The territories, those where the countryside is depopulated, have burned
in a devastating way in recent decades. Seeing it like this would be
limiting. Looking at a broader map and its evolution over the last
decade, Sicily is burning in large parts, the south is burning, the
Mediterranean is burning, and other places relevant to the survival of
life on the planet are burning. Fire, despite its ritual allure, kills
much soil life, wildlife and accelerates hydrogeological disruption and
desertification. Furthermore, given that the presence of humans in
territories often involves the dissemination of potentially toxic
material, fires contribute to the circulation of substances that are
harmful and often deadly for various species, including humans. The
interrelationships and impact of these effects, as well as the complex
causes of this phenomenon, are not the focus of this short text. Here we
try to tell a very small story of self-organization in response to the
rural and forest fires on the Madonie, in the province of Palermo,
similar to that of other similar places. Depopulation is not the cause,
but certainly the lack of people who take care of the places and oversee
their life contributes to the spread of fires. In our case it happened
that a few dozen young people, between thirty and forty years old,
(re)inhabit mountain land where previously only a few second "weekend
homes" of city dwellers, some farmhouses, and stoic elderly people
remained. farmers from the nearby town. This daily living, the incessant
news of fires in neighboring territories, as well as the experience of
finding ourselves literally surrounded by arson in the summer of 2020,
throughout the Madonita territory, has driven the desire to organize
ourselves to monitor and act in emergency cases and mostly on private
land. Probably, the size of the small mountain municipality helps to
reduce the rigidity of the logic of delegation, where roles and
institutions are more defined and distant, and leads the inhabitants,
out of spontaneity and necessity, to deal with "common things", such as
water, roads, and in this case, fighting fires.
Thus, through a small resource, a motor pump mounted on a work car, and
a Whatsup group in which the inhabitants of the surrounding area
participate, information circulates in the small area where we live. In
some cases this information, and also the availability of those who can
actively go to the scene and of those who can insistently request help
to act where necessary, or essential, allows the fire to be put out. We
have studied some basic notions on how to intervene without taking
excessive risks, for others we compare ourselves with other
"firefighting groups" in the region. It remains essential to continue to
disseminate (in)formation on what this protection entails and the risks.
There is certainly space, in a self-organised system like this, for
different roles and people, as well as for different physical and
non-physical conditions; for example, there are those who spot and
monitor from afar, those who bring fresh water, those who act with the
flabella.
From our brief experience we can say that the more these groups
multiply and act on limited territories, the more sustainable their
physical usability and durability, in terms of time available, emotional
and capacity for self-organization are for the group. This does not mean
that the frustration remains of the fires being too large to act in a
self-organised manner and of seeing that the forces in charge are not
organized in the right way to do so effectively, and that there remains
the political urgency of understanding in depth the different reasons
and actors that support the spread of fires, and that it is impossible
to stop fires when very large areas are uncultivated or unmaintained
forest. It is for this reason that the solidarity between the
inhabitants of the cities and those, new and old, of the countryside,
can translate not only into political pressure, but also into the fact
that the former can support the others to stay there, participating in
the activities that are organized in the territories and supporting
peasant productions in neighboring territories.
Returning to depopulation. It is often talked about, but political
strategies often confuse or obscure repopulation with the fiery
promotion of seasonal or residential tourism. Other second homes,
digital nomads or summer tourists, although they can contribute to
economic and in some cases cultural exchange, do not respond to the
urgent need to protect the places. On the contrary, instead of allowing
a rush to sell off the places, we could courageously monitor that access
to these lands is privileged to those who want to live there in a
peasant way, to respond to the needs of daily protection and care of
which the continuation of life in the places it needs. Because the
"development" economy guided by market principles cannot ignore the need
to preserve life.
Association Porto di Terra
https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
in a devastating way in recent decades. Seeing it like this would be
limiting. Looking at a broader map and its evolution over the last
decade, Sicily is burning in large parts, the south is burning, the
Mediterranean is burning, and other places relevant to the survival of
life on the planet are burning. Fire, despite its ritual allure, kills
much soil life, wildlife and accelerates hydrogeological disruption and
desertification. Furthermore, given that the presence of humans in
territories often involves the dissemination of potentially toxic
material, fires contribute to the circulation of substances that are
harmful and often deadly for various species, including humans. The
interrelationships and impact of these effects, as well as the complex
causes of this phenomenon, are not the focus of this short text. Here we
try to tell a very small story of self-organization in response to the
rural and forest fires on the Madonie, in the province of Palermo,
similar to that of other similar places. Depopulation is not the cause,
but certainly the lack of people who take care of the places and oversee
their life contributes to the spread of fires. In our case it happened
that a few dozen young people, between thirty and forty years old,
(re)inhabit mountain land where previously only a few second "weekend
homes" of city dwellers, some farmhouses, and stoic elderly people
remained. farmers from the nearby town. This daily living, the incessant
news of fires in neighboring territories, as well as the experience of
finding ourselves literally surrounded by arson in the summer of 2020,
throughout the Madonita territory, has driven the desire to organize
ourselves to monitor and act in emergency cases and mostly on private
land. Probably, the size of the small mountain municipality helps to
reduce the rigidity of the logic of delegation, where roles and
institutions are more defined and distant, and leads the inhabitants,
out of spontaneity and necessity, to deal with "common things", such as
water, roads, and in this case, fighting fires.
Thus, through a small resource, a motor pump mounted on a work car, and
a Whatsup group in which the inhabitants of the surrounding area
participate, information circulates in the small area where we live. In
some cases this information, and also the availability of those who can
actively go to the scene and of those who can insistently request help
to act where necessary, or essential, allows the fire to be put out. We
have studied some basic notions on how to intervene without taking
excessive risks, for others we compare ourselves with other
"firefighting groups" in the region. It remains essential to continue to
disseminate (in)formation on what this protection entails and the risks.
There is certainly space, in a self-organised system like this, for
different roles and people, as well as for different physical and
non-physical conditions; for example, there are those who spot and
monitor from afar, those who bring fresh water, those who act with the
flabella.
From our brief experience we can say that the more these groups
multiply and act on limited territories, the more sustainable their
physical usability and durability, in terms of time available, emotional
and capacity for self-organization are for the group. This does not mean
that the frustration remains of the fires being too large to act in a
self-organised manner and of seeing that the forces in charge are not
organized in the right way to do so effectively, and that there remains
the political urgency of understanding in depth the different reasons
and actors that support the spread of fires, and that it is impossible
to stop fires when very large areas are uncultivated or unmaintained
forest. It is for this reason that the solidarity between the
inhabitants of the cities and those, new and old, of the countryside,
can translate not only into political pressure, but also into the fact
that the former can support the others to stay there, participating in
the activities that are organized in the territories and supporting
peasant productions in neighboring territories.
Returning to depopulation. It is often talked about, but political
strategies often confuse or obscure repopulation with the fiery
promotion of seasonal or residential tourism. Other second homes,
digital nomads or summer tourists, although they can contribute to
economic and in some cases cultural exchange, do not respond to the
urgent need to protect the places. On the contrary, instead of allowing
a rush to sell off the places, we could courageously monitor that access
to these lands is privileged to those who want to live there in a
peasant way, to respond to the needs of daily protection and care of
which the continuation of life in the places it needs. Because the
"development" economy guided by market principles cannot ignore the need
to preserve life.
Association Porto di Terra
https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten