Resources of Africa
Written by: Rylie Lamar
Natural resources are an
important part of our world and our environment. They help make certain
products and keep the world sustained. We are dependent on them more than what
we think. There are certain people around the world who rely heavily on these
resources even more. These people are indigenous people who are native to
specific areas where natural resources are found. These people and their needs
go beyond using them in chemically altered products that are massed produced.
These people rely on the raw natural resources that are found in nature. They
rely on wood, oil, coal, plants and animals.
In the country of Africa there are numerous exportations
of natural resources. One natural resource threatens the livelihood of native indigenous
groups to Africa is wood. Wood can be found in forests and even some small
plateaus. The wood that is most generally used by the population is mahogany,
which is native and easily available in Africa. Mahogany is used for countless
carpentry projects. These projects include building houses, making furniture
and even making some wood-based instruments. Due to such a high demand the
forests of Africa are dangerously close to depletion, which causes extreme
concern for native tribes who live in tropical forests of Africa.
The Twa people, commonly known as the Batwa, Bambuti, and
the Baka, are indigenous to many regions spanning across Africa. They are found
in the Congo-Brazzaville, or the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia. This native tribes are inhabitants of
a large portion of Africa. Their populations span about one hundred thousand
people. This is subsequently a large group of people. This in turn can
highlight the amount of natural resources that these people are dependent on. This
also highlights how their population numbers can dwindle if the natural
resources they rely on disappear.
The indigenous Twa people are commonly referred to as the
forest people. They are identified as such because they are commonly found in
areas of tropical forests, like that of the rain forest. The Twa people are
like any indigenous community before the new era. They survive on the land as
hunters and gatherers of their own food. This lifestyle is brought forth by the
help of the forest. The forest holds everything natives of forest land need to
survive and to keep their population growing beyond what it currently is now.
The Twa people use the forest to find food that keep them
sustained like plants and other vegetation as well as meat, and even insects.
There are other items that are found in the forest that can be used by the Twa
people. These items consist of medicinal herbs and spices. They can use the
bark off trees mixed with plants and potentially the fruit. The forest also
helps to provide shelter to the Twa people. They use the branches from trees to
construct their huts with which they use as their means of shelter. Not only
does the forest provide protection from weather and food, it also provides clothing
for the indigenous people. They use bark fur for loin cloths, which they use
for clothing.
Not only does the forest provide a physical connection to
its indigenous inhabitants, there are also spiritual and cultural connections
as well. The Twa people are connected to the places the live in more ways than
one. It may appear that they only rely on the forests for one thing, however
that may not be the case. The Twa people are spiritually connected to the land
that they live on. They have gained their culture, language and many other
aspects that define who they are from the region where they come from.
Their
language, culture and way of life are in jeopardy of becoming extinct at the
hands of consumers who need their natural resources. There is growing concern
for the natural resources that most indigenous people are dependent upon. This
concern stems from the depletion of natural resources that is occurring
world-wide. This depletion is having grave consequences on indigenous
communities/tribes.
Deforestation
is a growing concern for most of the Twa people, and other tribes who live near
or in tropical forestry. Deforestation is a continually growing problem, not
just among the Twa people and in Africa. There are other parts of the world
that are being affected with the problem of deforestation. Deforestation can
create great harm, not only on lands and people, but it can also endanger
native plants.
Deforestation can cause problems for the everyday lives
of natives. With deforestation it means that the animals that inhabited the
forest will soon dwindle. Plants will die out and the native people’s way of
life will disappear. It’s not just the concept that their food will be depleted,
and they won’t have a place to live. It goes beyond those matters.
Sources
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