Forestdwellers

Forestdwellers are communities whose traditional or primary residence is within forest ecosystems and whose livelihoods rely closely on forest resources. The term is descriptive rather than a precise ethnonym, and it encompasses a variety of groups with distinct languages, cultures, and social structures.

Geographic scope and livelihoods vary, but forestdwellers are found across tropical, temperate, and boreal forests. Regions with notable forest-dwelling populations include the Amazon and other tropical basins, parts of Central and West Africa, Southeast Asia, and the boreal forests of North America and Eurasia. Common subsistence practices include hunting, gathering, fishing, shifting cultivation, and the extraction of forest products such as resin, rubber, honey, and medicinal plants.

Housing, social organization, and cultural practices are diverse and adapted to local environments. Dwellings may be built on stilts, directly on the forest floor, or in tree platforms, using locally sourced materials. Social organization often features kinship networks, clan or village structures, and customary governance that regulates use of resources and land rights. Traditional ecological knowledge guides seasonal activities, forest management, and health care.

Rights, governance, and challenges are central to the forestdweller experience. Many communities face land-tenure insecurity, displacement from protected areas, and competition with commercial logging, mining, and plantation agriculture. Some governments recognize customary land rights or implement community forestry and co-management programs aimed at balancing livelihoods with conservation goals.

See also indigenous peoples, forest governance, ethnobotany, extractivism, deforestation.