The sacrifice of 363 men and women of Rajasthan for conserving trees was an inspiration for thousands of nature-lovers felled. The movement began in 1973 in Uttarakhand (then Uttar Pradesh) 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 against deforestation in India.
The Chipko Andolan is a movement that practized methods of Satyagraha. Both men and women activists from Uttarakhand played vital roles in the movement, including Gaura Devi, Suraksha Devi, Sudesha Devi, Bachni Devi and Chandi Prasad Bhatt. In 1987, the Chipko movement was awarded the Right Livelihood Award.
If Bishnoi incident was a spiritual event in which the villagers sacrificed their lives for their sacred trees, Chipko movement made more people aware of the impending danger they would face, if they did not revere and respect nature.
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