ABSTRACT
Amerindian livelihoods demonstrate a depth of ecological knowledge rarely found in other societies. Thousands of years of survival strategies have provided the social capital needed to generate the multi-sectoral income flows found today in Amerindian communities. Renewable, organic materials from the forest ecosystem provided the base for almost every facet of life, while traditional management practices and the low density of human populations ensured that the carrying capacity of the system was never reached.
