A high-pitched shriek by the hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock) warns of heavy rains within a few hours, even on a sunny day
BAMBOO Sudden, gregarious flowering of the Bambusa pallida species of the bamboo that is native to Nagaland indicates famine. Its bloom attracts rodents that damage crops
CUCKOO Farmers listen for the song of the cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) during the summer, as it tells them to start sowing seeds for the forthcoming agricultural season
ONE BRIGHT sunny morning, residents of Shiyepu village in Nagaland’s Zunheboto district, head to church dressed up in their Sunday best, and carrying umbrellas. The latter accessory is perplexing, given the clear weather. But the church-goers know something that even weather forecasters do not—bees in the village (both Asiatic honeybee or Apis cerana and stingless bee or Trigona iridipennis) did not leave their hives that morning, indicating a prospect of rain. Sure enough, it soon starts to drizzle.
This premonition is just one bit of a vast body of knowledge that the Sumi Naga tribe has gathered through generations of observation and passed down orally and through cultural practices.
But there is little to no documentation about this traditional knowledge, and so it is at risk of being lost. As a Ph.D. scholar at Martin Luther Christian University in Shillong, I undertook a study of 10 villages in Zunheboto,which is primarily inhabited by the Sumi Naga tribe. Over three years, I recorded 79 ecological indicators (biotic and abiotic) that the community depends on to determine whether anomalies, seasons, and natural disasters, even in the age of complex numerical climate models.
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Denne historien er fra December 01, 2021-utgaven av Down To Earth.
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In leading role again
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Return of Rambhog
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Natural springs of Kashmir drying up due to illegal riverbed mining
Human-to-human spread a mutation away
CANADA IN mid-November confirmed its first human case of avian influenza, with a teenager in the British Columbia being hospitalised after contracting the H5N1 virus that causes the disease. The patient developed a severe form of the disease, also called bird flu, and had respiratory issues. There was no known cause of transmission.
True rehabilitation
Residents of Madhya Pradesh's Kakdi village take relocation as an opportunity to undertake afforestation, develop sustainable practices
INESCAPABLE THREAT
Chemical pollution is the most underrated and underreported risk of the 21st century that threatens all species and regions
THAT NIGHT, 40 YEARS AGO
Bhopal gas disaster is a tragedy that people continue to face
A JOKE, INDEED
A CONFERENCE OF IRRESPONSIBLE PARTIES THAT CREATED AN OPTICAL ILLUSION TO THE REALITY OF A NEW CLIMATE
THINGS FALL APART
THE WORLD HAS MADE PROGRESS IN MITIGATING EMISSIONS AND ADAPTING TO CLIMATE IMPACTS. BUT THE PROGRESS REMAINS GROSSLY INADEQUATE
