<P> The Chipko movement or Chipko Andolan refers to a forest conservation movement . Chipko type movement dates back to 1730 AD when in khejarli village of Rajasthan, 363 people sacrificed their lives to save khejri trees . In modern india it began in 1973 and went on to become a rallying point for many future environmental movements all over the world it created a precedent for starting of nonviolent protest in India, and its success meant that the world immediately took notice of this non violent movement, which was to inspire in time many such eco-groups by helping to slow down the rapid deforestation, expose vested interests, increase ecological awareness, and demonstrate the viability of people power . Above all, it stirred up the existing civil society in India, which began to address the issues of tribal and marginalized people . </P> <P> Today, beyond the eco-socialism hue, it is being seen increasingly as an ecofeminism movement . Although many of its leaders were men, women were not only its backbone, but also its mainstay, because they were the ones most affected by the rampant deforestation, which led to a lack of firewood and fodder as well as water for drinking and irrigation . Over the years they also became primary stakeholders in a majority of the afforestation work that happened under the Chipko movement . In 1987, the Chipko movement was awarded the Right Livelihood Award . The chipko aandolan is a movement that practised the Gandhian methods of Satyagraha where both male and female activists played vital roles, including Gaura Devi, Sudesha Devi, Bachni Devi and Chandi Prasad Bhatt . </P> <P> The Chipko movement started in 1970s in the state of Uttar Pradesh (now Uttrakhand). Sunderlal Bahuguna and 84 villagers risked their lives to protect the forest trees from being felled on the order of the maharaja (king). </P> <P> The year 1964 saw the establishment of Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh (DGSS) ("Dasholi Society for Village Self - Rule"), set up by Gandhian social worker Chandi Prasad Bhatt in Gopeshwar, and inspired by Jayaprakash Narayan and the Sarvodaya movement, with an aim to set up small industries using the resources of the forest . Their first project was a small workshop making farm tools for local use . Its name was later changed to DGSS from the original Dasholi Gram Swarajya Mandal (DGSM) in the 1980s . Here they had to face restrictive forest policies, a hangover of colonial era still prevalent, as well as the "contractor system", in which these pieces of forest land were commodified and auctioned to big contractors, usually from the plains, who brought along their own skilled and semi-skilled laborers, leaving only the menial jobs like hauling rocks for the hill people, and paying them next to nothing . On the other hand, the hill regions saw an influx of more people from the outside, which only added to the already strained ecological balance . </P>

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