When conversations around environmental protection take place, the spotlight often falls on government policies, conservation projects, and climate summits. Yet, across India’s villages, there are women whose names rarely make headlines, even though their work has transformed landscapes, restored ecosystems, and improved the lives of entire communities.
This World Environment Day, their stories deserve attention.
From the forests of Uttarakhand and Jharkhand to the hills of Himachal Pradesh, and from tribal villages fighting timber mafias to women managing waste near India’s most famous national parks, these women have shown that environmental protection is not only about saving trees—it is about protecting livelihoods, water, wildlife, and future generations.
THE WOMEN WHO BROUGHT A DEAD FOREST BACK TO LIFE
In Manar village of Uttarakhand’s Champawat district, women once spent most of their lives searching for basic necessities.
Every week, they walked for hours carrying heavy loads of firewood and water. On average, they spent nearly 800 hours every year collecting firewood alone. As forests disappeared and water sources dried up, these journeys became longer and more exhausting.
Then came a decision that changed everything.
Led by Bhagirathi Devi, affectionately known as “Van Amma” or Forest Mother, the women of the village decided they would not wait for someone else to save their forest.
Beginning in 2004, they revived their Van Panchayat and persuaded villagers to leave degraded forest land untouched so it could regenerate. They removed invasive plants, built water conservation structures, planted native species, protected saplings from grazing animals, and monitored the area day and night.
The transformation took years.
But slowly, life returned.
Today, more than 11 hectares of once-barren land are covered with thriving vegetation. Native trees, grasses, and wildlife have returned. Springs that were drying up now flow more steadily. Women who earlier spent five to six hours collecting resources can complete the same work in about an hour.
The revival of Manar’s forest demonstrates how community-led conservation can restore ecosystems while also reducing the burden carried by rural women.
CHAMI MURMU: THE WOMAN WHO PLANTED MORE THAN 28 LAKH TREES
In Jharkhand’s Saraikela Kharsawan district, Chami Murmu looked at stretches of barren land and saw possibility.
What began in 1988 as a personal mission soon grew into one of India’s most remarkable grassroots afforestation movements.
At a time when many men in her village opposed the idea of a woman leading such an initiative, Chami mobilised women across hundreds of villages. She established self-help networks, started nurseries, and encouraged communities to plant trees that could provide fuel, timber, shade, and ecological benefits.
The resistance was severe.
In 1996, more than one lakh saplings nurtured by her efforts were destroyed. Yet she refused to abandon her work.
Today, after more than three decades, Chami Murmu has helped plant over 28 lakh trees across more than 500 villages.
Her work extends beyond forestry. She has supported watershed development, rainwater harvesting, women’s entrepreneurship, and the formation of thousands of self-help groups that have improved economic opportunities for rural women.
The recognition she later received, including the Padma Shri and Nari Shakti Award, reflects the scale of her contribution. But perhaps her greatest achievement lies in the forests standing today where barren land once existed.
KINKRI DEVI’S BATTLE AGAINST DESTRUCTIVE MINING
Not every environmental movement begins with planting trees.
Sometimes it begins with refusing to stay silent.
Born into poverty in Himachal Pradesh, Kinkri Devi witnessed extensive limestone quarrying destroy forests, contaminate water sources, and damage agricultural land in Sirmaur district.
She had never received formal education. She worked as a domestic worker and later as a sweeper. Yet she understood what uncontrolled mining was doing to the landscape around her.
In 1987, she took on powerful mining interests by filing a public interest litigation against dozens of mine owners.
When the legal process stalled, she travelled to Shimla and undertook a 19-day hunger strike outside the High Court.
Her campaign eventually resulted in restrictions on destructive mining practices and brought national attention to environmental degradation in the region.
Kinkri Devi proved that protecting nature does not require wealth, political power, or formal education. It requires conviction and the willingness to stand up for a cause larger than oneself.
She died at the age of 82, in the year 2007. Her journey was remarkable, and she left behind the footprints of awareness.
KANDONI SOREN: THE ‘JUNGLE KI SHERNI’ FIGHTING FOREST MAFIAS
In the forests near Jamshedpur, tribal woman Kandoni Soren is known by a name that reflects her reputation—”Jungle Ki Sherni.”
A home guard by profession, Kandoni spends her off-duty hours protecting nearly 100 hectares of forest alongside a team of around 40 women.
Concerned about illegal logging and shrinking forest cover, she formed a forest protection committee called Hariyali Sakaam. The group patrols forests, reports illegal felling, and prevents encroachment.
The women have organised themselves into teams that guard different sections of the forest throughout the day.
Their efforts have yielded visible results.
Local residents say illegal tree cutting has drastically reduced and forest cover has increased significantly. The forests continue to provide fuel, fodder, medicinal plants, and livelihoods for tribal communities that depend upon them.
Kandoni’s work highlights an important truth: conservation becomes far more effective when local communities become active participants rather than passive observers.
PARYAVARAN SAKHIS PROTECTING THE LANDSCAPE AROUND JIM CORBETT
Environmental protection is not only about forests.
It is also about what happens to the waste generated by growing populations and expanding tourism.
Villages around Jim Corbett National Park have witnessed a dramatic rise in tourism over the past decade. While tourism creates economic opportunities, it also generates large quantities of waste.
Plastic litter has increasingly found its way into forests and wildlife habitats. Images of animals interacting with discarded plastic have raised serious concerns about the impact of pollution on ecosystems.
In response, groups of women known as Paryavaran Sakhis have stepped forward.
They conduct door-to-door waste collection, charge user fees, segregate waste into multiple categories, organise awareness campaigns, and teach villagers the importance of separating wet and dry waste.
Their work goes beyond cleanliness.
By promoting recycling, reducing open dumping, and encouraging responsible waste management, they are helping protect forests, rivers, wildlife, and public health.
Many of these women now earn livelihoods through waste management while also becoming environmental educators within their communities.
THE FUTURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION MAY ALREADY BE HERE
The stories of Bhagirathi Devi, Chami Murmu, Kinkri Devi, Kandoni Soren, and the Paryavaran Sakhis reveal a common lesson.
Environmental protection succeeds when local communities are trusted as leaders.
These women did not wait for large institutions to solve their problems. They restored forests, revived water sources, challenged destructive practices, protected wildlife habitats, and changed how communities think about natural resources.
Their work has improved lives, strengthened ecosystems, and created models that others can replicate.
This World Environment Day, as the world searches for solutions to climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, these women remind us that some of the most effective environmental movements begin at the grassroots level.
They are not merely protecting forests.
They are safeguarding the future.
