The Environmental Defender Law Center (EDLC)

EDLC works to protect the human rights of individuals and communities in developing countries who are fighting against harm to their environment. These environmental defenders may be individuals faced with imprisonment or civil suit, communities or groups denied a voice in important decisions that affect their environment, or indigenous people whose traditional use of their land is threatened.

Legal assistance to protect the human rights of environmental defenders was sorely lacking until the Environmental Defender Law Center was created in 2003 to fill the gap. EDLC identifies cases where these environmental defenders need and want legal assistance, and then enlists lawyers from premier law firms to work pro bono on their behalf.

If environmental defenders are not protected, then neither can the environment nor the way of life of those who depend on that environment be protected. EDLC's work is driven by the core belief that legal systems around the world must protect environmental defenders and recognize the rights of their communities, and that private lawyers can play a critical role in achieving both of these goals.

The human rights and environmental challenge of the next decade will be to defend the rights of citizens worldwide who risk their lives by speaking out to protect our planet.

- "Environmentalists Under Fire," a Joint Report of Amnesty International and the Sierra Club in 2000.