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Forest Dwellers of Today
Presently most people living in and around tropical rainforests are colonists of mixed descent, not indigenous people living in traditional ways. These colonists usually migrate to the rainforest seeking to escape rural (and to a lesser extent urban) poverty, sometimes as part of government programs to develop national wildlands, and at other times following roads created by forest developers. When they arrive, colonists may know little of cultivation techniques in the tropical rainforest and sometimes mimic those of local detribalized indigenous people no longer living in their traditional ways. Thus the people come to rely on manioc (cassava) as the basic ingredient in most meals and acquire protein through hunting and fishing. Subsistence farming using slash-and-burn techniques and sometimes agroforestry methods generally produce food for consumption (especially manioc, yams or potatoes, and plantains) and some cash crops (black pepper, fruit). Income is derived from the sale of cash crops, charcoal, lumber, and various forest products and is used to purchase some foods and manufactured goods.
