Starving in the forest

This paper gives a brief history of the tropical rainforest regions of Middle America —Yucatan. It relates this history to the present destruction of the forests and how this destruction is interrelated with starvation. This paper demonstrates, through an example of water use, how planning and aid should be suited to a locality. Sections include: land use in tropical Middle America; determination of the forest function; exploiting the forests; loss of the forest; traditional [living] alternatives; Milpa: the shifting cultivation of the Maya; conuco; tree gardens; peasants and state projects; and land use planning in the pre-Spanish era.