forests
Gathering Non-Timber Forest Products [journal article review]
While involvement by the Kadar in wildlife and forest management has been well publicized, a recent journal article gives details about the value of the forest products they gather. The article, published online by Jyotsna Krishnakumar and four of her colleagues, discusses the need for better management of the non-timber forest products (NTFPs) gathered by […]
Ju/’hoansi Community Forest Threatened
The government of Namibia established the Nyae Nyae Community Forest for the Ju/’hoansi earlier this year and the land is already threatened by illegal grazing. According to a report last week in the daily newspaper The Namibian, Xoallan /Ai!Ae, the chair of the Nyae Nyae Conservancy, went to the national capital, Windhoek, to plead with […]
Patterns of Mbuti Forest Life [video review]
“There are no fixed patterns in the Mbuti way of life—whenever the mood takes them, they move deep into the forest and set up a hunting camp.” The narrative that accompanies a marvelous film about the research of famed scientists Terese and John Hart also provides a great deal of information about the Mbuti way […]
Paliyan Utilizes Facebook
Thangaraj, a 23-year old Paliyan man in Tamil Nadu, India, posted some complaints on Facebook about delays by government officials in dealing with problems in his community. His strategy for publicity worked, according to a news report last week. As the only person in the Alagammalpuram Colony near the city of Madurai to have gotten […]
Batek Cope with Globalization [journal article review]
The Batek experiences with globalization, which bring violence and the fear of violence into their lives, have prompted many to move out of their forests into sedentary villages. In a journal article released a few months ago, Ivan Tacey carefully explains why global economic, social, cultural, and religious forces are so destructive to the Batek, […]
Mbuti Cherish the Forest—Does Anyone Care?
The man’s words are haunting: “We are Mbuti, children of the forest …. We were created in the forest, and the forest is where the spirits of our ancestors still live. The forest gives us all that we need.” Chief Mundeheykwa continues by describing the uses the Mbuti have traditionally made of forest resources—branches and […]
New Film Describes Malapandaram Forest Life
A recent 40-minute documentary film chronicles the lives of some Malapandaram who still live nomadically much of the year in the Kerala forests. The New Indian Express, a major English language daily that serves South India, published a story last week describing the film. R. Gopinathan, the filmmaker, spent six months working on his documentary, […]
Piaroa Agroforestry
Since the Piaroa settled into permanent communities and stopped shifting their garden plots from one tract to another, the farms they established have tended to degrade the land and deplete the forests. The people in the village of Gavilán, Amazonas State, Venezuela, are working to improve the situation. The Small Grants Programme (SGP) of the […]
Paliyans Cherish Traditions But Adapt to Modernity
The Paliyans are a “relatively non-violent peace loving innocent” tribe that once lived in the interior forests of western Tamil Nadu state, in southern India, according to a new blog about the people. Mr. A. Muthuvezhappan, the author of the blog, writes that they used to be a nomadic hunting and gathering people who subsisted […]
The Kadar and their Forests
The work of numerous Kadar in helping ornithological research on South Asian hornbills has inspired them to formally request greater involvement in the overall management of forest resources in Kerala. The Indian Forest Service appears to be favorably inclined to support their initiative. The Deccan Chronicle reported last week that eight Kadar communities in the […]
