Making A Living In The Tropical Forest - Yuqui Foragers In The Bolivian Amazon

Questions concerning the availability of resources in tropical rain forests have given rise to the current debate centering on whether human subsistence based solely on foraging is possible in these biomes without agricultural subsidies. This paper takes the position that changing perspectives on ecological pattern and process in tropical forests and the significant variation among tropical forests on a worldwide as well as regional scale must be taken into consideration. Human disturbance is also proposed as a cause of dependence on agriculture by modem human foragers rather than as a necessary precondition for successful exploitation of the tropical forest. These issues are discussed against the background of a case study of the Yuqui, who, until very recently, were true foragers in the Bolivian Amazon. For the Yuqui, the sustainability of their subsistence system depended on a fine-grained knowledge of their environment and the freedom of movement over a large territory to access resources within it.