Mark J. Plotkin on Protecting the Amazon's Remaining Isolated Peoples
Mark J. Plotkin on Protecting the Amazon's Remaining Isolated Peoples
How can governments best protect the Amazon's remaining isolated peoples from the threats posed by outside contact?
The U.S. writer H.L. Mencken famously remarked, “There is always a well-known solution to every human problem — neat, plausible and wrong.” The question of how to protect the Amazon’s isolated tribes — which encompasses such difficult issues as human rights, rain forest conservation, preservation of cultural integrity, sustainable development, national sovereignty and addressing threats posed by drug trafficking — certainly falls under this principle.
Much of today’s debate centers on whether we should simply leave these tribal groups alone or purposely initiate contact to prevent...
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