Women Power and Nature

The mythological and spiritual traditions have highlighted the women’s connection with nature.The influence of these traditions can be witnessed in everyday life such as “mother nature”,and “mother earth”etc.The women’s health is the health of the earth. Most of the rivers in Bharat are named after women e.g. Ganga,Yamuna,Saraswati etc.The hill ranges like Aravalli,Amaravathi etc arealso given the name of women. So none can afford to neglect women’s role in preserving the environment.
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to Kenyan ecologist Wangari Maatha because of her 30 years of campaign to protect and restore the environment as well as defend human rights. She is the first African woman and the first environmentalist to be awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize since it was handed out in 1901.While honouring her for her contribution to the sustainable development,democracy and peace , the Noble Committee said “Peace on earth depends on our ability to secure our living environment”.
The women power is very much involved in farming. The farming by the Angamis in Nagaland involves the cultivation of 15 to 20 crop species ,pest control through multi-cropping and spreading the availablity of diverse food over several months of the year. It has been called a female farming system as sowing maturing, weeding, seed selection and storage are all done by women while men do the tree cutting,clearing and burning of the jhum cultivation plot.The positive role of women in tribal areas is well known. Women contribute about 70 to 80per cent to the family labour in hilly areas due to seasonal male migration. However, the representation of women in local institutions and training is disproportionately low in relation to their contribution.
In the past years, the awareness on the depletion of natural resources, the degradation of natural systems and the dangers of polluting substances has increased remarkably. The deterioration of the environment is an increasing threat to a safe and healthy environment. In both urban and rural areas, environmental degradation results in negative effects on the health, well-being and quality of life of the population at large, especially girls and women of all ages.Women have an essential role to play in the sustainable development and ecologically sound consumption and production patterns. The deterioration of natural resources displaces communities, especially women from income generating activities. Environmental risks in the home and workplace may have a disproportionate impact on women’s health because of women’s different susceptibilities to the toxic effects of various chemicals. These risks to women’s health are particularly high in urban areas,as well as in low income areas where there is a high concentration of polluting industries. Decentralised action on environmental issues is most needed and decisive.