German workers start felling trees to build road despite protests

Police officers approach environmental activists sitting in a tree house as they protest against the expansion of the A49 motorway, in a forest near Stadtallendorf, Germany, October 1, 2020. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

STADTALLENDORF, Germany (Reuters) - Construction workers began felling part of a German forest on Thursday so that a highway can be built despite efforts by around 150 environmental activists to stop them.

Dozens of police officers were deployed to the Dannenroeder forest north of Frankfurt to protect the workers and to remove the activists, who have built tree houses and erected barricades in the area to try to prevent the felling.