The Chipko Andolan began in the early 1970s in the Garwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand, as a novel way of protesting against the felling of trees. What is unique about the Chipko Andolan is not only its mode of resistance, but also that it was born primarily out of protest by those who lived off the forest, for whom the felling of trees meant the loss of livelihoods.

From there it has gone on to become a rallying point for environmentalists and eco-socialists the world over. When it started, organised movements in remote and cut-off areas such as these were few and far between; primarily however, the Chipko Andolan is recognised as a movement where women have played a key role and one that has gone on to address a range of issues from deforestation to alcoholism.

Today there are hundreds of environmental organisations and the state holds conservation to be a main priority, there are laws and stay orders continuously being passed to maintain the ecological balance. Uttarakhand, however, has seen an increasing amount of forest depletion, sometimes for creating public assets like road ways, sometimes for the construction of private companies or housing projects. This not only means a loss of forests and livelihoods but also the local biodiversity which was originally extremely rich. The educational system does not take into account the wealth of local histories, stories, experiences and environment in these regions; even the basic achievements of the Chipko movement are lost to the youth in the fast urbanising culture of today. Yet simultaneously, the movement has given birth to seed conservation programs such as the Beej Bachao Andolan, which has preserved over a hundred varieties of Rajma varieties amongst countless others.

The women who began the movement are still there, just as strong and inspiring, full of the stories, folk songs and slogans which carried them forward. There is an urgent need to piece together the wealth of experiences and histories of these villages where the movement emerged and to create educational resource material, which can continue to shape an understanding of the environments within and outside the region. To that end, the project worked with communities in three villages in Tehri Gharwal, in order to “document” (so to speak) how the movement began and how it continues to evolve.