Final Thoughts on the Chipko Movement

The Chipko movement has inspired many other environmental movements all over the country, and has even spread in the international scene. It often has, in fact, become a strong reference in many debates on environment-friendly development policies in India. The Chipko movement has also become the model of a grassroots-based social movements that is being recognized and admired in the Western world.

There have been a number of significant examples of the positive work that the Chipko movement has achieved over the years, among them are the Save Our Seeds Movement, The Appiko Movement, The Hug the Trees Movement, Anti-Liquor Movements, and Anti-Destructive Mining Movements. All these movements, at the very core, resound to the value and principle that the Chipko movement upholds, which is the preservation of the forest, and everything that comes from it. All the issues that have raised from all these movements all return to a sustainable view of the protection of local, community-based livelihoods, away from the reach of destructive capitalist agenda. It highlights the importance of local knowledge of the forest as vital to its preservation, especially the role of women.

Moving beyond the preservation of forests, the Chipko movement has also evolved into a movement that restores denuded forests, and brings back to the villagers what once was there and was lost due to industrial exploitation. It also strives to impart knowledge to the public in order to spread awareness on the importance of these issues and to affect the perceptions and attitudes of locals towards the environment. Its main message is a message of a rational way of utilizing material resources in order not to strain the forest and to allow it time to regenerate itself while still being productive. Some of the movements popular slogans include, Ubsu ’to save’, Belesu ‘to grow’, and Balasu ‘rational use.’1 The movement has also inspired a new way of thinking about the relationship of human beings to nature – that we must redefine our understanding of ‘development’ and future within it a deep and genuine concern for the environment, including its preservation. Development should not be a threat to environmental security.

Interesting Links:

  1. Srinivasaraju, Sugatha (14 February 2005). “Once there was a river”. Outlook India. 
  2. Women and Ecological struggle: Some Reflections on Chipko and Appiko Movement (Inclusive RSS) http://theinclusive.org/women-and-ecological-struggle-some-reflections-on-chipko-and-appiko-movement

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