS are being used in the middle east. We have built treehouses and tunnels and expect them to be evicted this Monday Jan. 9th by 700-1000 military and regular police. GroenFront! is calling upon cops and soldiers to refuse work on ethical grounds. Authorities are immensely nervous about the immense support of locals, and have now called a local state of emergency to quell any more protests. As this had led to even more outrage, many people from the town of Schinveld are pledging to come and support or participate in the eviction.
For 25 years the inhabitants of Schinveld and Brunssum in Dutch Limburg are organising actions against the prensence of the AWACS, these tremendously noisy planes cause noise nuisance, pollution and health problems for the locals. The same engines have even been been banned from flying from US and Dutch commerical airports for those reasons.
NATO wants to destroy a total of 20 hectares of forest. Because the town council refused to deliver the necessary permit, a so-called ‘NIMBY-procedure’ was started. August 3rd the minister of planning overruled the non-complying local government so the ministry of defense can start cutting the trees. Recently by a so called ‘royal decree’ the regional government has also been put aside.. This ‘NIMBY’ legislation was created due to earlier protests against large infrastructure projects. The council appealed to the supreme court but lost the appeal on december 2nd, at least for the first 6 hectares of woods. Shortly after GroenFront! activists occupied the forest to physically defend it. A court decision on the remaining 20 will follow later.
The woods that will be destroyed are part of a larger natural reserve with mixed habitat woodlands, fields and moors with a high biodiversity and several rare and endangered species. Earlier threats by roadbuilding in the seventies were stopped by local protesters.
It is now clear the company that will do the clearing is Heijmans BV, part of the huge, corrupt and influential Dutch constructionmaffia, who have been targeted by GroenFront! and others before for their involvement in ecocide. They have offices and construction yards around the world – please target them.
GroenFront! is a banner that anyone can use for ecological direct action, similar to EarthFirst! in other parts of the world. Using the name means applying these principles: always putting the earth first; nonviolence against people (or other animals); no compromise; organising horizontally (no leaders); anticapitalism. GroenFront! has taken up direct action against roads, railways (Betuwelijn), ports (Afrikaport at Ruigoord), bridges (Panamabridge, Lekbridge), airports (Schiphol), genetics and many other hazardous devolopments. The most recent forest occupation in the Entwoods, against chopping down trees for hotels near a fantasy theme park, was ended because the developments were finally called off.
Please come to the camp this weekend. Bring warm clothes (it is cold and muddy and might rain), blankets, food and water for yourself to last for a few days through the eviction, some tarp to sleep on plus a sleeping mat (not everyone will be able to sleep up but there will be very basic places to sleep down) and a warm sleeping bag. Bring 12mm polypropylene rope and climbing gear if you have it, or bring chain and lock, or a monkeywrench. Please do not bring a dog.
No compromise in defense of mother earth!
How to get there:
If you’re from outside Holland or Belgium, the nearest places that might give you an idea of where we are are Maastricht (NL) and Aachen (Germany). The nearest large towns are Sittard and Heerlen.
Go to Sittard trainstation and take bus nr. 69 (direct) or 37 (transfer in Brunssum to bus 8, ask the busdriver). Alternatively take bus 8 to Schinveld from Heerlen. The nearest stop is called ‘Bouwbergseweg’. Theres a good chance passengers will want to help you get to the camp. As roads might be closed from tomorrow onward, and there might be police patrols due to the state of emergency, best is to ask a local to help you get to the camp or find the camp through the woods yourself.
The number of the site mobile is +31 (0)6 25411119