Pipantes
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Krausirpe, Gracias a Dios, Honduras, February 1993
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For a few months in early 1992, I lived with the Tawahka Indians, studying their culture, resource management practices, agricultural and fishing techniques. I learned about the challenges faced by this small indigenous group from outside forces beyond their control. Mostly though, I grew to love and appreciate these gentle and welcoming people who accepted me into their homes and lives.
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The Tawahka, an indigenous group of approximately 1,500, live in the middle Río Patuca region of La Mosquitia in northeastern Honduras. Up until the early 17th century, they originally lived on the northern Caribbean coast but were forced inland by the Miskito Indians. There, the Tawahka adopted new subsistence patterns, primarily hunting, fishing and swidden agriculture, which historically have had minimal negative impact on the region’s biodiversity and ecological integrity.
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Although the Tawahka have been geographically isolated for centuries they continue to struggle with the challenge many indigenous peoples face: how to maintain the values and cultural practices that make them unique while resisting outside threats to the tropical rain forest ecology and their natural resource management practices. .
The Tawahka Asangni Biosphere Reserve (TABR), formally designated in 2002, was meant to curtail outside impacts on the Tawahka. Sadly, pressure from wealthy cattle ranchers, environmental refugees, drug traffickers, and of course, climate change continues to threaten the Tawahka’s culture and livelihood, as well as the forest’s stunning natural beauty. And to add insult to injury, the Covid-19 pandemic has the potential to wreak havoc with indigenous populations.
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Protected areas such as the TABR are meant to shield biodiversity as well as the native human populations. Acknowledging that human activities are intertwined with the natural world is crucial to the long-term management of protected areas.