gathering
Semai Uses of Forest Foods
The Semai have been gathering plants in the forests for generations and have profited from their knowledge of the wild foods, widely referred to as “ulam.” The Star, a leading Malaysian newspaper, published a story last week in which the reporter interviewed Rachel Thomas Tharmabalan, a researcher who specializes in analyzing the edible foods, especially […]
Paliyans Gathering Honey
Two women fled the Indian mega-city of Bengaluru for the rural life in Kodaikanal four years ago because they had been impressed by the Paliyans and their ways of harvesting wild honey. The story of the two women and the forest-cherishing spirit of the Paliyans impressed a reporter from the South Indian paper the Deccan […]
Taking Money from the Devil’s Claws
The sustainable harvesting of roots from the devil’s claw plants growing in the Kalahari Desert, and their careful marketing to international herbal medicine buyers, are returning increasing profits to the Ju/’hoansi. Two different reports last week, from the Namibia Economist and the New Era newspapers, carried complementary stories about the good economic news from the […]
The Batek Love Forests
Numerous Batek people living in Kuala Koh say that they still prefer living nomadically in the Malaysian forests rather than in permanent houses. Several were interviewed by Aimuni Tuan Lah for a report published in the Malay-language newspaper Utusan Malaysia last week. Over 60 Batek families move about the forest of Kuala Koh, also known […]
The Piaroa and the Giant Spiders
The Piaroa not only eat giant spiders that they find in the forests of southern Venezuela, they use them for their shamanic purposes. A European TV channel that specializes in culture and arts programing, the Association Relative à la Télévision Européenne (ARTE), sent a crew to Venezuela in order to broadcast last week a program […]
Attack of a Sun Bear
A Batek man and his son were attacked by a sun bear in the forest near Malaysia’s Taman Negara National Park on Tuesday last week and the nine-year old boy was seriously injured. Many Malaysian news sources reported on the incident over the next several days. The attack occurred at a river near the National […]
Protect the Gorillas and Hassle the Mbuti
When the Mbuti trespass in the forests of the world famous Virunga National Park to forage or to hunt, park guards frequently treat them brutally. The Inter Press Service reported recently on the harsh treatment and the discrimination that the indigenous people of the northeastern D.R. Congo receive from the national park service. The Mbuti […]
Mbuti Resist Expulsion from their Forests
An Mbuti group in the eastern D.R. Congo has successfully forestalled government attempts to establish a nature reserve that would have prevented their traditional uses of their forests. Instead, they are working with several major NGOs to develop an effective preserve that will include their indigenous rights to use sustainably the forest products. The Guardian […]
Changes for the Paliyans
A band of Paliyans used to live in the Sathuragiri Hills in the Western Ghats, but they settled into Ram Nagar in 1993 and they have had difficulty getting by ever since. A feature in The Hindu early last week described their former lives and the problems they now have to deal with. The newspaper […]
Preserving Traditional Culture in Namibia
The Nanofasa Conservation Trust in Namibia has gotten a significant amount of funding to help it set up a “Barefoot Academy” for the Ju/’hoansi. The organization’s 2014 Annual Report, dated March 3, 2015 and available on its website, stated as one of its goals for the coming year that it wanted to “set up [a] […]
