A former section of the Hambach Forest that was cleared between October 2016 and March 2017. In the background, the smoking chimneys of the Niederaußem power station tower up along the horizon.
A former section of the Hambach Forest that was cleared between October 2016 and March 2017. In the background, the smoking chimneys of the Niederaußem power station tower up along the horizon.
Each winter, RWE clears a forest area of about 70 hectares in order to gain access to new layers of brown coal. Today, only about 10% of the once 7000-hectare-forest are left.
As a means to substitute for the destroyed landscape, unused excess soil is raised on the north-western end of the mine to form the “Sophienhöhe”, a high plateau that is part of a re-cultivation program aiming to transform the prospectively defunct mine into the largest recreational area of the region.
