Conservationists, Tesla each score partial win over site

A German court on Friday ruled that Tesla could not cut down trees in certain sections of a forest near Berlin where it had planned to build a manufacturing site.

The Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court banned Tesla from clearing the peripheral areas of the site, upholding an emergency appeal by environmental groups.

However, the court added that a stoppage in the rest of the area was unjustified.

The order means that Elon Musk's company can proceed, albeit with restrictions, to start the construction of its planned "Gigafactory" in Grünheide, south of Berlin.

Construction for the carmaker's site had been blocked for the second time last week after briefly getting the green light from a lower court to continue clearing the forest.

The state of Brandenburg gave its initial approval on November 30.

Tesla received a permit to clear 83 hectares (205 acres) of forest that comes on top of the 92 hectares already cleared during preparation work for the site.

Tesla said the land is needed for pipelines and storage for what will be the US carmaker's first European plant.

Threat to protected species

Conservation groups Grüne Liga (Green League) and Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) opposed the planned construction, arguing that logging could endanger hibernating reptiles.

The case specifically focused on the well-being of the local smooth snakes (Coronella austriaca) and the sand lizard (Lacerta agilis), both of which are protected species.

Tesla carried out measures to relocate the species earlier this year, but the environmentalists say the efforts did not go far enough.

The groups argued that clearing the forest could kill sleeping snakes and lizards who were left behind — putting Tesla in violation of Germany's Federal Nature Conservation Act, which bars killing "strictly protected species."

The court agreed and thus prohibited logging in certain areas of the site where the reptiles could be harmed.

Residents of the town of Grünheide have also raised concerns that the factory could further aggravate water concerns.

Tesla plans to manufacture around 500,000 Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles at its new site every year and hire more than 10,000 workers. Operations are scheduled to begin in July 2021, despite a series of delays in courts.

adi/sms (Reuters, dpa)