The rainforest is quite useful you know - Part 3

Ok, this one might not be something you expected.

The rainforest is also quite useful as a home.

People have been living in the world's major rainforests for thousands of years and they are almost certainly the only places where any "uncontacted" groups of people may be dwelling. One statistic states that over 50 million people live in the world's tropical forests.

Dufour (1990) and Jonkers and Foahom (1992) provide studies that imply that natives of the regions of Brazil and Cameroon respectively have been living in harmony with nature for thousands of years (as naive as that may sound). It is however, not as simple as it sounds, with many native groups having advanced agricultural systems within the rainforest whilst still keeping it's "natural" state. Dufour even states that what we may we as natural forest may in fact be the result of centuries of use for agriculture. Few would find it easy to argue that these native people do not treat the environment in which they live with respect and many were satisfied to live in the same way even with recent advancements in technology (Dufour, 1990).

The Huli from Papua New Guinea
more information found here

Pygmies from Central Africa

The Yanomami from South America

Perhaps, we can learn something from these people in terms of how to treat the rainforest in order to keep it in the aesthetically pleasing way we so desire.

That's all for now.