Role of soliga community’s traditional fire knowledge in ecological nurturance for wildlife and humans

Abstract

This study focussed on the Traditional Fire Knowledge of the Soliga indigenous community in South India. Like many indigenous communities all over the world, Adivasi communities in India too have historically used fire as a landscape management tool, and in many other culturally significant ways. The Soliga had a seasonal burning practice called taragubenki or ‘litter fire,’ believed to reduce the risk of large, intense, and dangerous wildfires, control invasive species, and increase productivity of preferred foods. This practice along with other traditional ways of living such as shifting agriculture, was banned after the area was declared a wildlife sanctuary in the 1980s. Currently, these forests,home to the Soliga people, are overrun with invasive species like lantana, which has led to a huge build-up of fuel load in the forest, increasing risks of devastating fires. In the current study, through semi-structured and open-ended group discussions, the pair documented the knowledge associated with taragubenki, and the impact of policy on the traditional fire knowledge of the Soliga. In interviews, the Soliga characterise taragubenki as a “doctoru” to the forest and strongly believe that the return of taragubenki is crucial for the health of the forest. Their study highlights the need for institutional and policy reforms in India that incorporate traditional fire knowledge in conservation practices, for the wellbeing of the community and the forest. This has been successfully demonstrated in Canada, North America and Australia, where land management plans include cultural burning, led and practiced by indigenous communities.