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The Guardian
3 days ago
- Lifestyle
- The Guardian
Can a 15th-century Indian singing tradition help stop wildfires?
For years, the women of Murgapahadi village in eastern India have quietly managed farms and children, collected flowers and firewood in forests, and kept households running while their husbands work away in cities. This year, many are educating too – in song as they work. Forest officials are enlisting devotional song-and-dance troupes – sankirtan mandalis – to help in the fight against fires in the dry deciduous woods of Odisha state in soaring temperatures. Fires have already affected more than 4,500 hectares (11,120 acres) of forest in Odisha this year, up from about 4,000 hectares in 2024. Officials are using technology such as AI cameras and satellite data to track blazes but are also turning to the appeal of song to ask villagers not to burn leaves in the forest, apractice believed to benefit the soil, but which has led to uncontrollable wildfires in recent years. 'With the rising temperatures, these fires are spreading faster, and dousing them is becoming ever more difficult,' says Dhanraj Hanumant Dhamdhere, deputy conservationist of forests in Keonjhar district, which has been hit by heatwaves since April. Dhamdhere enlisted 80 devotional groups earlier this year. 'Cultural troupes are very strong in Odisha, and there are many artistes in rural areas,' he says. 'Also, people here are very religious. The troupes sing in local languages, which are easily understood, and their performances are enjoyed, so it is easier for people to connect with them.' He says there has been a 20-30% drop in fires in some areas since the sankirtan mandalis were enlisted. Ghatagaon forest range, where Murgapahadi is located, is among them. Sankirtan mandalis date to the 15th century, originally groups of men playing cymbals, drums and singing songs of religious devotion. Women rarely went out alone, let alone sang in public. But two years ago, women from Murgapahadi formed their own troupe to revive the tradition. 'When the men [of the village] migrated to Hyderabad and Bengaluru to work in factories, the sankirtan mandali became almost non-functional. We decided to revive it,' says Pramila Pradhan, 35, who heads the troupe in Murgapahadi. Odisha, one of India's poorest states, has some of the highest migration numbers. In village after village, as mandalis began undergoing a revival, spearheaded by women, government agencies saw an opportunity. Pradhan's troupe of 17, nine of whom are women, were curious but hesitant when the forest department called them in January. They were given a poem, which the women set to a rhythm. The next morning, they walked around the village singing: 'Listen listen my dear sisters, brothers, don't set fire to the forest. If the forest survives, we survive … we get a healthy climate.' Sign up to Her Stage Hear directly from incredible women from around the world on the issues that matter most to them – from the climate crisis to the arts to sport after newsletter promotion While Odisha has laws to punish those found responsible for any fire in the forest area, the appeal of the songs are more effective. 'The villagers listen to the sankirtan mandali,' says Omprakash Jena, a forest guard. 'People believe them, and if they are asked not to do something, they obey.' Jena credits Pradhan's troupe for the 'minimal' forest fires recorded this summer, making up just 26 of the 600 fires that occurred in Keonjhar district. Dibakar Patra, president of an umbrella organisation of sankirtan mandalis in Odisha, says there are about 20,000 troupes in the state, of which at least 1,000 are all-female. 'We have traditionally performed at festivals and birth or thread ceremonies and weddings,' he says. 'But now the government wants to use us in a better way. Our mandalis have now been enlisted for rural water conservation awareness in addition to forest fires.' Analysts point out that this is not enough to help a community at the sharp end of the climate crisis. Mining is expanding in the region, and polluting industries including coal, steel and aluminium dot the landscape in Keonjhar and Angul districts, contributing to planet-heating emissions. Biswajeet Mohanty, secretary of the Wildlife Society of Odisha, says engaging women in dance will not resolve factors fuelling the climate crisis. 'The victims of climate change are being told to use the medium of sankirtan mandalis and move from village to village to spread awareness, even as polluting industries are being expanded,' he says. The women say the forest fires affect their incomes and children's nutrition. 'We collect wild yam, tubers, spinach and mushrooms for the family. If there is a major fire, we have to make do with the rice we get from the government,' says Balamati Munda, 42. But for now, they credit the sankirtan mandali with helping them feel more relevant to society. About 180km (112 miles) away from Murgapahadi, in Ambanali village, Angul district, Ketaki Nayak slips her sari pallu off her head and tucks it into the waist of her petticoat, taking her position with other women in two neat rows. 'I sang songs when I was in school, but after marriage no one encourages you to go out and sing,' she says. Nayak was married at 10. Now 25, she has two children aged eight and 10. 'These days, girls are studying, even working as pilots,' she says. 'I had never thought that I had talent, that I would go out and sing and people would bless me.' Tutor Kusha Behera says the troupe has received a call about a government project, which they plan to take part in. 'We have young girls, even students joining the mandalis,' he says. 'While these women have lost their youth, the next generation of young girls is learning what women can do.' This story first appeared in the Migration Story, India's first newsroom to focus on the country's vast migrant population
CNA
26-05-2025
- General
- CNA
CNA938 Rewind - Ecological impact: Young forest in Bukit Batok to be cleared for housing
CNA938 Rewind A young forest is slated for partial clearance to make way for a new neighbourhood in Bukit Batok. But is there a way to continue the work without having a big impact on the wildlife that live there? Daniel Martin and Justine Moss speak more with Dr Shawn Lum, Senior Lecturer, NTU Asian School of the Environment.
CNA
26-05-2025
- General
- CNA
CNA938 Rewind - Could building projects progress without disrupting nature?
CNA938 Rewind A young forest is slated for partial clearance to make way for a new neighbourhood in Bukit Batok. But is there a way to continue the work without having a big impact on the wildlife that live there? Daniel Martin and Justine Moss speak more with Dr Shawn Lum, Senior Lecturer, NTU Asian School of the Environment.
CBC
20-05-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Logging, pruning and anxiety in Banff ahead of first summer since Jasper wildfire
Social Sharing Looking out over a budding meadow with blackened tree stumps on the edge of Banff National Park, Cliff White points to a dark thicket of trees where the empty plot ends. "The next fire in here is going to be incredible," says the former Parks Canada fire management co-ordinator, standing in the expansive Carrot Creek fire break. The meadow was shorn more than 20 years ago by Parks Canada to slow future wildfires in their tracks before reaching Banff and Canmore. But it's a fraction of the dense, naturally fire-prone forest blanketing the Bow Valley, where fear is growing that a shower of embers, like those that destroyed a third of the structures in Jasper, Alta., last summer, could hit Alberta's most popular tourist destination. The Rockies are facing another year of drought conditions. The snow melted several weeks earlier than normal, and the snowpack is lower than it was in 2023, the year of Canada's record-breaking wildfires, said John Pomeroy, a hydrologist who lives in Canmore. "Canmore's watching with great trepidation," said Pomeroy, also a university professor. In the race to mitigate the damage from future fires, stewards of Alberta's parks have turned to loggers to create fire guards like Carrot Creek. The areas are designed to starve a fire of fuel and create enough empty land for embers to fizzle out on the ground. This year, Parks Canada hired an Indigenous logging company to raze several hectares of land near Banff. Profits of that timber will be used to maintain the land, said Jane Park, fire and vegetation specialist for Banff National Park. Each fire break represents the start of a new ecosystem that Parks Canada will need to maintain. "We can't just let nature do its thing and just have wildfires kind of go willy-nilly," said Park, standing among large slash piles in one of Banff's newest fire breaks. Though hotter and drier summers have triggered the most damaging wildfire seasons in recent years, decades of fire suppression, starting in the early 1900s, have made forests throughout the Rockies thick tinderboxes. Fire is part of the natural life cycle for many of those trees, which carry seeds inside their pine cones that are only released when they're on fire, Park said. Prescribed burning, a traditional Indigenous practice, was stopped more than 100 years ago but restarted in the 1980s when Parks Canada discovered it had allowed the forest to grow out of control, Park said. "We're still getting back to where we should have been." The battle against a large wildfire will also be fought inside the mountain towns. In Canmore, Simon Bagshaw decided to stop taking consulting contracts so he could focus on mitigating the risk a fire could have on his neighbourhood. He has led several events this year, encouraging people to place log piles far away from their homes and to clean their gutters. It's been a challenge getting the community on board, he said, because many homeowners don't live there full time. "There's a few of us wearing helmets and the rest are wearing tuques, and we've got to change that." In Banff, it's already been a topsy-turvy summer for its small fire department. Fire Chief Keri Martens said the dry and hot start to May was nerve-racking, but recent rainy conditions gave her room to breathe. "The anxiety level certainly starts to rise," Martens said of the early summer season. Tables inside Banff's fire department are covered in large maps, one of them with the roughly 300 homes with roofs made of combustible materials like cedar shake, which would be most at risk of catching fire from embers. Another identifies areas where a wildfire could trigger a slew of emergency measures, including the evacuation of more than 9,000 residents and over 20,000 tourists who inhabit the area over the summer. Martens said the Jasper fire is likely behind an uptick in locals who have enlisted the town to remove flammable trees from their properties and equip their homes with sprinklers. "Jasper really hit home for a lot of people," Martens said. "We've had a lot more people reach out to us about our incentive programs." As for White, he said park staff are making good progress on building fire breaks. But he hopes the model for managing forests can be altered to give people impacted by fire more control over the area. More needs to be done, and faster, he said. And the times merit a change.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Brunswick mayor, City Council approve development overlay for Vista Pointe project
Brunswick's mayor and City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a Planned Unit Development (PUD) overlay on previously annexed land. The PUD overlay is a specific zoning district that allows for flexible site planning and development. The land will be used for an age-restricted development called Vista Pointe. Residents of Brunswick and Knoxville on April 22 expressed their concerns to the mayor and City Council about the development, specifically about potentially removing an area of forest land. Pleasants Development, the developer, has been allowed to clear 57 acres of forest on the property for the 660 age-restricted units it plans to build. Residents are concerned that clearing the forest will create more flooding in the area. At the meeting on Tuesday, Brunswick resident Neil Gormley said the forest is 'ecologically and hydrologically better than a landscaped open space.' 'A forest ecosystem supports more plant and animal life,' he said. 'It's a richer, more resilient ecological system.' Gormley added that the forest is 'much better' at retaining water and reducing flooding than a grazed pasture would be. Dan Fryer, the regional vice president for Pleasants Development, said on Tuesday that the engineering study that is looking at runoff and flooding, which the company is currently working on, will be released to the public. He said the report will show the existing conditions for flooding and what the development company plans to do to address it. Fryer said the civil engineering firm Macris, Hendricks & Glascock (MHG) is performing the study. An annexation agreement for the land included a list of proffers that promised stormwater infrastructure improvements, such as cleaning the 21-inch culvert north and south of Brunswick Street, before the project starts. Council Member Andy St. John said at the meeting that he received numerous emails from the community that mention how the annexation of the property was 'a lack of due diligence and mismanagement on the part of the city.' 'I, frankly, take exception to that,' he said. 'The city and the staff has been working very hard on this for a very long time to make sure that all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed, and that we have followed the law.' Council Member John Caves agreed with St. John, and added that the process has not been approached 'flippantly.' 'We read the emails. We listen to the comments,' he said. 'It's ultimately a judgment call.' After the unanimous vote to approve the PUD overlay, Mayor Nathan Brown said he did not want to influence any council members' votes, but he agreed with St. John. 'Really, these annexations ... are not fresh off the press, brand-new, clean-slate annexations,' he said. The land for the Vista Pointe development is made up of three previously annexed properties: the Daugherty, Ferris and Brylawski properties. The Daugherty property was annexed into the city in 1992 and is approximately 113 acres. The Ferris and Brylawski properties were adopted into Brunswick on Feb. 25 of this year, and are approximately 57 acres and 15 acres, respectively. 'We had to really look at them in a way that was ... in the best interest of the city,' Brown said. 'It allowed us to have proffers where normally we wouldn't because we introduced new annexations to already annexed land, which was good.'
