ABSTRACT
The Paranaense forest is the area inhabited by the Mbyá. The Mbyá-Guaraní ethnic groups have been characterized by their broad mobility since preHispanic times. Nowadays they face more restrictions on moving, but, even so, small groups of people migrate from one place to another within the present territories of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina, developing traditional life strategies. The subsistence activities of these communities are basically carried out in the monte. This ecosystem, characterized by a rich biodiversity, has allowed them to develop their economic activities over time: hunting, fishing, harvesting, and clearing and burning agriculture. The colonization of this region has modified the area, affecting its characteristics, as well as the aboriginal lifestyle. Timber industry and plantations of tea, yerba mate, tobacco, and tung have spread out over these territories, taking the lands where the Mbyá ethnic groups had settled.1
