Ⅰ. 阅读理解
A group of 75 female volunteers from India’s Odisha state has spent every day of the last 20 years patrolling(巡逻) a 75-hectare forest to protect it from illegal woodcutters.
In 1999, the eastern state of Odisha was hit by a super cyclone (超级飓风). “Our homes and standing crops were destroyed. There was no food or clothing for days, ” 52-year-old Charulata Biswal, a volunteer forest protector, told Mongabay-India. “But we realized it was because of the surviving forest that many people in Gundalba, a small village, were still alive. We promised we would protect the forest in return and restore the biodiversity. ”
Groups of women patrol the forest at least twice a day. As they walk among the trees, they blow their whistles and bang wooden sticks against tree trunks. “We beat our sticks and patrol in groups of 10, ” Biswal said. “We spread out inside the forest and blow whistles. Anyone with the intention to harm the local biodiversity will flee on hearing our whistle and the banging of our sticks on tree trunks. ”
In 2001, over 70 women from Gundalba came together to form the Women’s Forest Protection Committee. Apart from their daily patrols, they also approached neighboring villages that also depend on the forest for firewood about setting up a system for sustainability (可持续性). For example, every village is allowed to gather firewood from the forest on a set day of the month, usually a few days after another settlement has finished the gathering process.
Over the years, they have caught several people cutting trees illegally in the forest. Asked if they have ever been afraid of patrolling the large forest they said no. “The forest is an extension of our home, ” Biswal said. “Won’t it hurt to see your children suffer? This is how a mother feels and we are doing something that comes to us naturally. ”
Thanks to the women’s efforts, the forest gradually came back to life. Birds started nesting in trees again and the animals returned.
