Chipko came to prominence in 1973 when a group of women from Mandal village in the Himalayas in India âhuggedâ trees in order to prevent them from being felled. When the loggers came, the women, led by Gaura Devi, surrounded the trees and chanted: âThis forest is our motherâs home; we will protect it with all our mightâ.Â
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. Â
Word of their actions spread and the movement now known as the
Chipko Movement was formed. Chipko, meaning âhuggingâ in Hindi, is the origin of the term 'tree hugger' used for environmental activists. The Chipko Movement was inspired by earlier protests against tree felling in in India.