While the anti-Tesla movement continues to call the clearing of the pine plantation at Giga Berlin “deforestation,” the real data shows that these plantations are not healthy and sustainable forests.
German media are full of articles about Tesla continuing to destroy the “forest” to build its factory. Some of them are focused on earning clicks, and others on spreading a narrative to turn the public against the manufacturer. However, the fact remains that the pine trees located around Giga Berlin are an ordinary pine plantation.
Elektroauto News noted that the British newspaper Guardian used artificial intelligence to evaluate satellite images of Giga Berlin. The publication concluded that between March 2020 and May 2023, Tesla cleared 329 hectares of pine trees for its factory, which equates to about 500,000 trees. Such data has become fodder for haters who are ready to take harsh measures, as demonstrated by the arson of a power line in March of this year. In addition, since May, activists have occupied a section of the pine plantation and built tree houses in protest against the planned expansion of the factory.
In fact, the so-called “forest” that they say they are “protecting” is no forest at all. In fact, it is a pine monoculture that was created as a commercial forest around an area that was set aside for commercial space. This is not news, but a fact that was known for decades until Tesla decided to use the site to build its factory. Pine trees are a good material for making cardboard, as they grow quickly.
Previously, the site where Giga Berlin now stands was considered by BMW for a factory. However, the carmaker decided to build the factory in Leipzig.
It should be made clear that the trees that Tesla has already cut down and those that are yet to be cut down to expand the factory have nothing to do with a healthy, sustainable forest rich in flora and fauna.
Antoine Halff, chief analyst at Kayrros, responsible for the analysis published by the Guardian, mentions an interesting aspect. He said the lost trees were equivalent to about 13,000 tonnes of CO2, the annual amount emitted by 2,800 average internal combustion engine cars in the US.
Meanwhile, Giga Berlin produces electric cars that replace internal combustion engine cars, thereby removing thousands of tonnes of CO2 emitted by them. In 2023, Tesla produced 200,000 Model Ys in Germany, of which 45,818 were sold in the country. Now Tesla is planning to expand Giga Berlin to produce 1 million electric vehicles per year. The benefits of the factory far outweigh the “damage” it allegedly causes to the pine plantation.
In addition to the enormous positive contribution that Tesla makes with the production of its electric vehicles, the company is actively engaged in reforestation. Thanks to the manufacturer, species-rich mixed forests are appearing in Germany. Tesla has already compensated for the deforestation in accordance with the Forestry Act of the Ministry of the Environment of the State of Brandenburg and has reforested an area of 318 hectares—the “Tesla Forest” near Grunów. A rich and diverse mixed forest will grow here, including oak, beech, and birch. In fact, Tesla converted 318 hectares of pine monoculture into a mixed forest to create what the activists are really fighting for: a real, healthy forest rich in flora and fauna.
