Efforts to save the world’s rainforests appear to be fighting a losing battle. Since 1945, half of the planet’s existing rainforests have been destroyed, according to the independent ecological publication Green Action, and at the rate of deforestation taking place today, all rainforests will be destroyed within 10-15 years.

Unfortunately, Brazil is a textbook example of tropical deforestation. The process is deceptively simple, yet ultimately irreversible.

First, a penetration road is cut through virgin jungle. Next, the areais deforested. Although timber companies sometimes harvest the trees, more often than not the forest giants are simply cut down and burned. Colonization follows, the two main forms being cattle ranching and subsistence farming, neither of which is adequate justification for the destruction of the lush rain forests that have existed for millions of years.

Before Columbus “discovered” the Americas, an estimated five million Indians inhabited the Amazon Basin, sustainably existing within the forests and savannas. Today, less than 220,000 exist within the borders of Brazil, decimated by war, disease and progress.

The problems wrought by deforestation begin with an inability to recognize indigenous and native management of the natural resources that are being destroyed. This appears to stem from covert prejudice shown by Western science toward the folk sciences, which makes it difficult for trained scientists to accept any knowledge learned by their folk counterparts.

A favorite example of those who wish to show that all indigenous activities are not ecologically adaptive (as if deforestation is) often point to the classic Amazonian example of Indians falling enormous trees to take honey from hives that are too high to reach otherwise. Such practices, detractors maintain, are neitherecologically sound nor efficient.

In the case of the Kayapo Indians, however, this practice makes perfect sense. The trees that are felled by the Kayapo create an opening in the forest that offers a modifiable ecological zone
Into which hundreds of medicinal and edible plants can be introduced, forming a concentrated island of resources near trailsides and campsites.

Game animals also are attracted to these rich areas, drawn by the many edible foods that are relatively scarce in the lower levels of the surrounding high forests. The Indians even plant some species of plants to intentionally attract certain birds and mammals.

Thus, the felling of one large tree has many functions: it offers an immediate source of honey, provides a new ecological niche for useful plants and develops into a long-term hunting ground. This example illustrates how indigenous concepts of botanical use and conservation in relation to floral and faunal components are integrated into an overall management system. It also shows that the resultant analysis of the indigenous methods produces a quite different conclusion than original belief that felling trees for honey is anti-ecological.

The construction of these and other forest islands shows the degree to which the Kayapo create and manipulate microenvironments within and between ecozones, with an end result of increased biological diversity.

Long-term successional relationships change as the forest islands mature and grow. Because many plants materials are planted specifically to attract useful animals, the complexity of resource management greatly increases; the islands must be managed as both agroforestry units and game reserves.

The Kayapo frequently speak of plants as being “friends that grow up together.” Some species are known to grow better when planted in conjunction with certain other varieties and some plant associations are-known to inhibit growth. Soil qualities frequently are related to indicator plants, which allow the Kayapo to predict floral and faunal components of resultant ecozones. Each soil type is thus managed according to its characteristics, matching useful plant varieties to specific soil qualities.

Localized soil modifications also are made by the Kayapo using different types of ground cover, which affect moisture, shading and soil temperature. Cover includes vegetation, logs, leaves, straw and bark, depending on the desired effect. Holes sometimes are filled with organic matter, refuse and ash to produce pockets of highly concentrated rich soil. Banana leaves, stalks, rice straw and other organic materials are piled or burned in selected parts of fields to create additional microzonal variations.

What can be learned from these examples of the Kayapo about the rainforests? Minimally, an inventory of useful plants and animals can be generated, along with a more sophisticated understanding of ecological zonation and resource distribution. This could allow planners to use native species that are better adapted to the region, and which would consequently require less energy and chemical input for their management. Indigenous knowledge of soil and microclimatic variations, coupled with corresponding land-use patterns, offers successful alternatives to the costly and destructive monocultural systems that now dominate. Special thanks to the Rain Forest Alliance.