The Chipko Movement was one of the first forest conservation movements of India. It started in 1973 in the foothills of the Himalayas as a Gandhian form of nonviolent protest against the cutting of trees. The Hindi word ‘Chipko’ translates to ‘to stick’, which was the approach adopted by the locals against deforestation. ‘Hugging’ or ‘sticking to’ the trees would prevent government officials and private contractors from commencing the process of deforestation because of the risk of loss of life. Chipko-like movements have been a part of Indian history since 1730 AD when the practice was first adopted in Rajasthan.
The movement started off in a small village in present-day Uttarakhand as a means of protest against the cutting of trees. Due to the significance and success of the protest, it soon spread to multiple regions across the Himalayas. The movement was characterized by clashes between lumbermen and local villagers, most of whom were women. This movement became popular across the world because this was one of the first well-known instances where human beings were actively willing to sacrifice their lives in order to protect nature.
The Chipko Movement was also significant because of the noteworthy involvement of women, and it is seen as an ecofeminism movement. Women were not only at the core of the movement but also at the forefront of it. Women suffered the most due to deforestation because of its impact on the agrarian economy, of which they formed the backbone. Multiple confrontations against lumbermen and other government authorities were primarily led by women. The movement achieved success when the Government issued a ban on the felling of trees in the Himalayan Region for a period of 15 years until the restoration of the entire green cover. Women who were a part of the movement went on to set up cooperatives to guard local forests and adopt sustainable means of food production and agriculture.
This movement is also characterized as ‘Gandhian’ because of the use of non-violence and its self-deterministic nature against a violent oppressor. The movement has inspired multiple protests in India and abroad against deforestation and activities that cause the same including mining and construction of dams. In September 1983, the Appiko Movement, inspired by the Chipko Movement was launched in Karnataka and it succeeded in preventing the felling of trees in Vindhyas and the Western Ghats. Chipko activists were also involved in protests against limestone mining in the Doon Valley in the 1980s. It has been one of the most significant contributors to the ‘Greening of India’.
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