Find our other blogs related to World Wildlife Day 2021 at Wildlife Conservation in a Snapshot and The role of forests in enhancing sustainable conservation and utilisation of wildlife resources.
Below we have compiled regional examples of communities living adjacent to forests as well as stories from youth who work with forest and forest-communities around the world.
The Batwa People, Uganda
The Batwa, historically a nomadic, forest dwelling community of hunter-gatherers, are widely acknowledged to have been the first human residents of the forest areas of the greater Virunga ecosystem which stretch across much of what is now Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and DRC. In recent history however, the Batwa have become a displaced and largely forgotten minority ethnic group and their traditional culture and way of life is threatened with extinction.
The Batwa community first became fragmented as other ethnic groups populated their homelands, cutting back the forest to provide land for crops and livestock. However it was in 1991, following the creation of formal conservation areas such as the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Mgahinga Gorilla National Parks in Uganda to protect the endemic and endangered mountain gorilla population and outlawing all human activity in the forests surrounding the Virunga mountains, when everything changed for the Ugandan Bawta. Unable to live and hunt in the forest, the Batwa were forced to live in areas not suited to their traditional and historical way of life. They became largely excluded from Ugandan society. Batwa communities suffered duly from poverty and exclusion and have today still been offered little stake in the tourism industry which has developed in forests where they once lived.
The plight of the Batwa in Uganda is now being recognized and there are initiatives in place to support their communities and help them reclaim their traditional way of life. The United Organisation for Batwa Development (UOBDU),founded in 2000 aims to address land problems and develop sustainable livelihoods. UOBDU has identified four key areas of support: land & housing; education and adult literacy; income generation and forest access & benefit-sharing. By way of example, the Batwa Cultural Trail is a recent initiative launched by the Uganda Wildlife Authority and UOBDU.
The trail provides an income for Batwa, and it is the first initiative to afford them a stake in the conservation and management of the National Park which once was their home. As original inhabitants of the forest, the Batwa hold a rich knowledge bank underlying the forest, thus directly involving them in conservation efforts is a slatted win situation to the conservation efforts.
Danilo worked with indigenous and rural communities in the Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado to promote ecological restoration actions linked to local livelihoods improvements
Local + Indigenous Communities in Latin America + the Caribbean
Local and indigenous communities, maroon and peasant settlements have an important role in the forest conservation of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). According to the studies of the Red Amazónica de Información Socioambiental Georreferenciada (RAISG - in english Amazonian Network of Georeferenced Socio-Environmental Information, 2020) made in the Amazonia region (including its 9 countries) shows that Indigenous Territories and Protected Natural Areas have less deforestation than the general forest, even though the territories they face great threats. In Brazil those numbers are astonishing, 80% of deforestation happens outside protected areas.
Some Indigenous people have created initiatives to face the advance of illegal enterprises and to demand their voices to be heard by governments, regarding the authorization of infrastructure undertakings, the progress of the extractive sector in the region, claiming territories, etc. It’s a matter of survival as well, since 2012, LAC has been consistently the region with the most deaths of Land and Environmental Defenders, according to Global Witness (2019), and most of them are indigenous and local rural communities. Another important information of the NGO is that the murders are higher in countries that have great forest areas (Brazil, Colombia and Peru).
An important example of conservation is the Maya Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala, they have suffered great pressure but are resisting against the threats. They have been controlling the fires, even using drones to monitor the area. The story of some of these Environmental defenders can be found in a documentary about their fight in the defence of nature.
Another example is the Pataxó people in Bahia - Brazil, that are preserving the Indigenous Land Barra Velha. This area shelters an important remaining area of Atlantic Forest biodiversity (most of this coastal biome was wiped out in the European Colonization) that guards a great biodiversity. The Indigenous groups that live in the area not only conserve the forest but are also important to the diversity of fauna they cultivate, and using an agricultural system beneficial for nature.
All things considered, communities are crucial in the conservation of nature in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is urgent that local communities are included in the decision-making process, so they share their knowledges and participate actively in the institutional conservation of nature, it is also important to demand Land Rights, a recent campaign called attention to that matter, to know how to get involved and help more access: https://www.landrightsnow.org.
Alejandra discusses the challenges and solutions in securing better forests to communities in Mexico.
Dayak People, Borneo
Sarawak, Malaysia has a population of approximately 2.6 million, made up of 26 different ethnic groups. The Dayak (also referred to as Dyak and Dayuh) ethnic community of Sarawak in Borneo is a native group that includes more than 200 ethnic subgroups, each with its own customs, traditions, and territories. In Sarawak, the two biggest ethnic groups within the Dayak community are the Bidayuh, and the Iban, which make up 30 percent of the population. The Dayak community who live in the interior of Sarawak are often referred to as “Orang Ulu,” meaning people from the interior. However, the “interior” faces many modern environmental issues including deforestation, biodiversity loss, and lack of land rights, among others.
Dayak culture traditionally encompasses the belief that all things (animate and inanimate) embody a spirit. Each culture has different traditions and beliefs (and many of these are lost or misunderstood in translation) regarding animism, however, the core concept remains; there is undoubtedly sacred respect for nature and the relationship towards it. The Dayak community is a prime example of a forest community in that they survive as long as the forest survives. They typically live in longhouses (built from wood from the nearby forest) and eat, work, and otherwise sustain themselves as the forest provides. Their lives are so intertwined with that of the forests that the vast majority of the communities’ livelihoods’ would be negatively impacted by deforestation.
Indigenous Dayak people in Borneo face an ever-increasing amount of pressure to “globalize,” both from logging companies as well as the government, which aims to boost economic development in the region and country. The pressure to globalize and develop juxtaposes the traditional practice of shifting agriculture as well as other native customs that allow for a synthesis between forest sustainability and human wellbeing. With the increase of economic development, many Dayak territories have drastically changed and the loss of traditional knowledge threatens the future of the state’s forests. Despite the contradiction between national development and community livelihoods, there are many non-profit organizations and local civil society groups aiming to bring justice to the people who have been affected from the environmental issues related to the increase of corporate expansion. Environmental injustice is an ongoing fight in Borneo but as Lulu Belugu, an indigenous Dayak leader once stated: “Development does not mean stealing our land, our rights, our culture and our future. This is not development, but theft” (Weinlein, 2017).
From being carbon sinks to preventing impacts from flooding, Laura shares about the positive impacts that healthy, intact forests have in Kazakhstan.
Saami People, Russia, Norway, Finland and Sweden
Local and indigenous communities, i.e. the Saami/Sami, developed, and continue to develop, their culture in togetherness with nature, having as a foundation a deep adaptation to the arctic climate and nature. The Saami, or Sami, are reindeer herding forest dwellers who live in the Sápmi region, covering territories which are known politically as parts of Russia, Norway, Finland and Sweden.
Their traditional ways of living include hunting, fishing, and reindeer husbandry. The consequences of climate change are already affecting the Sami communities. Because of the unpredictability of the weather, mild winters and forest fires, reindeers have difficulties in finding food and migratory paths. Reindeer herding have supported and nourished the Sami peoples and the Sápmi land for generations, and in order to happen successfully, healthy forests and predictable weather are needed. The Arctic climate is one of the most vulnerable ones to climate change.
Already in 2010, the Guardian reported on how Sami culture could teach the western world on how to adapt to the climate crisis through living in harmony with nature. The article reported that a deep connection with forests and nature also led to more prepared municipal leadership, communications and preparedness systems. Nevertheless, the climate change consequences already seem to affect the mental health of Sami peoples, showing an inevitable connection between their ways of life and the state of the forests and of the environment.
Megan grapples with the contrast between how communities around the globe are responding to the needs of forests, compared to her own home in Kentucky, USA.
Indigenous Communities across Turtle Island (North America)
The forest ecosystems of Turtle Island have long been cared for and shared by the Indigenous People who live on these lands. The earliest accounts of reliance date back to the Paleo and Archaic periods, where the fruits, plants, nuts and forest animals provided the essential nutrients for nomads to survive. As populations continued to grow and the climate changed from a wet and cold climate to dry and arid, farming became more common for Indigenous Peoples. In addition to their usage of the ecosystems nutrients, Indigenous People managed the forest to ensure its survival. The processes they used are similar to the modern day processes of managing the ecosystem, whereby controlled fires are started though each reason differs. When settlers began arriving after 1492, management of forest ecosystems by the Indigenous People stopped through a variety of reasons including illness, population decimation and loss of rights.
Throughout the 529 years since settler arrival, management of the forest ecosystems have become the responsibility of the Canadian and United States governments. Their practices tend toward resource extraction versus preservation, decimating many of the forests for use for housing, farming and energy. Big changes didn’t occur until the Industrial Revolution when railroads were built and steam-generated power made trees a high demand commodity. Within 46 years of the 1800s tree production increased by a million for each year, changing the landscape forever.
As the sociopolitical landscape has changed, how involved Indigenous People are in management of Turtle Island has also changed. Both the gradual change from fighting in court and international recognition of the potential contributions of Traditional Knowledge to sustainable management of the forest ecosystem, Indigenous Peoples from North America are increasingly becoming involved in preserving, conserving and maintaining the ecosystems they still closely rely on. In numbers, there are 302 forested Indian reservations that encompass 17.9 million acres within the United States and of the roughly 1.6 million Indigenous people of Canada, 70% of their communities are located in forested areas. Many programs and acts have been created and implemented to ensure their involvement in forest ecosystem management, including the Indigenous Forestry Initiative in Canada and the signing of the Western Oregon Tribal Fairness Act. Both have given Indigenous Peoples the funds or rights to manage their ancestral lands, just in different ways.
Despite the positive changes to the treatment and recognition of Indigenous Peoples and their knowledge, they still face challenges in asserting their rights to steward the land. Just yesterday a First Nation burial site was destroyed by loggers, despite an understanding that the burial site adjacent to the private property would be given a buffer. Similarly before the current Biden Administration was in office, the Trump administration hadn’t stepped in to halt the transfer of Apache sacred lands to an Australian mining company. The exploitation of the lands in both instances isn’t unfamiliar to the Indigenous People originally from North America, but does continue to change for the better. However the Indigenous Peoples reliance on the forest ecosystems for food, shelter and heat hasn’t and if anything has only gotten stronger as they continue to embrace their culture.
Jessica is working with Indigenous communities in Mexico who rely on forests for culture and agriculture preservation.