Earth First!

Earth First! is an international network of radical environmental groups, who made a name for himself mainly through spectacular direct action.

There are Earth First! Groups according to their own statements in the UK, the U.S., the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Canada, Australia, Nigeria, Italy, Mexico, the Slovak Republic and the Philippines.

Origin

Earth First originated around 1979 in the southwestern United States. Inspired by Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Aldo Leopold's land Ethic and Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang, a group of activists advocates for No Compromise in Defense of Mother Earth! ( No compromise in defense of Mother Earth ). It was inspired by the U.S. Environmental activists Dave Foreman, the environmental verifier and an active member of the Wilderness Society was until then. Foreman was in his own words from the book The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey inspired. The adjustable spanner ( monkey wrench engl. ) became the symbol of sabotage and the hallmark of Earth First! .

Earth First since 1990

The aim of all actions is to stop the destruction of nature or even reverse. Since 1990, the action within the Earth First! Movement was strengthened influenced by the political philosophy of anarchism. The change brought in different regions of a change in the primary media organ, aversions to an organized tour or a management structure and a new trend of identification of Earth First! rather than an open movement than an organization. The jolt of Earth First! towards the open movement in 1992 brought members who refused to stop criminal actions, to found the militant offshoot Earth Liberation Front. Most members of Earth First! tend to a decentralized, locally informed activism based on a common ethics while Earth First! opponents accuse the groups to make use of a form of terrorism.

Earth First! Groups organize grassroots political actions that can accept legal forms, such as Protests, appeals and public awareness campaigns, be exercised in the form of civil disobedience, such as Tree ensembles, field instrumentation, chaining of construction vehicles and road blockades or the shape of the illegal acts of sabotage represent what is understood by some Earth First! Members as a form of Ecodefense, so the defense of nature. Also solidarity actions with affected by habitat destruction Indians are part of the Earth First! Actions, such as Campaign South Pacific Solidarity with Indigenous to West Papua.

Self-understanding

Earth First! does not think about leaders, governments or companies that nature can be effectively protected. Therefore, the central means for the destruction of nature to fight even for them the direct action. Earth First! regards itself as a loose network of individuals, groups and campaigns that work together for ecological direct action and is committed to the non-hierarchical organization. The name Earth First! is to function as a banner that can be used by all who feel this philosophy close. A slogan of Earth First! says: "If you believe that actions speak louder than words, then Earth First! there for you. "

Actions

Special forms of Earth First! are approximately:

• Driving long nails into trees ( tree spiking ) to protect against the cases with chainsaws
• Removing surveying markers for (road ) construction projects
• Sabotage of construction machinery, such as filling sand in tanks or cutting through hydraulic cables
• Overturning of high-voltage and ski - poles

The overriding principle, it claims to be, not to hurt people. Therefore, the actions are partially made ​​known afterwards. Supposedly, the annual damage caused by such actions 20 to 25 million U.S. dollars.

Inspiration for many of Earth First! Activists is Foreman's Book Ecodefense - A Field Guide to Monkeywrenching. The German translation of self-defense - sabotage on behalf of the earth is not available in bookstores. Furthermore, there is the Earth First! Journal, which claims to 15,000 subscribers, especially in the United States ( 2003). Furthermore, there was a book series called " Do or Die " which was published in England from 1992 to 2003 a year with a new publication, and in which, among other Earth First! Activists in England spoke up. The series is completely online.

Multiple were members of Earth First! to threatened, injured or arrested in connection with Actions, then, have been described as the first, entitled "eco- terrorist" also Foreman, who thinks for himself.

Development in Germany

Mid-1980s and again in the mid-1990s were also active in Germany Earth First! Groups, at the beginning of the 21st century, however, no such groups were no longer known. A loose network of activists organizing similar actions, such as Genfeldbesetzungen without using a specific label.

Criticism

Critics say that Earth First! represent a radical eco -conservative ideology, according to which man has to be outdone when it comes to the "survival of mother nature." It is true that from the perspective of Earth First! nature is to be protected for its own sake and not as a livelihood of the people, the people affected locally for Earth First pose! activists usually partners. Earth First! refers back to the reasoned by the Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess and deep ecology borrows the bioregionalism. This ideology has often been criticized as inhumane because some ecosystems are valued in themselves as similar worth living like human beings, which means that disadvantages people can arise which benefit only the nature.