Chipko and Appiko movements

Also called: Chipko, Appiko · Topic: Environment and Sustainable Development · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 7 "Environment and Sustainable Development"

Meaning

Chipko and Appiko movements were non-violent people's protests in which villagers hugged trees to stop commercial felling (cutting trees to sell to industry). Chipko began in the Garhwal Himalaya (Mandal 1973, Reni 1974). Appiko was its southern version in Karnataka, and it began in Salkani forest on 8 September 1983.

They matter because they show the core clash in sustainable development. Industry wants a forest for its timber. Local people need the same forest for fuelwood, fodder, water, soil and food. Both movements were local people, especially women, claiming a right over the forest they depend on.

Explanation

Chipko (Garhwal Himalaya)

• Name: Chipko is Hindi for "to hug" or "to cling".
• Timeline:
• Mandal, 1973: the first protest.

• Reni, 1974: village women led by Gaura Devi hugged the trees and sent the contractors' men away.

• Leaders: Chandi Prasad Bhatt and Sunderlal Bahuguna.

• What it meant: the forest is not just timber for industry. It is a source of daily needs for the people who live next to it. Women, who collect fuelwood, fodder and water, led the protest.

Appiko (Karnataka, NCERT Box 7.3)

• Name: Appiko is Kannada for "to hug". It was the southern version of Chipko.
• How it happened:
• It began on 8 September 1983 in Salkani forest.
• 160 men, women and children hugged the trees.
• They guarded the trees for six weeks.

• They left only when officials promised scientific felling under the working plan. A working plan is the forest department's official, long-term schedule for cutting trees.

• Result: it saved 12,000 trees. Within months it spread to nearby districts.

• Location trap: NCERT calls Sirsi a "district". Sirsi is really a taluk (a sub-division) of Uttara Kannada district.

Appiko's three demands, and why

• Consult local people when trees are marked for cutting.
• No felling within 100 m of a water source.
• No felling on slopes of 30° or more.
• Why these rules:
• Trees near streams and on steep slopes hold the soil together.
• If they are cut, rain washes the soil away.
• Then the streams dry up.

Why the protest arose: the Uttara Kannada example

• The chain of damage:
• A paper mill used up all the bamboo in about 12 years.
• With no plant cover, the soil washed away.
• Only bare laterite was left (a hard, red, poor soil).

• Small streams (rivulets) dried up.

• Worked example (NCERT's open question):

• Jobs created: paper mill 10,000 + plywood unit 800 = 10,800 jobs.
• People who lose daily needs from the forest: about 10 lakh (1 million).
• Ratio: 10,00,000 ÷ 10,800 ≈ 93 people harmed for every job created.
• Lesson: if you count only jobs and output, you miss the cost paid by forest-dependent people. This is the basic argument for sustainable development.

In India

• Who manages the forest: the forest department decides felling through its working plan. Appiko ended when officials promised felling under this plan, not open commercial cutting.
• Law on forest diversion: using forest land for non-forest purposes (mines, roads, dams) needs central approval under the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980. In 2023 it was renamed the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, so that the name reflects both conservation and enhancement of forests [2].
• Rajya Sabha passed the amendment on 2 August 2023 [3].

• It exempts land within 100 km of an international border, the LoC or the LAC for strategic linear projects [3].

• Local voice in projects today: Appiko's demand to "consult local people" now shows up in law:

• EIA public consultation: affected people give their views at a public hearing before a project is approved. EIA (environmental impact assessment) rests on the Environment (Protection) Act 1986, through notifications in 1994 and 2006.

• RFCTLARR Act 2013: needs a social impact assessment (SIA), a study of how a project will affect people, before land is taken.

• Same idea, later movements: the Narmada Bachao Andolan against the Sardar Sarovar dam also asked whose "development" a project serves.

Don't confuse with

• Chipko vs Appiko: Chipko = Garhwal Himalaya, Hindi word, Reni 1974, Gaura Devi. Appiko = Karnataka, Kannada word, Salkani 1983, saved 12,000 trees.
• Commercial felling vs scientific felling under the working plan: Appiko did not stop all cutting. It ended when officials promised planned felling in place of unchecked cutting for industry.
• Narmada Bachao Andolan: this was about displacement by a dam (people losing land and homes) and poor rehabilitation. It was not about tree felling.
• Green credit: this is a tradable unit a government programme gives for voluntary tree planting (Green Credit Rules, 12 October 2023) [4]. It is a market tool from above, not a people's protest from below.

Prelims Hooks

• Reni, 1974, Gaura Devi → Chipko. The first Chipko protest was at Mandal, 1973. Leaders: Chandi Prasad Bhatt and Sunderlal Bahuguna.
• Salkani forest, 8 September 1983 → Appiko. 160 people guarded the trees for six weeks and saved 12,000 trees.
• Both words mean "to hug": Chipko in Hindi, Appiko in Kannada.
• Appiko's rules: no felling within 100 m of a water source, no felling on slopes of 30° or more, and consult local people.
• Trap: Sirsi is a taluk of Uttara Kannada district, not a district as NCERT says.
• Uttara Kannada: 10,800 jobs against about 10 lakh people losing forest needs, so about 93 people harmed per job.

Mains Points

• Growth vs livelihoods (GS-III): the Uttara Kannada numbers show that GDP and job counts hide what forest-dependent people lose. Use Chipko, Appiko and the Narmada Bachao Andolan to argue for local consent, SIA under RFCTLARR 2013 and strong public hearings in EIA.
• Grassroots and gender (GS-I/GS-II): women led Chipko at Reni because they bear the cost of losing fuelwood, fodder and water. Appiko's demands for consultation, no felling within 100 m of water sources and no felling on slopes of 30° or more are an early, community-made model of scientific forest rules.
• Their relevance today: the 2023 forest amendment speeds up projects, for example through the 100 km border exemption and by allowing zoos, safaris and eco-tourism in forests. Critics say this weakens forest protection [3]. The Chipko and Appiko idea that forests serve local people first is a strong way to judge such changes.

Related concepts

• Development-induced displacement
• Environmental impact assessment
• Compensatory afforestation
• Net present value of forests
• Green credit
• Biodiversity offset
• Biodiversity credits
• REDD+
• Nature-based solutions
• Polluter pays principle

Read more

• Forests, people and projects: movements, clearances and legal principles