Save the SterrebosThe memorial tree is planted in the Sterrebos
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 14:47
Campaigners from Save the Sterrebos have planted 500 trees in protest in the felled part of the Sterrebos in Limburg. That part had to make way in 2022 for the expansion of the VDL Nedcar car factory in Born. However, that expansion did not proceed. Nedcar recently even shut down production and laid off employees. “The trees were cut down for nothing,” the activists said.
A spokesperson for Save the Sterrebos says that 38 activists participated in planting the new trees. Seedlings (small trees) of maples, birches, ash and beech have been planted. “And a large oak has been planted, as a kind of memorial oak that represents the forest that has been cut down, but also for all the redundancies that have occurred.”
The spokesperson is referring to the layoffs at Nedcar at the beginning of this year, which resulted in more than 1,900 employees being laid off. Previously, 1,500 people were told that there was no more work for them. Production has been at a standstill since February this year because the last client, BMW, canceled the contract. A new client has not yet been found.
Although production at Nedcar has stopped, the province still has a 50 million euro plan for the expansion of the car factory. Hundreds more trees would have to be cut down for that plan, according to the spokesperson for the action group, because a N-road would have to be moved to make the factory more accessible.
A spokesperson for the province confirms that money has been reserved for the construction of the road, but adds that the money will only be spent if the factory meets all conditions and if “VDL can demonstrate that the road is really necessary.”
One of the conditions is that more than 6,500 people work at Nedcar and that is not the case now. Last month there were about 400 people left. VDL-Nedcar must indicate that it no longer wants to use the money reserved for the road.
In the tree
The activists made the news two years ago, when about twenty people climbed the trees on the VDL Nedcar site, in protest against the felling of the seven hectares of forest.
The activists spent more than a week and a half in self-built tree houses before they were taken down by the police. Several activists were arrested. The judge found them guilty, but did not impose fines or other punishments.
Two years ago, the police removed the activists from the trees:
Police begin evacuation of Sterrebos in Born
2024-03-16 13:47:30
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