Colonization of the Rainforest
Left: Research center 50 miles from Iquitos, Peru. Photo: Larry Cartmill The record for
colonization in the rainforests is a dismal one. The World Bank has supported many
rainforest colonization projects and continues to do so, but even it admits that
"successful examples of colonization by nationals (that is, non-forest-dwelling
groups) are exceedingly rare." Colonists at Angamos in the Peruvian rainforest, in a
project financed by the Peruvian and Swiss governments, are unable to grow enough food to
feed themselves. During the regular period of famine, the colony survives, according to a
World Bank document, only by buying, but more usually stealing, food from the Matses,
indigenous forest dwellers who are their neighbors. The Matses are looked on by the
colonists and project officials as primitive people.
They have only simple tools, whereas the colonists
have more sophisticated tools as well as fuel oil, pesticides, and fertilizers.
Nonetheless, the Matses grow enough food to feed themselves and survive the predations of
their subsidized neighbors. In spite of this and similar incidents elsewhere, colonists
are never encouraged to adopt the agricultural methods, or even modifications of them, of
the local people. (Caufield, 1985).
Right: This road being built in
Brazil is beneficial to humans, but what about the Rainforest? Photo: NASA Earth Observation Images