Ecodefense: A Field Guide To Monkeywrenching is a book edited by Dave Foreman, with a foreward by Edward Abbey.

The first two editions were published by Ned Ludd Books, and and a third edition was published by Abbzug Press. The book was first published in 1985.

Much of the inspiration for the book, as well as the term "monkeywrenching," came from Edward Abbey's 1975 novel The Monkey Wrench Gang. Other inspiration for the book likely came from the 1972 book Ecotage!, which was published by the group Environmental Action and was in turn inspired by the actions of an activist in the Chicago, Illinois area who called himself "The Fox," and engaged in such vigilante actions to protect the environment as plugging smokestacks. Much of the actual content for Ecodefense came from the "Dear Ned Ludd" column in the newsletter of the group Earth First! during the 1980s.

Ecodefense is economic warfare in defense of habitat and life. The object of ecodefense is to make the destruction of life and the environment that supports life more expensive (in terms of economics) than it is worth. Therefore, ecodefense is a body of actions that boosts the cost of industrialization with the intent of protecting habitat. Ecodefense is generally defined to include legal and illegal means of slowing down or halting habitat destruction.

Monkeywrenching is a form of ecodefense. So are temporary restraining orders, tree sitting, tree spiking, tree pinning, billboarding, blockade, and civil disobedience.

External Link

• Online text of the third edition of Ecodefense