BANGALORE: The non-violent movement of hugging trees to protect forests has become popular in Japan too. Japanese environmental activists have adopted this Gandhian movement to protect the forest in Mt Takao, 30 km from Tokyo.
The Chipko (to embrace) movement was born when Gaura Devi protested the felling of trees in Reni village of Uttaranchal (then part of Uttar Pradesh) in 1973-74 by hugging them. It subsequently to the entire Himalayan region and Pandurang Hegde, a disciple of one of the leaders of the movement Suderlal Bahuguna, brought it to Karnataka and called it the Appiko movement.
The Japanese government plans to construct a tunnel for Ken-o-Do (the Metropolitan Inner City Expressway) across Mt Takao. Though the government claims that the plan will not disturb the ecological system in the mountain, environmental activists are not ready to accept the argument.
Hegde, during his visit to Japan last week, met the agitated environmental activists and explained to them the concept of Chipko (Appiko) movement.
Influenced by this, women activists like Masako Sakata and Junko Nakazono from the Japanese Action Group, embraced the trees in Takao forests. Nakazono said, "We want to save Mt Takao as this has been a spiritual mountain and we humans will be unable to recreate the exquisite balance of nature." Sakata said, "It is unwise to do what is irrecoverable and irreversible. We shall save this through non-violent struggle and we are happy to follow the legacy of the Gandhian movement." Takao forest is one of the most visited regions after Mt Fuji in Japan. It hosts 55 per cent of the native species in Japan. The rich biodiversity of this region makes it a unique feature that co-exists with the growing metropolitan city of Tokyo.
Hegde said that Hisae Matasuo, a dancer with a keen interest in Indian classical music, told him that it was the people’s responsibility to preserve this great natural historical treasure.
The chipko movement has become a sticking point for political leaders too.
Former member of the Japanese Parliament (Diet) Akutsu attended the meetings while Kawata, the sitting member of Parliament there, expressed his support in writing.