Q.Discuss the role of women and communities in protection and conservation of forests.

Why women and communities matter to forest conservation

Rural women, in particular, are traditionally responsible for gathering fuelwood, fodder and water for their households, which makes them directly dependent on healthy, accessible forests. This dependence has made them powerful advocates and leaders in forest protection efforts.

The Chipko Movement

The best-known example is the Chipko Andolan, which began in Reni village in the Garhwal Himalayas in 1974. When contractors arrived to fell trees, local women — led by Gaura Devi — hugged ("chipko" means "to stick/cling") the trees to physically prevent them from being cut down. Their protest succeeded in stopping the felling and inspired similar community-led forest-protection movements across India, establishing women's leadership in grassroots environmentalism.

Community-led conservation traditions

Community reverence for forests and trees is also seen in traditions such as the Bishnoi community of Rajasthan, whose members, led by Amrita Devi, sacrificed their lives to prevent the felling of Khejri trees, demonstrating how strongly local communities can be committed to conserving their forests.

Joint Forest Management (JFM) …

Explain the underlying reason women are closely tied to forest resources (fuelwood/fodder collection), then give the concrete examples the NCERT text highlights — the Chipko Movement and the Bishnoi community — …

• Describing the Chipko Movement without naming it, or without noting it was specifically led by women.
• Omitting the livelihood link — i.e., not explaining why women are disproportionately involved (their role in collecting fuelwood/fodder). …