Timeline of Environmentalism

A timeline of major actions in the environmental movement.

Pre-1900s

6th Century BCE: The Athenian Polis votes to protect nearby hills and mountains around Athens from deforestation and overgrazing as possibly the first acts of environmental protection in history.

1936: The CNT oversees green projects in Revolutionary Spain, including the construction of greenhouses, reforestation, permaculture and the shutting down of polluting metal factories.
1971: The four-year long Green Ban movement begins across Australia, where construction workers refuse to work on projects harmful to the environment or local communities.
1976: The Franklin River Campaign begins in Tasmania, Australia to block the construction of a destructive dam. It is highly successful over its 7-year run.
1980: Earth First! is founded to stop environmental destruction across the world via direct action.
1982: The Itoiz Ecovillages are founded in rural Spain, to show the world what a sustainable society might look like.
1992: The Earth Liberation Front is founded in Brighton, England to use direct action and guerilla warfare to defend natural ecosystems.
1994: The Zapatista Revolution and resulting Chiapas Conflict have strong elements of environmentalism among indigenous participants, notably the EZLN.
1995: The Cascadia Free State is built to protect forests in Washington, USA
1995: The Global Ecovillage Network is founded following a conference in Scotland.
1998: The Minnehaha Free State is built to protect forests and indigenous land from highway construction.

2001: Can Masdeu is founded as a squat in Barcelona, Spain to raise awareness around climate change.
2009: Unist'ot'en is founded by indigenous Americans in so called 'British Columbia, Canada' to protect forests from oil development.

2011: The Cherán Revolution is partially inspired by efforts to protect local forests from deforestation.
2012: The Rojava Revolution is deeply influenced by environmentalism.
2013: The Gezi Park Uprising attempts to protect city parks and rural forests in Turkey from development.
2016: The 'Make Rojava Green Again' campaign begins to protect and restore the environment in Rojava.