Asia · 1951–1990
Chipko Movement
Villagers hugged trees to stop commercial logging in the Uttarakhand hills.
Chipko began in 1973 in the hills that were then part of Uttar Pradesh and are now Uttarakhand. Villagers, many of them women, wrapped their arms around trees marked for felling. Sunderlal Bahuguna, Gaura Devi, and Chandi Prasad Bhatt are the names in the source file. The method was nonviolent. A ban on commercial felling in the Himalayan forests of the state followed in the early 1980s. The pin is in the Chamoli hills.
Theme. Forests · Nonviolence · Village rights
Key figures. Sunderlal Bahuguna, Gaura Devi, Chandi Prasad Bhatt
Outcome. Commercial green felling was restricted in the region.
Casualties. The campaign is known for confrontation without a death toll of the kind recorded in armed revolts.
Influence. A world-famous example of village environmental action.