1. The Chipko movement

2. What was the movement about?
In the 1970s, throughout India people protested against the
cutting of trees. The name of the movement comes from the
word 'embrace', as the villagers hugged the trees, and
prevented the contractors from cutting them.

3. The first Chipko action took place spontaneously in April in the village of Mandal in the Upper Alakananda valley and over the next five years spread to many districts of the Himalayas in Uttar Pradesh.

4. It was sparked off when the
government decided to give a
plot of the forest area to a
sports good company. This
angered the villagers.

5. The women of the area
went into the forest
and formed a circle
around the trees, preventing
the contractors from
cutting them down.

6. Since then, many
women in villages
across the country
have banned the
cutting of trees.

7. They coined the slogan,
“What do the forests bear?
Soil, water, pure air.”

8. The success of the
Chipko movement in the
hills saved thousands of
trees from being felled.