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Nature has enough for everybody’s need but not for everybody’s greed
Mahatma Gandhi  Women performing Chipko
Chipko came to prominence in 1973 when a group of women from Mandal village in the Himalayas in India “hugged” trees in order to prevent them from being felled. When the loggers came, the women, led by Gaura Devi, surrounded the trees and chanted: “This forest is our mother’s home; we will protect it with all our might”.
They told the loggers: "If the forest is cut, the soil will be washed away. Landslides and soil erosion will bring floods, which will destroy our fields and homes, our water sources will dry up, and all the other benefits we get from the forest will be finished". Despite threats and abuses the women stood firm until the contractors left four days later. Word of their actions spread and the movement now known as the Chipko Movement was formed. Chipko, meaning “hugging” in Hindi, is the origin of the term 'tree hugger' used for environmental activists. |
 Amrita Devi saving trees by Cari Vander Yacht
The Chipko Movement was inspired by earlier protests against tree felling in in India. In 1731 in Khejarli, Rajasthan, India people sacrificed their lives for the Khejri trees which are considered sacred by the community.
The terrible events started when Amrita Devi of the Bishnois faith, which prohibits tree felling, protested against a royal party which arrived intended burning the trees for lime for the building of a new palace. Amrita refused to pay the bribe demanded for the tree, saying “If a tree is saved even at the cost of one’s head, it’s worth it” and was killed for her act of bravery. More people then stood up to protect the trees resulting in 363 deaths before the Maharaja ordered the felling of trees to be stopped. Sadly the khejri, still an important support to the rural economy today and now the state tree of Rajasthan, is again under threat. “Many scientific explanations have been offered for the death of Khejri like declining water table and growth of the parasite Gonoderma luciderm, but there is nothing conclusive so far,” says Dr. Mertia, an authority on desert vegetation. Vandana Shiva talks about the importance of the Chipko Movement
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Chipko’s appeal was uniquely wide-ranging. Thus the movement was co-opted, shaped, and popularized by groups as diverse as local and global journalists, grassroots activists, environmentalists, Gandhians, spiritual leaders, politicians, social change practitioners, and feminists. The feminist movement popularized Chipko, pointing out that poor rural women walk long distances to collect fuel and fodder, and thus are the frontline victims of forest destruction (Shah, 2008). The Gandhians accentuated the Chipko movement through symbolic protests such as prayers, fasting, and padayatras (ritual marches) (Shah, 2008). Further, Chipko is synonymous with the growth of ecology-conscious journalism in India and around the world. Inspired by the Chipko Movement
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