Satellite view of Deforestation in Brazil (courtesy of DigitalEarth)
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Forest People Today
Tropical rainforests have supported humans since ancient times. Although forest life cannot be described
as easy, these peoples have built their lives around the surrounding forest and its systems. Consequently, they are a great storehouse of the knowledge about the forest. They know the medicinal properties of plants and understand the
value of the forest as an intact ecosystem. As forests fall, these indigenous peoples lose their homes and culture. Conflicts with settlers, who also bring disease and domestic animals, has resulted in the decline of the native population in many areas.
In the past, commercial firms, settlers, and governments developed forest lands without the permission of the original indigenous
inhabitants. Even today, in countries like Brazil and Bolivia, private interests illegally encroach on the lands
of native peoples.
Sometimes, tribal groups are given the choice whether to allow their lands to be developed or
left in a natural state. If developed, indigenous people generally expect that they will receive some of the benefits
of "civilized" life, including better education for their children, access to health care, and infrastructure
like roads and electricity. Other times, the group may choose to keep their more familiar, natural lifestyle in
the forest by rejecting development. More often, an indigenous group is split between the two choices and
a bitter rift forms within the community. Sometimes a development firm will sign an agreement with those who support development while ignoring the demands of those who want to keep the status quo.
For example, in Papua New Guinea, some Bahineimo tribesmen chose to sell off their land to logging firms. After the agreement was signed, it emerged that many of the signatures were forged and the government suspended the deal. Similarly, in oil-ravaged Ecuador,
oil companies have worked to influence high-ranking members of indigenous organizations to permit oil development on native
lands while ignoring those who oppose development.
"Divide and conquer" tactics are frequently used to factionalize indigenous organizations, weakening their power and capitalizing on the traditional animosity between tribal groups. Indigenous groups end up battling one another instead of developers.
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Colonists' homes in the Brazilian Amazon
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Sometimes indigenous elders are tricked into signing contracts that grant their lands as concessions to developers. For elders it can be difficult to understand the "sale" of land, since within their traditional community, land, along with other material objects, are considered communal property and responsibility. Likewise, children who lose a parent or are abandoned are usually adopted and raised by the group as a communal responsibility.
Traditionally, the governments of tropical countries side with economic development over the interests of "marginal" native peoples. Thus, the government often encourages native peoples to yield to firms, emphasizing the incentives that development will bring over the potential costs. Though less frequent in today's increasingly democratized society, some governments still unilaterally grant indigenous lands to firms for development. Several countries still refuse to recognize indigenous land rights, no matter how small or legitimate their lands claims are.
Today many indigenous peoples choose to be slowly assimilated into the outside society. They seek the apparent
conveniences of cotton T-shirts, metal pots, and Tupperware. They are impressed with the dugouts fitted with outboard
motors and the wrap-around sunglasses that visiting tourists wear. As they turn towards this culture, elements of
their own are lost. As youths increasingly leave the forest, native ways are forgotten and considerable knowledge
about the interwoven fabric and complexity of the rainforest is lost forever. Gone is knowledge of medicinal plants.
Gone are the unique methods of cultivation in the rainforest which could be useful today. Gone is the understanding
of the ecological value of the rainforest along with the acknowledgement that forests can be sustained and used
for human benefit. Gone are the unique cultures that have dwelled in the forest for thousands of generations.
Whether these indigenous people find what they are seeking when they leave the forest can only be known to them.
Sadly it seems that many indigenous people harbor misconceptions about life outside the rainforest. As they move
into cities or government agricultural projects, they enter an unfamiliar environment where they are often shunned.
Lacking the skills valued by society and adequate Western education, indigenous peoples are often destined for
a life of poverty as part of the lowest rung of the wage-earning class. Very few people leaving the forest for
the city successfully make the transition on their own and many find themselves returning to their native lands
in one capacity or another.
Increasingly, instead of being encouraged to migrate into cities or agricultural plots, native peoples are being
incorporated into community management schemes and multiple-use reserves. Under this system, tribal groups can
remain living in a traditional manner should they desire, but still earn an income. Several NGOs have initiated
projects that encourage native peoples to keep some ties to their past so that their knowledge of the forest ecosystem
does not die along with their culture.
The new rainforest dwellers
Increasingly "rainforest people" describes colonists who have recently emigrated to rainforest areas. In the process, they have displaced indigenous forest people and conducted activities that are not in sync with the rainforest environment. Not knowing the best way to cultivate rainforest lands, they rely on slash-and-burn subsistence agriculture while introducing domesticated animals and foreign disease. While their presence is tough on indigenous groups and their surrounding ecosystem, these colonists also suffer at the hands of large-scale forest developers and land speculators.
Violence between small farmers and large landholders is commonplace in the Amazon. The Pastoral Land Commission, a nongovernmental group working in the Amazon Basin, found that in 2004 land battles in Brazil's countryside reached the highest level in at least 20 years. According to the annual report by the organization, documented conflicts over land among peasants, farmers, and land speculators rose to 1,801 in 2004 from 1,690 conflicts in 2003 and 925 recorded in 2002.
Such conflicts made international headlines in 2005 with the slaying of Dorothy Stang, an American nun who worked to protect the rights and interests of small farmers in the Brazilian state of Para. Her murder sparked an international outcry to stop death-squad activities and deforestation in the Amazon, and moved the Brazilian government to establish new protected areas and send thousands of troops to the region. Stang's killers, allegedly hired by local landowners, were convicted and sentenced to long prison terms in December 2005.
More on Stang: Comment from Stang's brother | Sentence
Review questions:
- What is happening to traditional indigenous cultures of rainforest peoples?
- Who are the new "people of the rainforest"?
[print version | spanish | french | portuguese | chinese | japanese]
Continued: Deforestation
This article was written by Rhett A. Butler [bibliographic citation for this page] and was last updated on the most recent date listed in the column on the right side.
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CONTENTS
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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
INTERACT
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Recent news
New rainforest and indigenous reserve established in Peru
(02/07/2012) On February 4th, the Peruvian government and a small indigenous group created a new Amazon reserve, dubbed the Maijuna Reserve. Located in northeastern Peru, the 390,000 hectare (970,000 acres) reserve is larger than California's Yosemite National Park and over three times the size of Hong Kong.
Guyanese tribe maps Connecticut-sized rainforest for land rights
(02/07/2012) In a bid to gain legal recognition of their land, the indigenous Wapichan people have digitally mapped their customary rainforest land in Guyana over the past ten years. Covering 1.4 million hectares, about the size of Connecticut, the rainforest would be split between sustainable-use regions, sacred areas, and wildlife conservation according to a plan by the Wapichan tribe that will be released today. The plan says the tribe would preserve the forest from extractive industries.
Supernatural beliefs keep hunting sustainable on Indonesian island
(02/02/2012) How do indigenous communities hunt without pushing target species to local extinction? In other words, how have communities retained sustainable practices over countless generations. One answer is given in a new study by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the Center for International Research in Agronomy and Development (CIRAD): supernatural beliefs. Looking at a community of indigenous people on the Indonesian island of Seram, researchers found that supernatural hunting beliefs ensured animals never vanished for good.
Group releases close-up photos of 'uncontacted' tribe in Peru
(02/01/2012) New photos provide visual evidence of just how close the long-isolated tribe of Mashco-Piro people in the Amazon rainforest are to being contacted by the outside world—a perilous moment for tribes highly susceptible to disease and likely to defend their people and territory with weapons. According to indigenous rights NGO Survival International, the Maschco-Piro tribe has been seen more frequently outside of their forest home in Manu National Park in recent years. Some experts blame illegal logging in the park and helicopters used in oil and gas projects for the sightings.
Brazilian mining company connected to Belo Monte dam voted worst corporation
(01/31/2012) The world's second largest mining company, Vale, has been given the dubious honor of being voted the world's most awful corporation in terms of human rights abuses and environmental destruction by the Public Eye Awards. Vale received over 25,000 votes online, likely prompted in part by its stake in the hugely controversial Brazilian mega-dam, Belo Monte, which is being constructed on the Xingu River. An expert panel gave a second award to British bank Barclay's for speculation on food prices, which the experts stated was worsening hunger worldwide.
More rainforest news
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