Earth Liberation Front

The Earth Liberation Front (ELF), also known as "Elves" or "The Elves",[1] is the collective name for autonomous individuals or covert cells who, according to the ELF Press Office, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitation and destruction of the environment".

The ELF was founded in Brighton in the United Kingdom in 1992,[2] and spread to the rest of Europe by 1994. The ELF acronym derived from the original ELF guerilla group, the Environmental Life Force, that was founded in 1977 in Santa Cruz, California by activist John Clark Hanna. The Earth Liberation Front is now an international organization with actions reported in 17 countries[3][4] and is widely regarded as descending from Animal Liberation Front because of the relationship and cooperation between the two movements.[5] Using the same leaderless resistance model, as well as similar guidelines to the ALF,[2] sympathizers say that it is an eco-defense group dedicated to taking the profit motive out of environmental destruction by causing economic damage to businesses through the use of property damage.[6]

The name came to public prominence when they were featured on the television show 60 Minutes in 2005.[7] The group was further highlighted in the 2011 Academy Award–nominated documentary If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front.[8]

  1. ^ Best, Steve; Nocella, Anthony J (2006). Igniting a revolution. AK Press. ISBN 1-904859-56-9.
  2. ^ a b Best & Nocella 2006 p. 49.
  3. ^ Best & Nocella 2006 p. 19, 52 & 53.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference countries was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference sdi1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Article:405, Arkangel
  7. ^ Messick, Graham (2005-11-24). "Burning Rage". CBS News. Archived from the original on 24 November 2005. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
  8. ^ "The Film". www.ifatreefallsfilm.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2014-01-21.