Apocalyptic landscape here in Garzweiler in North Rhine-Westphalia. This is the largest open-cast mine in Germany. It devours the landscape all around. It has now become a 200-metre-deep hole over more than 50 square kilometres, where vegetation has become almost non-existent. This Mad Max-like landscape is created by the baggers, giant excavators weighing 15,000 tonnes, 200 metres long and 100 metres high.
It has also and above all become a human drama for many inhabitants and is synonymous with the destruction of their villages, forests and farmland.
The forest of Hambach is about 50 km away and the contrast is unfortunately striking between on the one hand a forest over 12,000 years old, rich in biodiversity and on the other hand a lunar setting in Garzweiler II!
Thank you very much!