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BUND Lawsuit Halts Planned Tree Felling at Howoge Infill Site in Berlin

The court will assess whether conditions for a species‑protection exemption are satisfied.

Overview

  • BUND Berlin filed a suit with suspensive effect at the Administrative Court, which the court confirmed receiving, stopping felling and clearing scheduled for February 18 in Karlshorst.
  • The case targets a species‑protection exemption sought from the Berlin environmental authority for Howoge’s project on Ilse‑ and Marksburgstraße.
  • Howoge plans urban densification with ten new buildings and 237 apartments on open space of a 1950s housing estate, which would require removing trees and shrubs.
  • BUND argues mitigation is not yet functional, citing last autumn’s replacement plantings meant to offset lost house sparrow resting sites, and it says no favorable conservation status has been established for the common pipistrelle.
  • The court will now decide on the exemption, with a recent ruling in a similar case stating that compensatory measures must be fully effective before vegetation can be removed.