Yes, there’s tremendous media distortion about both indigenous peoples and nature’s ecologies. The “lost tribe” stories are a case-in-point. While these tribes are “uncontacted” they have been known for a long time. The original news stories were quite fair about this, for example: AP but as the “Lost Tribe” meme gained media currency, the British newspaper THE OBSERVER played the photos out as a “hoax” causing a new round of sensational stories and a most unfortunate attack on the credibility of the outstanding NGO Survival International. Their defense is here. All of this confirms (I believe) the basic drift of Steve’s post.

One small quibble: I have little doubt of cited MacDonald’s misrepresentations but it’s important also to note that rain forests are not only tropical. The North American Pacific Northwest is full of the temperate version and they are loaded with conifers.

All best,

lou
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