The Amazon River Forest: A Natural History of Plants, Animals, and People, (Hardcover)

The floodplain forest of the Amazon is the last major agricultural frontier of the Americas. This unique habitat, inundated in some places to a depth of 30 feet a year, contains a marvellous variety of plant and animal resources that inhabitants have long reaped - fruit, nuts, building materials, fuelwood and medicinal plants. While the floodplain has great potential for food production, its natural resource base is becoming increasingly threatened by ranching and agricultural expansion and impaired by inappropriate land-use practices. This work, based both on field observations carried out over 25 years and on historical material, demonstrates that knowledge possessed by area dwellers offers vital insights for promoting the sound economic development of the floodplain. Ni gel Smith argues for the importance of balance between land-use systems, and suggests that research and development should be realigned to incorporate both modern science and traditional systems.