Bangaluru: Uttarakhand and Karnataka are paired under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat programme to promote national integration through mutual understanding. Both the states have established relations through sports, trade and culture. Uttarakhand had inspired people in Karnataka in forest conservation.
Chipko Andolan or hug the trees movement of Uttarakhand had inspired Appiko Andolan in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka.
Appiko is the Kannada word for Chipko. It was Sunderlal Bahuguna, one of the leaders of Chipko movement who visited the state in 1983 to inspire villagers in Gubbigadde in Uttara Kannada on the non-violent struggle to save trees.
The experiences shared by Bahuguna inspired 146 men, women and children to save Kalase forest. Before the axe men could put the first stroke on the trees, a group of young men, women and children embraced the trunk.
The movement gained acceptance from people of the region who suffered vagaries of nature due to felling of trees. This created awareness of the fragile nature in the Western Ghats which is the source of many rivers.
It also encouraged afforestation. In 1984-85, youth clubs came forward to plant 12 lakh saplings in Sirsi area. Sensing the mood of the people in the district, the state Government had banned felling of green trees in the forest area.
