THE CHIPKO MOVEMENT

• Chipko movement, nonviolent social and ecological movement by rural

villagers, particularly women, in India in the 1970s, aimed at protecting
trees and forests slated for government-backed logging at the Himalayan
region.

BACKGROUND

• 1963 China-India border conflict triggered the Chipko movement which

experienced the growth in the rural Himalayan region.

• The need for the infrastructural development attracted many foreign

logging companies who were eyeing the states vast forest.

• The forest was the life force for the villagers as they rely heavily on food
and fuel.

• The government policy denied the access to the villagers and prevented
from managing lands.

• Due to mismanagement by the companies, left heavy effect on the

ecological balance of the region.
THE CHIPKO MOVEMENT

THE MOVEMENT

• The first Chipko protest occurred near the village of Mandal in April 1973, environmentalist and Gandhian social activist Chandi Prasad Bhatt founded a
cooperative organization, Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh (later renamed Dasholi Gram Swarajya Mandal [DGSM]), led the movement when the severe flood
killed 200 people in 1970.

• When the villagers appeal denied to build agriculture tools from trees, Bhatt led the group of villagers into forest and embraced the trees to prevent logging.
After many days of agitation, the government canceled the company’s logging permit.

• In next project, the village of Reni, 2000 trees were felled. Women become the nucleus of the movement. Gaura Devi along with 27 villagers confronted
loggers. They hugged the trees in spite being threatened.

• The action in Reni prompted the state government to establish a committee to investigate deforestation in the Alaknanda valley and ultimately led to a 10-
year ban on commercial logging in the area.

• The movement caught fire in the other states of India.

THE LASTING IMPACT

• The movement continued, protests expanded to include entire ecology of the region led to “Save Himalaya” movement. In 1980, achieved a major victory with
15 year ban on green felling in Himalayan region. More than 1 lakh trees were saved.

• New methods of forest farming was developed. By 1981, one million trees were planted.