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When Forest-Based Hunter-Gatherers Become Sedentar
When Forest-Based Hunter-Gatherers Become Sedentar
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Diet and health are sensitive he future of forest ecosystems rapid land use conversion occurs in
indicators of human adaptive is inseparable from the future forest regions.
responses to change. of people living in these forests. Changes in diets and exposure to
Accordingly, challenges to the health emerging diseases are sensitive indica-
of both the forest and humans should tors of the ecological and cultural costs
be investigated jointly. Unfortunately, that former hunter-gatherers are paying
research devoted to the consequences to get their share of modernity. Such indi-
of biodiversity loss on human health cators illuminate sensitive sociopolitical
has long focused on the ecological and problems that necessitate concerted and
global systems and persists in neglecting urgent interventions that will respond
sociological and psychological factors. to both development and conservation
Environmentalists, ecologists, anthro- interests. Recent hunter-gatherers pro-
pologists and medical scientists need vide insight into how humans lived when
to sit around the same table to inves- their lifestyles and genetic endowment
tigate the threats that simultaneously were more compatible. The cumulative
compromise the health of people and experience of hunter-gatherer socie-
the sustainability of their ecosystems. ties can be viewed as a benchmark for
Forest managers and policy-makers need present-day efforts to promote health
solutions that combine ecosystem man- and prevent disease, even in the world’s
agement and health-sector interventions industrialized countries.
to improve human health and well-being This article examines the changes in diet
while maintaining a healthy ecosys- and health that occur when nomadic for-
tem. The dramatic situation of the few est dwellers settle. Examples are drawn
remaining hunter-gatherer groups that from African Pygmy groups such as the
still greatly depend on forest resources Kola, Medjan and Baka of Cameroon,
is emblematic of what is at stake when the Aka of the Central African Republic
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E. DOUNIAS
The number of plant and animal spe-
cies declines with distance from the
equator. This pattern has also recently &GNQWUKPIKUEQOOQPUQEKCNDGJCXKQWT
been documented for parasitic and infec- Nevertheless, the economically, COQPIVJG$CMC2[IOKGUQHUQWVJGTP
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tious species. Climatic factors are of environmentally and politically driven VJGKTRGTOCPGPVXKNNCIGUHQTUGCUQPCN
primary importance in explaining the relocation of nomadic people jeopard- ECORUKPVJGHQTGUVGZEGUUKXG
link between latitude and richness of izes their health conditions by exert- RCTCUKVGUKPVJGECORQHVGPRTQXKFG
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human pathogens (Guernier, Hochberg ing enormous pressure on their natural
and Guégan, 2004). The high correlation environment and their cultural systems.
between the diversity of parasitic and Once these groups become sedentary
infectious diseases and the distribution and spend time in larger aggregations,
of tropical humid forests has nourished a reservoir that encourages the prolif-
the persistent belief that forests are eration and maintenance of a heavy their settlements significantly reduced
inhospitable environments for humans. pathogen load is established. In addi- their exposure to transmissible diseases,
This perception overlooks, however, the tion, environmental changes in local airborne and food-borne parasites and
numerous services provided by natural land use after settlement may combine faecal pollution. More than the scarcity
ecosystems to control the emergence with global climate alterations to disrupt of food, excessive parasites (fleas, lice
and spread of infectious diseases. The the natural ecosystem, producing new and ticks) in the camp provided a strong
protective function of biodiversity, for favourable habitats for vectors and caus- motivation to move to another place.
instance, includes maintaining the bal- ing an increased risk of transmission of The death of a member of the commu-
ance among predators and prey and viral and parasitic infections to humans nity also prodded the community to split
among vectors and parasites in plants, (Patz et al., 2000). and shift to new settlements, reducing
animals and humans (Chivian, 2001). at the same time the risk of any lethal
In the developed world, the image of FORMER HUNTER-GATHERERS factor contaminating other members of
Rousseau’s noble savage living in har- HAVE LOST THE ECOLOGICAL the group.
mony with his environment has persisted ADVANTAGES OF NOMADISM High mobility was facilitated by light
through the centuries, but excessive Nomadism and maintenance of small burdens and a limited number of sur-
romanticism has perversely reinforced communities were efficient adaptive viving children. Groups migrated along
the conviction among many forest man- responses to high diversity in para- extended and linear territorial trails.
agement practitioners and conservation- sitic and infectious diseases. Formerly Regular migrations along these trails
ists that the forest is insalubrious for nomadic hunter-gatherers lived in small not only reduced obstacles to obtaining
humans. Governing officials may use and scattered residential groups within food – as the hunter-gatherers owned
this view to justify decisions to push vast and sparsely inhabited forest lands and managed the forest resources within
forest dwellers outside the forest, sup- (typically less than one inhabitant per these linear territories, influencing their
posedly for their own sake. square kilometre). The impermanence of spatial distribution and density (Dounias
80–90 80–90
70–80 70–80
60–70 60–70
50–60 50–60
40–50 40–50
30–40 30–40
20–30 20–30
10–20 10–20
0–10 0–10
-500 -400 -300 -200 -100 0 100 200 300 400 500 -500 -400 -300 -200 -100 0 100 200 300 400 500
85–90
80–84
75–79 Women M en
70–74
65–69
60–64
55–59
50–54
The large bases of the two charts above reveal a high birth rate
45–49
40–44 that counterbalances the high child mortality. By contrast, the
35–39 tighter base of the age pyramid for peri-urban Tubu Punan
30–34
expresses a lower birth rate subsequent to decreasing
25–29
20–24 child mortality owing to facilitated access to medical care.
15–19
10–14
5– 9
0–4
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80
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2001) – but also ensured good aerobic falls from honey and fruit trees, snake- UGFGPVCT[-QNC2[IOKGUCPF2WPCP
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fitness, which resulted in low body fat, bites and human conflict. The life span of
low blood pressure, low cholesterol lev- remaining hunter-gatherers is relatively
els and prevention of cancer and car- short: among both the Punan and the
diovascular complications (Eaton and Kola Pygmies, people over 65 years NEW SEDENTARY WAY OF
Eaton, 1999). of age represent less than 2 percent of LIFEEXPOSES PEOPLE TO NEW
Although still a matter of controversy, the population (Figure). Today’s child DISEASES …
the “Palaeo diet” hypothesis (Wiss, mortality is comparable to that reported Although a few authors argue that per-
2006) argues that hunter-gatherers had in Europe a few centuries ago. Short life manent settlement may lead to improved
a healthy food regime that was rich in span and high child mortality are neces- health conditions, there is strong evi-
protein and fibre while low in salt, milk sary regulating factors in a Darwinian dence that the shift from nomadic to sed-
and sugar. selection process which has ensured a entary lifestyle generally compromises
Relatively good fitness was however stable demography and the related sus- health and well-being. Today, forest
counterbalanced by relatively high mor- tainability of the lifestyle in relation to populations are mostly farmers. Popu-
tality resulting from hunting accidents, resource availability (Froment, 2001). lations of hunter-gatherers who chose
TABLE 1. Comparison of parasitic load among different formerly forest-based hunter-gatherers who are currently settled
(percentage of infested population)
Sedentary Country Hookworms Whipworms Roundworms Amoeba
hunter-gatherers (#PM[NQUVQOC (6TKEJWTKU (#UECTKU spp.)
spp. and 0GECVQT spp.) Pathogen Non-pathogen
spp.)
African Pygmies
Mbuti Democratic Republic 85 70 57 36 –
of the Congo
Kola Cameroon – 85 51 – –
Medjan Cameroon – 83 90 – –
Amerindians
Yanomami Brazil 59 80 86 49 85
Ticuna Colombia 83 77 76 69 55
Palikur French Guyana 90 19 76 31 16
Campa Peru 45 20 28 21 37
Xingu Brazil 81 – 18 61 87
Note: – = no data
not to shift to agriculture are currently damper nights with warmer, drier days causes of malnutrition, infectious diar-
undergoing a sociological transition. favours pulmonary pathologies. rhoea and child mortality.
They are confronted with demographic Poor sanitation and increased promis- The wearing of European clothes is
expansions that test the carrying capacity cuity bring more frequent contact with strongly encouraged by missionaries
of wild edible resources (i.e. the ability human and animal wastes, thus encour- and local authorities. In the absence of
of the resource to supply the needs of aging faecal pollution and increasing soap, however, the same clothes are worn
the consumer group without detrimental parasitic load. Rates of intestinal worms dirty until they become dilapidated and
effect on the survival of the resource) – which cause anaemia and possibly thus form a propitious ground for skin
and force hunter-gatherers to become delayed growth, with potentially dra- diseases.
more sedentary. matic consequences for the psychic The risk of contracting zoonotic dis-
Even more threatening than food inse- development of children – have gener- eases (diseases transmitted between
curity to the survival of forest people ally risen with a sedentary way of life. animals and humans) is elevated in
is the burden of transmissible diseases, However, the sedentary Punan suffer human-inhabited or domesticated for-
which are particularly diverse in moist lower rates of parasitic loads than, for est by the proliferation of rodent-borne
and hot ecosystems. instance, many African Pygmy groups, disease vectors, as rodents are attracted
The following are some direct detri- because they have settled along river by domestic garbage and food storage.
mental effects on health of the transition banks and use rivers for sanitary pur- Frequent contact with a broader range
to a sedentary way of life. poses (Table 1). The rich aquatic fauna of domesticated animals also raises the
Cleared lands in which permanent vil- ensures a quick and efficient recycling probability of pathogen transfer between
lages are established have a greater range of human waste. Faecal pollution is also species. In addition, standing water near
of daily fluctuations in temperature and a source of bacterial as well as viral the habitat attracts disease-carrying
humidity. The alternation of colder, infections of the gut, which are major insects.
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E. DOUNIAS
The emergence of novel zoonotic dis- small, isolated group of people, these gatherers, tuberculosis is the greatest
eases also becomes more acute with set- pathogens cannot last for long: they contributor to human mortality (Barrett
tlement. It is probable that new zoonoses race through the group and every per- et al., 1998).
have historically emerged from wildlife son is infected; subjects either perish or Low population density and scattered
many times but failed to spread from the develop an enduring immunity, and the settlements related to the nomadic life
focus of emergence because infected pathogen dies out once there is no one left effectively protected against vector-
victims living in scattered small hamlets to infect. But wherever humans gather to borne diseases as human potential hosts
either died or recovered before coming form a large, concentrated population, were diluted in the environment and thus
into contact with larger human popula- these diseases have a sufficient critical less visible to vectors. Nomadic Punan
tions. In modern times, the exponential mass of inhabitants to permit propa- and Pygmies were free of malaria since
rise in volume and speed of trade and gation. The pathogen can persist even they constantly moved outside the flight
travel has transformed the epidemiology after an epidemic, because births and range of the mosquito vectors before
of emerging infectious diseases, giving immigration continually provide enough the malaria-causing parasites (Plas-
them global rather than local impor- new hosts. The pathogen can prosper modium spp.) were able to reproduce.
tance. By living in permanent and more indefinitely, and another epidemic may Landscape alterations and developments
crowded villages, the former hunter- ensue when the number of new hosts that accompany the resettlement of
gatherers who continue to depend on has grown sufficiently. In Kalimantan, nomadic societies, such as the building
bushmeat – for their own diet and for smallpox caused severe damage among of roads, timber extraction, mining and
trade – are more exposed to zoonotic Dayak farmers, but the nomadic Punan agro-industrial plantations, lead to out-
diseases and more likely to contribute to had little trouble with it because they breaks of malaria. Temporary workers
their diffusion. They have higher levels practised silent barter to avoid direct in areas of high and endemic malaria
of immunoglobulins in their blood than physical contact during epidemics: they (e.g. logging camps, agro-industrial vil-
do agriculturists, which indicate a higher marked a site where outside traders could lages) sometimes bring back acute forms
propensity for infection. Infection often deposit their goods, and after the traders of Plasmodium spp. which may set off
leads to malnutrition, which in turn leads were gone they took the goods and left an epidemic. In 2002, this happened in
to low resistance and thus to further their payment in forest products in the two remote Punan villages of the Tubu
infection, in a vicious circle. same place (Knapen, 1998). However, watershed when workers returning from
Increased exposure to transmissi- today it is no longer possible to resort Malaysia brought back a severe form of
ble diseases (e.g. smallpox, measles, to protective silent barter or simply to malaria, which killed 28 children (half
mumps, cholera, rubella, diphtheria and find refuge further inland. Among the the population under five years of age)
influenza) is associated with dense con- various re-emerging infectious diseases within just a few months.
centrations of human settlements. In a occurring today among former hunter- Industrialization and urbanization,
which generally follow economic growth TABLE 2. Body mass index (BMI) of some former hunter-gatherer societies
in tropical forests, bring in their wake EQORCTGFYKVJVJCVQHUQOGQHVJGKTſUJKPICPFHCTOKPIPGKIJDQWTU
changes to a population’s diet and nutri-
Population Men Women Source
tional status. The shift to a sedentary
way of life affects food availability Coastal Kola, Cameroon
Pygmies 20.2 19.7 Froment et al., 1993
and distribution and particularly influ-
;CUCſUJGTU 22.3 21.9 Froment et al., 1993
ences children’s nutritional status and Mvae farmers 22.0 22.5 Froment et al., 1993
health. Resettled peri-urban Punan and
Continental Kola, Cameroon
sedentary Kola and Baka Pygmies, for
Pygmies 20.0 19.8 Kesteloot et al., 1996
example, tend towards an excess intake Bulu and Ngumba farmers 20.7 21.0 Kesteloot et al., 1996
of energy-dense foods that are rich in
Efe, Democratic Republic
fat and free sugars but low in complex of the Congo
carbohydrates. Evidence from epide- Pygmies 20.2 20.2 Bailey et al., 1993
miological studies has confirmed a link Lese farmers 21.6 21.7 Bailey et al., 1993
between such a diet and risks of degen-
Borneo, Indonesia
erative chronic diseases of middle and Tubu Punan (remote) 20.6 19.9 Dounias et al., 2004
later adult life, particularly cardiovas- Tubu Punan (peri-urban) 19.9 19.6 Dounias et al., 2004
cular diseases and certain types of can- Iban farmers 20.9 22.2 5VTKEMNCPFCPF&WHſGNF
cer. Other nutritional disorders such as
anaemia, obesity, hypertension, elevated The body mass index (BMI) – an esti- practical reasons these advantages are
cholesterol levels and diabetes are also mate of the relative percentages of fat seldom achieved. Permanent settlements
appearing among these former hunter- and muscle mass in the human body are generally distant from cities, and
gatherers. Their legendary good fitness based on an equation relating weight remoteness from services remains a
is compromised and is currently inferior and height – is widely used to assess constraint. For instance, the sedentary
to that of their farming neighbours. the nutritional condition of a given Baka Pygmies are much more affected
population. The indexes of sedentary by yaws, a non-venereal form of syphi-
hunter-gatherers are significantly lower lis, than their farming neighbours (80
than those of their farming neighbours. percent versus 37 percent, respectively)
However, the BMI of the Tubu Punan as a direct consequence of their unequal
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who have chosen to stay in the forest access to health facilities. Civil servants,
UGFGPVCT[$CMCXKNNCIGTU (referred to as “remote” in Table 2) is many of whom still perceive the forest
much better than that of their relatives dwellers as primitive, often refuse to be
who were encouraged by the Indonesian posted to remote settlements or leave
authorities to settle down near the city after a few months. For the forest dwell-
of Malinau in the early 1970s (referred ers, the illusion of development gives
to as “peri-urban” in the Table). way to frustration and the feeling of
being left behind. Social support such
… AND CAUSES NEW SOCIAL as mutual aid, collective activities and
DISORDERS food sharing is in constant decline and
Modernization – often hastened by is being replaced by more individualistic
government incentives – is generally attitudes.
associated with increased poverty. It Stress and depression are fairly com-
contributes to a series of social disor- mon mental diseases, which may lead to
ders that indirectly affect the health of conjugal violence and various types of
forest dwellers (Levang, Dounias and addiction. Heavy alcoholism and smok-
Sitorus, 2004). ing are sources of direct intoxication and
Facilitated access to education, mar- can be indirect causes of pathologies
kets and trade, job opportunities and such as tuberculosis. The conversion of
local health services is the usual argu- the Punan to Christianity has limited the
A. FROMENT
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are symptoms of
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