1. Rainforest Degradation and Indigenous Health
Seth Ross
NR 107
November 13, 2008

2. Rainforests: a Very General Overview
Temperate vs. Tropical
-South & Central America
-Africa
-Australia
-Asia

3. -160—400 inches rain/year
-Amazon Basin: 5% world’s
fresh water
-2% of Earth’s Surface
-50% living species
in biosphere
Regulate global supplies of fresh water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, weather
…for how long?

4. Tropical Deforestation: Feeding a Hungry Western World
-agriculture
-cattle ranching
-mining
-natural resource extraction
An area the size of
a football field is
cleared
every second.

5. Environmental Degradation
-soil erosion
-soil contamination
-water contamination
-loss of plant and animal diversity
What does this mean for the health
of indigenous people?

6. Indigenous Peoples -2003: 48.4 million living in Latin America and
Caribbean
-89% located in
Mexico
Guatemala
Ecuador
Peru
Bolivia

7. Brief Health History of Latin American Indigenous People
Pre-Colonial Era
(before 15thcentury)
-gatherer hunters
-isolated groups
million
-20% world population
Post-Colonial Era:
(15th century to present)
-Diseases
smallpox, measles, flu
-population drops to
11 million in 100 years
-1.6% world population
-forced to poverty

8. Effects of Rainforest Degradation on Indigenous Health
Primary vs. Secondary Effects
Primary Effects:
Environmental consequences that
hinder the security of one’s
immediate basic needs.
Secondary Effects:
Consequences of Primary Effects.

9. Primary Effects -water contamination -loss of food -agri.contamination
-loss of game and wild edibles
-loss of traditional medicine
-loss of raw materials

10. Secondary Effects -acculturation -poverty -diseases of poverty
-marginalization

11. Future of Indigenous Health: a Case Study of the Shipibo-Conibo
-Peruvian Amazon Amerindians—Ucayali River
villages: inhabitants each
-about 25,000 total population
-inhabit ecologically and economically fertile
floodplains=high value for western agro-industry

12. Shipibo-Conibo Cultural View of Health:
“Disruption of the reciprocity between
human beings and nature leads to illness. Disease is a sign that the harmonious relations between themselves and the natural system
have been disturbed”- Foller 2006

13. A Medicinal Synergy -Shipibo-Conibo face common
Indigenous health issues
-limited access to western medicine
-WHO& PAHO vaccine campaigns
but little preventative care:
-promotor de salud
-tecnico sanitario
-possible annual doctor visit
-non-professional (spiritual) health-
care most common treatment
Ametra-Ucayali-local health system
-western+traditional integration
-controlled Cholera outbreak in 1990’s
-western rehydration methods
-traditional diet, medicines, spirit
Such integrations provide immediate
aid yet any healthcare system will truly
sustain a group when standards exist
for environmental and cultural
preservation

14. Conclusions: Indigenous Value and Right to Human Life
-benefit to western medicine
genuine ecological knowledge
Living relics of our own species deserve respect

15. Works Cited
Colfer, D. Sheil,D. Kaimowitz and M. Kishi. Forests and human health in the tropics: some important connections. Food and Agricultural Organization.
Foller, Maj-Lis.Future Health of Indigenous Peoples A human ecology view and the case of the Amazonian Shipibo-Conibo Futures Vol. 27 pp Elsevier Science Ltd.
Montenegro, Raul A, Stephens, Carolyn. Indigenous health in Latin America and the Carribean Lancet Vol. 367 pp