The original Tree Huggers are from the Bishnoi community in Rajasthan who in 1730 protested at the felling of trees in the Utter Pradesh region of India. Amrita Devi and her three daughters gave their lives to protect the trees in their village from being felled by the order of the Maharaja of Jodhpur. They jumped in front of the loggers and hugged the trees before being felled themselves. When men women and children, 363 in total, from the surrounding 83 villages also gave their lives to prevent the felling of the precious Khedjiri trees, the Maharaja made a royal decree preventing the cutting of trees in all Bishnoi villages.

The Chipko movement in the 20th century

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1.Chandi Prasad Bhatt and 2. Gauri Devi were activists of the Chipko movement in the 1970’s.

After years of discontent over the destruction of the forests through commercial logging in the Uttarakhand region of the Himalayas, the movement took direct action. The mainly women activists involved entered the forest in April 1973 near the Mandal village in the upper Alakananda Valley, and formed a circle around the trees, stopping the loggers from felling them. Ultimately after several similar protests were successful at preventing further destruction in other parts of the country, the movement could claim responsibility for positively influencing natural resource policy in India.

As followers of Gandhian ideals it was a triumph for the Chipko Movement to learn that Mrs Indira Gandhi had ordered a 15 year ban on commercial logging in the Himalayan forests.

The activists including Dhoom Singh Negi, Bachri Devi and others coined a slogan for the movement, ‘What do the forests bear? Soil, water and pure air!’

The Chipko movement continued into the 1980’s (to present) as more and more women became involved in local debates about the destruction of their beloved environment. They believed that the forests they relied upon for food, fuel and shelter were being threatened. The brave and courageous members of this disperate movement took direct action and have made a difference by doing so.