Environmental groups voiced general optimism on Saturday after Germany's government-appointed coal commission recommended the country stop using coal-fired energy by 2038.
The proposal, which still needs government approval, aims to help Berlin replace climate change-driving fossil fuels with renewables.
"Germany finally has a timetable for how the country can become coal-free," said Martin Kaiser, head of Greenpeace Germany.
He told Deutschlandfunk radio that although the goal isn't ambitious enough, it indicates at least that Hambach Forest has a secure future.
The ancient woodland in western Germany was the scene of anti-coal protests and confrontations between police and activists last year. Dozens of campaigners camped out in the trees for months in an effort to prevent energy company RWE from clearing the forest to expand its lignite mine.
"The protests with tens of thousands of people in the forest and for the forest were a turning point in coal and climate policy in Germany," Kaiser told Deutschlandfunk. "And it is thanks to those people that the forest has been saved."
German nature conservation group NABU was similarly positive about the woodland: "Hambach Forest will no longer be sacrificed for lignite mining," the organization's president, Olaf Tschimpke, said in a statement.
Read more: How Germany's coal phaseout is becoming an international movement
Environmental groups push for quicker coal exit
But the text of the commission's recommendation is less concrete, stating only that the body "considers it desirable that the Hambach Forest be preserved."
It also does not specify which coal plants should be shut down first. Those details are to be worked out at a later date between the government and plant operators, according to the German news agency dpa.
Energy company RWE says 2038 is too soon to shut all coal-fired plants. But environmental organizations say it's too late, and are vowing to push for a quicker coal exit. Greenpeace, for example, wants all plants to be shut down by 2030, while others have proposed 2035 as another possibility.
Germany currently generates more than a third of its electricity from burning coal, and its coal plants produce more carbon dioxide than any other nation in Europe.
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Demanding a coal phaseout: In the thick of Hambach
Hambi stays: Local slogan, global movement
At least 6,000 people gathered in the heart of western German coal country Saturday to demand an end to coal use. People from around the world joined forces with a local movement that started back in 2012 with a handful of activists trying to stop the expansion of a brown coal mine and save the last 200 hectares of the millennia-old Hambach Forest. The message was clear: Coal is a global problem.
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Demanding a coal phaseout: In the thick of Hambach
Old and young stand together
The protestors spanned many ages and walks of life. There were young activists dressed in wigs or hazmat suits, but also families and the elderly. People with reduced mobility followed the march at their own pace. A nine-year-old boy was keen to voice his view on the dirty fossil fuel, telling DW he was worried about his future but expected the authorities to do the right thing and give up coal.
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Demanding a coal phaseout: In the thick of Hambach
Time for action
Demonstrators split up, some continuing the authorized protest while others took direct action to block coal infrastructure. A hundred people tried to stop the diggers at two nearby coal mines; close to 40 people were arrested. Trying to reach the train line, another 1,000 protestors ended up on the nearby A4 highway, resulting in around 250 arrests. Both the diggers and traffic were stopped.
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Demanding a coal phaseout: In the thick of Hambach
Next stop: Coal transport lines
A third group was determined to block the railway transporting coal from the Hambach mine to the three power plants where it is destined to be burned. They had their work cut out, with police attempting to block the activists from approaching the railway. In the end they had to change their route several times, running through fields and navigating dense forest to reach their target.
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Demanding a coal phaseout: In the thick of Hambach
A tense ride
On route to the rail lines, there were no major clashes with police but the atmosphere was extremely tense. Police officers on horseback followed protesters up to the edge of the forest, preventing them from changing course. Outbreaks of nerves rippled through activists and horses — without it being clear who triggered what.
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Demanding a coal phaseout: In the thick of Hambach
The path narrows
Once the protesters entered the forest, the situation became more fraught. They had to walk carefully to avoid tripping over branches while dodging the police — who physically shoved them as they approached — or each other as, from time to time, the crowd suddenly surged without warning.
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Demanding a coal phaseout: In the thick of Hambach
Sticking close together
In the midst of the chaos, activists called for calm, shouting to one another to stick together and remain peaceful. They held on to each other so no one would fall, get lost, or get caught by the police. Others conferred over the best route to proceed toward the rail line.
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Demanding a coal phaseout: In the thick of Hambach
On target
Eventually, thousands of protesters arrived at the rail lines. Police officers initially tried to prevent them from climbing down on the tracks, but they were outnumbered. Activists had hung guide ropes down the slopes beforehand, but most people simply slid, ran or tumbled down the bank. Within just a few minutes, the railway was engulfed in a crowd of protestors.
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Demanding a coal phaseout: In the thick of Hambach
Sit-in for a break
After an exhausting two-hour scramble, protesters sat down for a rest. The weather was bitingly cold, but there was an air of cheer as the crowd made itself comfortable on the tracks. For now at least, the energy companies couldn't transport coal from mines to their power plants — a victory celebrated under the watchful eyes of police on the hills above.
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Demanding a coal phaseout: In the thick of Hambach
A 24-hour victory
The police warned that the direct action was illegal, and offered protesters the chance to abandon their blockade without penalties. But most stayed put overnight. Organizers said their protest blocked coal infrastructure for around 24 hours — which they judged a success. The last 50 to leave the protest had chained themselves to the tracks and had to be forcibly evicted one by one.
Author: Irene Banos Ruiz
nm/cmk (AP, Reuters, dpa)
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