Chipko Movement

The Chipko movement in India is regarded as the icon of ecofeminist movements across the globe, whose primary goal has been the preservation of forests. The word chipko in Hindi literally means “to stick to.” The movement came into the limelight in March 1974, when Gaura Devi of Reni village, in the Garhwal region of the Indian Himalayas (then in the state of Uttar Pradesh and currently a part of the state of Uttarakhand), accompanied by 27 other women, decided to embrace the trees of their village, challenging axe-wielding lumber workers to axe them down before they cut down the trees. This act of courage and nonviolence was emulated across the Kumaon and the Garhwal regions of the Indian Himalayas, as well as in other ...