Women and men standing around the trees, hugging them, holding each other’s hands- This was the scene in a village in Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand) in 1973, where the modern Chipko Movement took birth under the aegis of Sunderlal Bahuguna. The name of the movement comes from the word “Embrace”, as the villagers hugged the trees, and prevented the contractors from felling them. It was one of the first protests carried out by the tribal people for the conservation of forest that took place in India.

It was a movement of women trying to save the environment with a message to loggers: “Our bodies before our trees”. In fact, as a women’s movement, it inspired eco-feminism in India and, to some extent, throughout the world.

The incident inspired the several other rural womens, who in 1970’s launched such similar movements in different parts of India. It is really surprising that women of that age were better aware about the significance of forests. The rural women in India actively participated in the movement, who knows about the deforestation and its future consequences.

In 1974, the forest department marked trees for felling in the Peng Murenda Forest, badly affected by the massive Alaknanda flood of 1970. More than 680 ha were auctioned for Rs 4.7 lakh to a contractor. The villagers came together to protest the actions of the government by hugging the trees. Gaura Devi led 27 womens of the village to the site and confronted the loggers. Confrontation happened and talking between the two groups failed. The loggers started to shout and abuse the women, threatening them with guns. The women, in a peaceful protest, resorted to hugging the trees to stop them for being felled. The women kept an all night vigil guarding the tress from the cutters until a few of them, unable to do anything, left the village. The news resistance spread like wildfire to nearby villagers and more people joined in. Eventually, it ruled out in favour of the villagers. This became a turning point in the history of eco-development in the region and around the world.

Why India needs a Chipko-like movement again?

Over the last 30 years , forest nearly two-third the size of Haryana(state of Uttarakhand) have been lost to encroachment(15,000 sq Km) and 23,716 industrial projects( 14,000 sq km), according to government data. The government figures are the just the tip of the iceberg.

According to a study conducted by Indian Institute of Science, Banglore, dense forest areas in northern, central and southern Western Ghats have decreased by 2.84%, 4.38% and 5.77% respectively over the last decade. The reports says that presently up to 25,000 hectares of forests- 250 sq km- are handed over every year for non-forestry activities. Compensatory afforestation is not the answer to rampant deforestation as the diversity in forest is lost when only a certain type of trees are planted as compensation. It’s the collapse of an ecosystem.

One of the ways how we, the humans and our future generations are going to survive is if we understand how significant it is to conserve the forests. One of the growing reasons for deforestation felling of trees for commercial reasons.

Perhaps it is time that we learn a little more from the heroes of such movements and be more considerable towards protecting the environment. Let us all work towards it and make sure we make this world a better place to live.  

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