Since 2012, environmentalists have protested against RWE because of the Hambach surface mine situated in the area of Hambach Forest.[31] In November 2017, in the lawsuit filed by Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND), a German arm of Friends of the Earth, the Higher Administrative Court in Münster ruled to end the tree cutting. According to BUND the Hambach Forest is a habitat type 9160 of annex I of the European Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992).[32] Opponents also argue that an environmental impact assessment study for the mine has never been conducted.