Indigenous Peoples

can read the Climate

and its Changes

I am a member of the indigenous

Tharu community from the

foothills of the Himalayas. 

For us a monsoon is a blessing because its

the ocean the mountains the wind and the

forest all working together to bring the rain

When the f irst rain comes its a signal to

plant your rice Everybody works together

helping each other plant we work with the

weather with the seasons with the climate

But over time things have changed

My dear grandfather used to read the clouds

He could see when the monsoon was coming

First the clouds would be small and puffy

then they grew big and menacing But now

the clouds are diff icult to read The clouds

are not speaking to us anymore

And the forest that we lived close to is further

away, because a lot of trees have been cut

down for agriculture. When it rains, the

forest keeps the water in its belly and then

gives the water to us all year long. But with

the forest shrinking so too does the water

in the forests belly This year people did not

have water to drink because it didnt rain

We are trying to bring the forest back by

planting trees I hope we can switch back to

our old ways of farming using less chemical

fertiliser saving seeds This traditional

knowledge needs to be transferred through

the generations What my mother taught

I must teach my own children And I do