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Pygmy house made with sticks and leaves in northern Republic of the Congo. (Photo courtesy of "Tornasole")
AFRICAN PEOPLES OF THE RAINFOREST
Today the African rainforest is home to some of the most celebrated tribal people, the so-called "Pygmies" of the
Ituri forest in northern Zaire. The tallest of these people, known as the Mbuti, rarely exceed five feet (1.5 m). Besides the Mbuti, there are three other major rainforest peoples of Africa: the Aka (Central African Republic
and northern Congo), the Baka (southern Cameroon), and the Twa (central Zaire river basin). Together these groups
account for some 130,000 to 170,000 forest dwellers distributed over a large area of forest. The result is low
population density; the Mbuti average fewer than one person for every one-and-a-half square miles (four square
kilometers).
African forest people tend to be noticeably smaller than those from the savannas, the Pygmies being the most extreme
example. Their small stature undoubtedly enables them to move about the forest more efficiently than taller peoples.
Additionally, their smaller body mass allows pygmies to dissipate their body heat better.
These peoples live in bands that range in size from 15-70 people depending largely on outside factors—hunting,
trading, disease, and forest area. These groups tend to be nomadic, moving to new parts of the forest several times
during the year and carrying all their possessions on their backs. Their nomadic lifestyle is less damaging to the
rainforest environment because it allows the group to move without over-exploiting the local game and forest resources.
When they establish a settlement, they clear any undergrowth, small trees, and saplings, leaving the canopy-forming
trees intact. Under the cover of canopy, the pygmies are protected from the powerful tropical sun and can better
harvest such things as honey and game. By leaving the canopy intact, when the group leaves, the area can quickly
return to semi-primary forest. Their huts superficially resemble igloos, with a domed latticework formed with saplings
and walls of shingled tree leaves.
Most African forest people spend much of the year near a village where they trade bush meat and honey for manioc,
produce, and other goods. A forest family will almost always trade with the village family of its choosing, and
once determined, usually continues to trade exclusively with the same family. Sometimes, the relationship between the
forest family and the village family will be passed on to future generations. The forest people could stay in the
village if they chose, but instead return to the better life of the forest where they have less disease, cleaner
water, less work, more choices, less uncertainty, no need for money, and fewer disputes. Studies have revealed that
African forest people have better health and dietary intake than other populations in sub-Saharan Africa.
The day-to-day life of the forest people is probably simpler than that of the villagers. The women do most of the
gathering, using baskets they carry on their backs. Men concentrate on hunting and the collection of honey—perhaps
the forest product most prized and highly sought after by the Mbuti and other forest peoples. The Mbuti will climb
more than 100 feet (30 m) into the canopy to reach the honey-containing beehives. When they reach the nest, the climbers
burn a type of wood which produces a smoke that stuns the bees and enables the Mbuti to break into the hive and
collect the honey.
African forest peoples are excellent hunters and each forest group specializes in its own hunting method. For
example, the Efe people almost hunt their prey (over 45 species of animal) almost exclusively with bows and arrows. Other
groups use both bows and arrows and netting to capture their prey. Although in these groups, men do most of the
hunting of arboreal animals using bows and arrows and crossbows, women play an important role in the capture of
ground-dwelling animals. The men arrange the nets into a semi-circle and form a wall, up to one kilometer in length,
of hunting nets. The women scare animals into the nets where the men use spears to kill the game.
Traditionally forest people have a great deal of respect for the animals they hunt and do not over-exploit the
game. Even so, the bush-meat trade has increased beyond sustainable levels over the past few years to meet the
growing demand of expanding village populations. Additionally, African forest peoples are being hired as trackers
by ivory poachers to track down the endangered forest elephants, whose tusks are more valuable than those of savanna
elephants.
AFRICAN FOREST PEOPLES TODAY
The small number (in proportion to the sub-Saharan population) of forest people are highly threatened by destruction
of their homelands and official government policies to end their forest traditions. No legal land titles have been
granted to African forest peoples by Central African governments. During the 1980s and first half of the 1990s,
according the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, Africa lost the highest percentage of rainforest (10.5 percent)
of any forested realm, resulting in a further decline of the forest peoples. Much of the deforestation is the result
of the expansion of villages, due to population pressures, into forest areas, and commercial logging by multinational
corporations. Logging is especially problematic because logging settlements and roads into the interior open huge
tracts of previously inaccessible forest to rapid colonization. Logging camps not only bring unwanted colonists,
but also bring disease to the forest people who lack immunity to outside diseases like malaria. In addition, the
loggers usually do not bring manioc and produce to trade with the forest people, but instead introduce money, tobacco,
and marijuana. Game is becoming scarce for the pygmies from poaching by loggers and the noise created by their
heavy machinery and chainsaws.
The recent civil war and mass exodus of refugees from Eastern Zaire, has had unknown effects on the native
forest peoples. Thousands of refugees retreated into the rainforest. The extent of the interaction between the
refugees and the natives is largely unknown at the time of writing, though reportedly in some areas pygmies were having difficulty
trapping sufficient amounts of meat.
Asia's biggest logging company accused of bribery, violence in Papua New Guinea
(02/08/2010) A local organization in Papua New Guinea, known as Asples Madang, is fighting against one of the region's biggest industrial loggers, Rimbunan Hijau (RH) chaired by billionare Tiong Hiew King. Aspeles Madang has accused Malaysian company, RH, of acquiring land illegally and of using brute force and bribery in its dealing with locals.
Environmentalists and indigenous groups decry approval of massive dam in Amazon
(02/02/2010) The approval of the hydro-electric Belo Monte Dam from the Brazilian environmental agency, IBAMA, has raised condemnations from environmentalists and indigenous groups. The dam will divert the flow of the Xingu River, a tributary of the Amazon River, which runs through the Amazon in northeast Brazil. According to critics the dam will destroy vast areas of pristine rainforest, disrupt sensitive ecosystems, and relocate 12,000 people.
Real-life Avatar: court blocks destruction of indigenous community in Borneo
(01/27/2010) A court in the Malaysian state of Sarawak has issued an injunction to block the continued destruction of the Iban village of Sungai Sekabai, reports the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), an indigenous rights groups. Last week Sarawak state police demolished 39 Iban homes in a dramatic escalation of land dispute between the community and a state-backed palm oil developer.
Photos: park in Ecuador likely contains world’s highest biodiversity, but threatened by oil
(01/19/2010) In the midst of a seesaw political battle to save Yasuni National Park from oil developers, scientists have announced that this park in Ecuador houses more species than anywhere else in South America—and maybe the world. "Yasuní is at the center of a small zone where South America's amphibians, birds, mammals, and vascular plants all reach maximum diversity," Dr. Clinton Jenkins of the University of Maryland said in a press release. "We dubbed this area the 'quadruple richness center.'"
