[8] He started social activities at the age of 13, under the guidance of Shri Dev Suman, who was a nationalist spreading a message of non-violence,[9] and he was with the Congress Party of Uttar Pradesh at the time of Independence.

[11] He adopted Gandhian principles in his life and married his wife Vimla with the condition that they would live among rural people and establish ashram in village.

[11] Inspired by Gandhi, he walked through Himalayan forests and hills, covering more than 4,700 kilometres (2920 miles) on foot and observed the damage done by mega developmental projects on the fragile ecosystem of the Himalayas and subsequent degradation of social life in villages.

[11] The Chipko movement started in the early 1970s in Uttarakhand (then a part of Uttar Pradesh) from spontaneous action by villagers to save trees from being cut down by forest contractors.

Thereafter he went on another long fast which lasted for 74 days at Gandhi Samadhi, Raj Ghat, during the tenure of Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda, who gave personal undertaking of project review.

After the Appiko movement started, Bahuguna and Pandurang Hegde walked across many parts of south India promoting conservation of ecology, especially the protection of the Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot.