Appiko Movement, History, Background, Objectives, Impact

Appiko means “to embrace” in Kannada, similar movement initiated just like the famous Chipko Movement in North India. In 1983, villagers from Salkani village in Uttara Kannada, Karnataka, hugged trees and refused to let them be felled. Leading this southern “hug the trees” movement was environmentalist Panduranga Hegde. Over the next months, their grassroots campaign protected crucial parts of the Western Ghats, reversed deforestation policies, and promoted a broader ecological awakening.

Appiko Movement About

The Appiko Movement took place in September 1983, when men, women, and children gathered to prevent loggers from cutting trees in the Kalase forest near Salkani. It was a peaceful, culturally rooted protest. This movement succeeded in protecting tree felling through nonviolent, direct action and community resolve.

Appiko Movement History

• In 1950, the forests of Uttara Kannada covered over 81% of its land. Over the decades, this rich forest was cleared to make way for pulp and paper mills, plywood factories, and hydropower projects, industries that removed both trees and livelihoods.
• By 1980, less than 25% of original natural forests remained. Farmers suffered too: spice cultivation depended on leaf manure, dam projects displaced local communities, and bamboo were disappearing.
• People recognized the link between environmental degradation and poverty. Development has become similar to exploitation which resulted in villagers initiating a Chipko-style resistance, demanding a stop to green‑tree felling.

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Who Started the Appiko Movement?

Appiko Movement was initiated by Panduranga Hegde, a local environmentalist trained in Delhi and inspired by the Chipko Movement. On 8 September 1983, hundreds from Sirsi Taluk marched 8 km into Kalase forest and began surrounding trees to stop the loggers from cutting them.The practice of hugging trees took on a uniquely Kannada life as Appiko Chaluvali.

Appiko Movement Key Figures

• Panduranga Hegde was the movement leader and environmentalist whose leadership, research, and mobilizing skills brought clarity, discipline, and direction.
• Sunderlal Bahuguna was a Chipko veteran who visited Karnataka in 1979, supported Appiko’s philosophy and helped it gain national momentum. His partnership with Hegde led to a 1989 ban on green felling in Western Ghats forests.

Appiko Movement Causes

Appiko Movement Causes are complex ecological, economic, and social stresses which includes:

1. Cutting trees for timber, paper, plywood, and dams led to massive forest loss transforming renewable resources into non‑renewable scars.
2. Deforestation caused soil erosion, disrupted water systems, and reduced yields in agriculture and spice cultivation.
3. Tribal families and farmers who needed bamboo, leaf manure, fuelwood, herbs saw their survival under threat.
4. State-led forestry ignored traditional rights, neglected the forest communities.
5. The success of the Chipko Movement provided both a model and moral courage to act in the south.

Appiko Movement Objectives

Built around the incentives to Ulisu, Belasu, Balasu (“Save, Grow, Use rationally”), Appiko focused on:

• Protecting existing forest cover
• Promoting natural regeneration of indigenous species
• Ensuring sustainable use of non-timber forest resources such as bamboo and medicinal plants.
• Through cultural performances, educational slideshows, marches, street theatre in forests and villages.
• Planting fast-yielding native saplings of the “Five F’s”: Fruit, Fodder, Fuelwood, Fertilizer (leaf litter), Fiber.

Appiko Movement Methods and Strategies

The Appiko Movement involves a range of innovative, community-driven methods to protect forests and promote environmental awareness. Rooted in nonviolent resistance, its strategies combined traditional practices with modern outreach techniques. The following table highlights key Appiko Movement Methods and Strategies and their descriptions that was impactful and unique in India’s environmental history.

Appiko Movement Impact

• Karnataka responded in 1990 with a ban on green‑tree cutting in its evergreen forests which was a win for Appiko.
• The emphasis on traditional sapling planting fruitful, fodder-yielding, fiber-producing reconnected livelihoods with conservation.
• Saving bamboo, medicinal species, and forest fruits secured jobs and incomes for local artisans and farmers.
• Appiko sparked campaigns in Karnataka, Goa, Eastern Tamil Nadu, and also inspired similar movements elsewhere, reinforcing the power of decentralized people’s movements.
• It helped communities reclaim rights over forest resources, prompted forest policy reforms, and shaped national discourse on sustainable development.