Chipko Movement: Background, Causes, Impact & Key Leaders
Gajendra Singh Godara
Oct 19, 2025
15
mins read
The Chipko Movement was a local environmental protest in India. Villagers hugged trees to prevent loggers from cutting them down. “Chipko” in Hindi means “to cling” or “to hug,” which perfectly describes the movement’s core action.
In simple terms, it was a peaceful ecological campaign: rural people stood between trees and loggers to prevent deforestation. People view Chipko as both an environmental and social movement. This is because whole communities defended their forests and ways of life.
In the years after India became independent, central policies managed the remote Himalayan forests. These policies often overlooked the needs of the villagers.
Development projects were happening. For example, the government built new roads after the Sino-Indian War of 1962. These roads opened the hills to outside loggers.
As companies from the plains poured in, they cleared trees for construction, railways, and other projects. Locals, who depended on those forests for fuel, fodder, and minor forest produce, began to feel the pressure.
A turning point was the great flood of July 1970 in the Alaknanda valley. A massive landslide upstream blocked the river, and subsequent flooding washed away villages and farms.
Many hill people blamed the disaster on reckless deforestation in the uphills. This tragic event, along with a rising global consciousness about the environment, planted the seeds of resistance.
By the early 1970s, mountain villagers were ready to fight for their forests using Gandhian principles of nonviolent protest.
The Chipko Movement year is officially 1973. In April of that year, villagers in the Himalayan region staged the first tree-hugging protest.
The movement’s roots lie in Chamoli district of present day Uttarakhand (then in Uttar Pradesh). The first major confrontation occurred in the village of Mandal on 24 April 1973.
Mandal and nearby villages like Reni (also called Laata) sit high in the Garhwal Himalaya, near the Alaknanda River. These mountain villages had no heavy industry but abundant trees that villagers relied on daily.
Economic marginalization, ecological threat, and gendered responsibility combined to ignite the Chipko Movement. The major causes of Chipko Movement are:
Rampant commercial deforestation under the contractor system led to massive forest loss.
Local authorities excluded local villagers from forest profits and deprived them of daily essentials like firewood, fodder, and timber.
Forest Department policies favored large outside companies instead of local forest users.
Colonial era forest laws still in force ignored or curtailed the traditional forest rights of hill communities.
The expansion of road networks after the 1962 Indo-China war opened mountain forests to logging contractors.
The 1970 Alaknanda flood and recurring landslides exposed the link between tree felling and ecological disasters.
Soil erosion, drying water sources, and declining agricultural yields increased local hardship.
Population growth and livestock pressure intensified dependence on shrinking forest resources.
Lack of alternative livelihoods pushed villagers to rely entirely on forests for survival.
Environmental awareness spread by Gandhian groups like Dasoli Gram Swarajya Sangh (DGSS) unified local efforts.
The Chipko activists presented a clear and practical set of demands, rooted in sustainability and justice:
Stop Commercial Logging: A complete ban on cutting green trees to protect the ecological balance.
Recognize Traditional Rights: Legal protection for villagers’ customary rights to gather firewood, fodder, and medicinal plants.
Community Control: Local communities manage forests through village committees or cooperatives instead of external contractors.
Promote Sustainable Livelihoods: Support small forest-based industries like handicrafts, resin tapping, and paper-making. Avoid large factories that use a lot of wood.
The Chipko Movement started with Chandi Prasad Bhatt. He was a Gandhian social reformer and founded the Dasoli Gram Swarajya Sangh (DGSS). Another key figure, Sunderlal Bahuguna, later expanded and popularized the movement across India and on the global stage.
Chandi Prasad Bhatt :
A young Gandhian social worker founded the Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh (DGSS) in 1964. The goal was to promote village industries that use forest products.
He organized the first forest satyagraha at Mandal in 1973 when local appeals failed.
Under Bhatt’s guidance, villagers confronted the loggers and beat drums to drive them away. The government soon cancelled the logging permit in Mandal. They then gave the wood quota to the villagers' group.
Sunderlal Bahuguna:
Another Gandhian environmentalist, later took on the role of the movement’s public face.
He became famous in the early 1980s. He walked across the Himalayas to raise awareness about Chipko.
Bahuguna emphasized the message “ecology is a permanent economy,” arguing that the Himalayan ecosystem was vital to India’s future.
Both men helped organize protests in dozens of villages, giving Chipko national visibility.
Alongside male leaders, many women played a central role in shaping the Chipko Movement, making it widely known as a women-led environmental uprising.
Gaura Devi of Reni village in March 1974 led 26 women to stop the loggers from chopping off 2000 trees. It was a defining moment of the protest.
They sang devotional songs and embraced the trees, they formed a human shield to protect the trees. This made a huge impact on the loggers and could put pressure on the government to impose the 10 year ban.
Gaura Devi’s leadership showed how women depend on forests for firewood, fodder, and water. This need gave them both urgency and power to protect nature.
Under the leadership of Gaura Devi, women got the authority and urgency in protecting nature. It depicted how the day to day needs of a house was dependent on the forests.
Across the Himalayas, Mahila Mangal Dals (Women’s Welfare Groups) formed to protect local forests. They stood strong against contractors and officials.
In the following years, Chipko activities spread throughout the Uttarakhand Himalayas.
The Uprising Confrontations: By 1979 approximately 150 villages participated in protests similar to the Chipko Movement. They hugged the trees and had similar sit-ins in Tarsali, Phata and Khana.
Outside these confrontations, leaders kept up the momentum. Sunderlal Bahuguna organized rallies and marches.
Between 1981 and 1983, he walked over 5,000 km across the Himalayas. This was part of the “Save the Himalaya” campaign. He aimed to rally villagers from different regions.
In each of these cases, the strategy remained rooted in nonviolent resistance and solidarity. The villagers in Phata and Tarsali formed night vigils to guard trees.
The Chipko Movement could force the government to address the villagers' grievances in a very short time. The protest in 1974 led to the formation of an Investigative committee.
By 1980 PM Indira Gandhi announced a 15 year ban on green felling in the forests of Uttarakhand. This was one of the most significant victories of the Chipko Movement.
The other Himalayan Regions specially Himachal Pradesh had similar restrictions after the success of the movement. The authorities transferred the tree quota to the villagers and cancelled the logging contracts.
At the policy level, forest departments began consulting Gram Sabhas (village councils) and reconsidering the issuance of timber permits.
Category | Key Impacts |
Environmental Impacts | • Curb on deforestation and commercial logging • Greater awareness of ecological conservation • Ban on green felling in Himalayan forests (1980) • Inspired other eco-movements (Appiko, Silent Valley) • Promotion of afforestation and sustainable forest use |
Social Impacts | • Empowered rural women as environmental leaders • Strengthened community solidarity and cooperation • Revived traditional ecological values • Made people view forests as community resources • Model for environmental education and local action |
Political & Administrative Impacts | • Influenced National Forest Policy (1988) • Prompted review of forest lease and contractor policies • Led to creation of village forest committees • Inspired key laws like Forest Conservation Act (1980) & EPA (1986) • Government recognition of ecological priorities |
Economic Impacts | • Promoted sustainable livelihoods over commercial exploitation • Protected rural fuelwood, fodder, and water sources • Encouraged eco-friendly income sources (NTFPs, handicrafts, eco-tourism) • Reduced economic vulnerability of hill communities |
Global & Legacy Impacts | • Became a symbol of non-violent environmentalism • Inspired global eco-feminism and sustainable development ideas • Marked the birth of India’s modern environmental movement • Raised India’s visibility in global environmental discourse |
A defining feature of the Chipko Movement was the central role played by women, which has been interpreted through an eco-feminist lens. Women in the Himalayan villages had to gather fuel, fodder, and water every day. This made deforestation affect them directly.
Recognizing this, many women took leadership in Chipko activities. They organized marches, formed night patrols in forests, and coordinated prayer vigils.
The Chipko Movement became a model for later environmental and social movements across India and beyond. During the 1970s and 1980s, activists in different regions adopted similar strategies of nonviolent, community-led protest to defend natural resources.
Appiko Movement (1983, Karnataka):
Inspired directly by Chipko, villagers in the Western Ghats hugged trees to stop commercial logging. The movement emphasized forest conservation, reforestation, and sustainable use of natural resources.Silent Valley Movement (1973–1983, Kerala):
This campaign opposed a proposed hydroelectric dam that would have submerged the ecologically rich Silent Valley rainforest. Its methods included legal action and public mobilization instead of tree-hugging. Still, its spirit echoed Chipko’s fight for nature over industrial development.Narmada Bachao Andolan (1985, Madhya Pradesh–Gujarat–Maharashtra):
Medha Patkar led this movement against building large dams on the Narmada River. These dams would displace thousands of people and harm ecosystems. It extended Chipko’s message that true development must respect both people and the environment.
All these movements had a common belief: grassroots communities can protect and manage their natural resources.
Internationally, Chipko’s influence spread to community forestry and conservation movements around the world, turning it into a global symbol of peaceful environmental resistance.
Q. With reference to "Gucchi" sometimes mentioned in the news, consider the following statements:
It is a fungus.
It grows in some Himalayan forest areas.
It is commercially cultivated in the Himalayan foothills of north-eastern India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 1 and 2
(d) 2 and 3
Answer: (c)
The Chipko Movement’s legacy is profound. What began as a local forest protest became a global symbol of sustainable development. It showed that environmental consciousness can emerge from even the smallest villages when people act together.
Since then, Chipko has changed policies and public attitudes. It led to legal changes, like forestry rules, and inspired other citizen-led campaigns around the world.
Its focus on "ecology first" has influenced India's development approach. It highlights that protecting nature is key for long-term well-being. The spirit of those villagers hugging trees still guides India’s environmental rules today. This shows that peaceful local action can create lasting change in society and policy.
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