Yesterday, around 150 of us protested in front of Neukölln Town Hall for the preservation of the Emmaus Forest. The speeches and many individual conversations made clear that, in times of climate crisis, none of those present can understand why a natural biotope should be destroyed to build predominantly (70%) unaffordable apartments.
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The trees that are supposed to compensate for the destruction on paper cannot, in reality, come close to providing what the mature Emmaus Forest already provides for Neukölln today!
In the subsequent committee session at the town hall, Buwog’s development plan was presented and discussed. All parties made clear that development in this form will not get a majority in the district assembly (BVV)! That is our first success! Without the attention we created for the Emmaus Forest, the plan would probably have been waved through in its catastrophic version.
But the fight for the Emmaus Forest is far from won! The Left’s motion to declare the woodland a green space in order to protect it permanently was rejected by a majority yesterday. Instead, the SPD motion was adopted by SPD, Greens and AfD. It instructs the district to examine whether taller construction on the brownfield next to the forest is possible in order to preserve the forest “to the maximum”.
This means: there will be no rapid development for now. But it also means that we must keep following the process and increase public pressure, so that no compromise is worked out with Buwog that endangers the forest as a biotope. Because the forest is more than the sum of its trees. If half of the trees, scattered across the site, are felled, it is not 50% of the biotope that is destroyed, but the entire ecosystem.
After mobilising for the rally, the many talks with parties, the internal plenaries and organising the rally and committee session, we now need a short break. In two weeks we want to continue fighting at full strength for the preservation of the entire Emmaus Forest!
Are you in? Come to our meeting! Only together can we prevent the development and protect the forest permanently! Stay tuned.