Eighty anti-HS2 protesters have started a 125-mile “rebel trail” along the route of the controversial HS2 high-speed rail link to highlight the damage they say it will do to wildlife and woodland. The aim of the protest walk, organised by Extinction Rebellion, is to try to persuade the government to halt the high-speed link. The walkers will travel through countryside, villages and local communities along phase one of the HS2 route to show solidarity with those opposed to the rail link and say the peaceful demonstration will raise awareness about the environmental damage they say HS2 will cause. Along the way they will stop off at various protest camps along the route including Crackley Wood in Kenilworth, Steeple Claydon and Colne Valley. Their aim is to reach central London in a week’s time. Protesters, who have been encouraged to practise physical distancing, walk in groups of no more than six people and wear PPE, started the walk at Birmingham’s Curzon Street station, a planned HS2 terminus. Banners depicting wildlife and “NHS not HS2” slogans were carried by some of the protesters. Phil Kingston, 84, from Christian Climate Action, joining the walkers for the first half a mile, said he was delighted to be part of the protest. “I came here today for my grandchildren – they are in a very dangerous place with temperatures rising by 3 degrees and there is no sign of that being stopped, and that worries me sick,” he said. He criticised the government for backing HS2 and expressed alarm not only at the cost of the project but also the damage he believes it will cause to the planet. He cited the prophecy of the Cree of North America: when the last tree is cut down, the last fish eaten and the last stream poisoned, you will realise that you cannot eat money. “We’re not being led by this government so we have to lead ourselves,” he said. Anti-HS2 protesters in the Colne Valley are facing a wave of injunctions aiming to quash the campaign against the £78bn high-speed railway. HS2 is seeking the extension of an existing injunction to enable the eviction of campaigners from the path of bulldozers in west London. Hillingdon council, which has the Colne valley site in its borough, is seeking a separate injunction against anti-HS2 protesters in the Colne Valley. The two injunction applications are due to be heard in the high court on Monday and Tuesday. Twenty-nine protesters are named in the HS2 court proceedings. All could be pursued for their assets, including their homes, if they are subsequently found to have breached injunctions at the HS2 site in the Colne Valley. HS2 previously told the Guardian. “HS2 takes its legal obligations seriously, and all our ecology work is carried out in accordance with the law. Licenses from Natural England ensure that we have the right safeguarding in place to protect wildlife species, and that all protections are met.”