The environmental activists, who have been occupying part of the Fechenheim forest for a good year, have reaffirmed their determination to prevent clearing for the construction of the Riederwald tunnel.

In a joint press conference with the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND), the Frankfurt Traffic Change Alliance and the "Forest instead of Asphalt" alliance, they announced on Wednesday that they would use all legal means to close the planned gap between the 66 and 661 motorways yet to stop.

"But when all other options have been exhausted, we will try to stop the deforestation with our bodies," added a hooded activist.

She and her fellow combatants would not voluntarily leave the huts and platforms erected on the ground and in the trees.

The environmentalists expect the upcoming clearing of 2.7 hectares of forest to begin soon, possibly at the beginning of January: "Day X is approaching." This was indicated by increased construction activity, the blocking of a footpath and cycle path at the edge of the forest and the more frequent presence of the police .

According to the highway builders, they have until the end of February to fell the trees in the Fechenheim forest.

BUND wants construction to stop

For the day on which the felling work begins, an alliance of more than 20 organizations - from BUND to the action alliance inhumane Autobahn and citizens' initiative Riederwald to Attac Frankfurt - is calling for a rally near the Kruppstraße underground station.

"We will not give up our future without resistance for an outdated transport project," says the call to the protest meeting.

At the press conference on Wednesday, Viola Rüdele from Bündnis Verkehrswende Frankfurt spoke of a “climate emergency” that justified civil disobedience.

Anyone who wants to relieve the east of Frankfurt of air pollution must rely on the expansion of local public transport, not on a tunnel "which, like a vacuum cleaner, only attracts more car traffic to Frankfurt," said a press release.

Willy Breder, representative of the BUND, pointed out that for a few days there has been an expert opinion dealing with the occurrence of the strictly protected long-horned beetle in the Fechenheim forest.

It recommended that the federal Autobahn GmbH responsible for the construction of the Riederwald tunnel cut down only one hectare of forest this winter to enable the construction of the necessary access roads to the construction site.

However, the BUND will try to achieve a complete halt to construction with an application for an injunction.

No trees should fall before the 50-page long-horned beetle report has been thoroughly studied and checked.

Squatters question legality

Autobahn GmbH, on the other hand, argues that the places where the long-horned beetle occurs can be localized.

Outside of these areas, nothing speaks against conflict-free clearing.

The construction roads would only run where there were no beetles.

The forest squatters, who have built more than a dozen stable huts - on the ground and in the trees - in the Fechenheimer forest, question the legality of the announced clearing.

The rapidly advancing climate change alone is reason enough to question the usefulness of the motorway project.

In addition, however, the Paris Climate Protection Agreement ratified by the federal government, Article 20a of the Basic Law (environmental, climate and animal protection as a national goal) and the Federal Climate Protection Act are legal bases against the background of which the tunnel project must be reassessed.

"When governments refuse to do this, they remove themselves from the law."